The Painted Village, Zalipie Poland

by Jerzy Czyz

Title

The Painted Village, Zalipie Poland

Artist

Jerzy Czyz

Medium

Digital Art

Description

Zalipie: The Painted Village
Zalipie is a small secluded Małopolska village some 35km north of Tarnów where you’ll find Polish folk art traditions to be perhaps more alive than anywhere else in the country. Since the late 19th century the women of Zalipie have been painting their homes inside and out with bright, floral patterns making this village one of the most photogenic places you could ever brandish a camera.

The custom developed in the days before chimneys when the smoke from the cottage hearths would slowly blacken the interior walls. To prepare the home for important religious holidays (particularly Easter), the proud wives of the village would repaint the walls with white lime. By the time progress and its new fan-dangled ‘chimneys’ arrived in Zalipie the tradition had not only stuck, but, with the aid of coloured paints, it had evolved into a unique art form that saw the village cottages adorned inside and out in extraordinary floral folk motifs. By the 1930s, the village had made a bit of a name for itself and in 1948, the first edition of The Painted Cottage Competition (Malowana Chata) was held to determine which local had the most beautifully decorated cottage. Keeping the local folk traditions of house painting and paper handicrafts alive to this day, this celebration of Polish folk culture is still held annually on the weekend after Corpus Christi.

Uploaded

October 1st, 2020

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