Serfenta is one of the three UNESCO-accredited NGOs in Poland. Our international basketry journey has continued for 16 years now. Leaders of the organization are experts at modern and business approach to basketry craft. We created our own Business Model, thanks to which we earn money to carry out our activities regardless of external funding. Our goals include sharing, promoting, and managing knowledge about the intangible heritage of basketry. Our activities cover workshops and expert events about the meeting point between cultural anthropology, craft, and market and bringing the craft experience to everyone. We teach those who then teach others to spread the knowledge and skills of the basketry. In 2022, we received the Jeonju International Award for Promoting Intangible Cultural Heritage (JIAPICH) with strong focus on sustainable business. We are also finalists of New European Bauhaus Award 2023 with the Innovation Model of Craft Revitalisation.
We have also been awarded by the Polish National Commission for UNESCO for our educational activities supporting the implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. In October 2022, we received JIAPICH 2022 (Jeonju International Awards for Promoting Intangible Cultural Heritage). The ceremony took place in Jeonju, South Korea. We had an honour to take part in it and accept the award in person. As experts, we cooperate with Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, Iceland, Spain, and a number of other countries. In 2020, we organised the “Baskets from Poland in Tokyo” festival. In 2021, we ran a business and promotional campaign, “Baskets from Poland in South Korea”. We co-created the “Poland. Spirit of Ingenuity” zone of the Poland Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai. In 2022, we ran a workshop for an online platform which gathers a variety of solutions from the whole world related to intangible heritage. It was addressed to our partners from South Korea, India, Thailand, and Australia.
Serfenta was a representative of Poland and Europe – as the only NGO from Europe. Also in 2022, we represented Poland at the “LIVIND. International Living Heritage Project” conference organised by Finland. It was attended by 150 people from more than 30 countries. We hold the Homo Faber Guide European Cultural Heritage certificate. We cooperate with partner organisations from entire Europe, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In September 2022, we organised the “Future for the Craft” conference for the Korbmarkt Lichtenfels 2022 in Germany, with attendees from all over the world. We grow our experience by presenting Serfenta’s business model at various international conferences, such as the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Rabat, Morocco, dedicated in 2022 to the climate change and its impact on cultural heritage, and also during UNESCO meeting in Paris 2023.
We provide a chance for the international heritage community to meet. To promote basket making, we organise exhibitions and conferences. Our exhibitions “Let it weave!”, “Viva Basket!”, “Weaves on the wave” and “We weave!” visit festivals in Poland and abroad. We compare the secrets of Polish basketry with those in other countries and we undertake common research trips (e.g. with Norway). We are interested in cultural exchange and in spreading the idea of “live basketry” all over the world.
On the 23rd of August 2015, on the initiative of the World Festival of Wicker and Weaving in Nowy Tomyśl, we organised The Social Face of Basketry International Forum. We invited specialists from all parts of the world and asked them to show how basketry could be developed. Hildigard Mufukare from Zimbabwe spoke about selling African products, Frances Potter from South Africa showed us the backstage of the cooperation of artisans and designers, and Shimul Vyas from India presented one of the best schools for designers: the National Institute of Design. Indrasen Vencatachellum acquainted us with the offer of UNESCO and RIDA, the international group of consultants for crafts development, whereas Sara Ibrahim from Ethiopia took us on a journey across the trail of basketry and sustainable tourism.
Our work resulted in videos and a book. We invited outstanding artists from all around the world to co-create the publication entitled Viva Basket! – Why do we weave? – Lois Walpole, Jette Mellgren, Mary Butcher, Roger Herriset, and Carlos Fontales. We recorded training videos (with English subtitles), in which master basket makers teach you step by step how to weave.
