A lecture for Silesian Science Festival

Our lecture took a part in a program of Silesian Science Festival 2022 in Katowice. The program was interesting – with a lot of events, lectures, experiments and guests. The title presented by Łucja Cieślar was: “Is there a connection between craft and dinosaurs? The oldest basket on the world and much more”.

What we’ve been talking about during the Silesian Science Fest?

We joined the Human and Society Scene of Silesian Science Festival. We are working with basketry craft from many years, so we can talk a lot about that – we are crossing thousands of kilometers to know everything about it.

We do research in this area from many years – we are researching Poland and many other countries in Europe and not only. We can see with the eye of etnographists, anthropologist and a science researcher. We are watching craft from the social face side. We are discovering humans needs hidden behind craft and craft makeing. This is the clue to the understanding of living heritage – people’s needs. Even from the basket which is using for shopping we can read many need which are behind. The products can tell you the story about people’s life. During the lecture we gave the examples from Iceland, Norway and Asia – like Japan and Korea.

But also we showed to the audience a true dinosaur in the basketry world – the oldest basket on the world. A basket made of plant material older than 10 000 years.

But what more about the dinosaur and craft?

What is the reason for what poeople from all over the world are visiting Poland and Serfenta? Thay want to touch the real craft and experience it. They want to touch the natural straw material, they want to smell cattail and check by themselves how to craft, how to weave. For our country the woven products are still present in a nowadays life, well known. But there are also countries where it is not so simple. A basket can be an archeological discovery and an object from museum only.

Can craft share the dinosaurs faith and is the extinction a serious problem for it? Do we know places where basketry craft already extinct? We have the faith that it will be existing beyond time and space, but is that really true? Thee is no meteorite coming to the craft world but what is really exist are global changes, climate changes and no successors. In Poland we create the new ways for transmissions and continuations of skills, what have a huge value for the next generations. We have many observations in Serfenta about the craft condition nowadays, through the passing years.

Feel invited to cooperation

If you want to listen our point of view we can show it! We will try to convince you that craft and basket makeing is not a song of past but present. We will show you that the way of intanginble cultural heritage is full of adventures and living ideas. Experiencing craft is a great travel to the world of nature and emotions. Do not hesitate to contact us whatever you need and if you are open.

We can join your event online or offline with our original story about experiencing craft. doświadczyć rzemiosła. Contact us!

Thanks to Silesian Science Festival for the invitation, this was a great event. The popularisation of craft world is also our goal! Also we are happy that during these days we could join the interwiev for Radio 357. We are happy when we can join the interesting conversation – always.

Here is one of famous podcast „Z lotu Drozda” where Paweł Drozd invited us to talk about craft experience. Invite us also to your program!