The 16 years of gathering knowledge and gaining experience from traditional masters of basketry led us to creating an original model of teaching crafts, which is based not only on skills transfer but also on the opportunity of innovative work with natural materials.
Our ethnographic expedition in 2009, “On the Basketry Trail of the Vistula River”, which resulted in the publication of a book titled Baskets, revealed a wide range of craft-based opportunities in Poland. Also as a result of this expedition, we chose our areas of specialisation, focusing on straw, cattail, and willow.
We learned the properties of those natural materials to be able to use them also in ways which veer away from traditional basketry. To promote basketmaking skills, we teach them at all levels: from elementary to advanced. Our trainees are both beginners and specialists who need such skills in their professional development.
We propose a a basketry craft experience with Serfenta – a workshop of making with us, and spending a wonderful time in the world of Polish crafts.
During the workshop we are going to weave everything completely by hand, with a large dose of heart and with any kind of pressure. Because this workshop is not only about a beautiful item – which participants will take home afterwards – it’s also about spending a nice time together and relax.
When the hands are working, the head is resting – this is how our workshops look like. The material is 100% natural, ecological and prepared by hands. The participants will learn a special Polish technique of working with this natural material, a spiral-loop technique, which is very decorative. We have the knowledge and skills from our traditional basket making masters of tradition. Nowadays only a few people are still weaving with this techniques.
We are experienced with workshops for people who are not crafters, so it’s a perfect proposition “for the first time” with basketry. Furthermore, we are sure that participants are going to have fun and will love Polish basketry crafts.
The participants in our workshops come from Poland as well as other countries. What we find particularly important is that we not only present strictly technical skills but we also draw attention to the psychological aspects of craft experience. We emphasise the value of crafts which comes from the repetition of movements and the relaxation which is achieved through focusing on a single activity and being offline. We combine traditional Polish craft techniques with our knowledge and experience related to basketry materials and techniques from across the globe.
