An article by Stefania Kossowska entitled “A Polka-Dot Cup” appeared in the London-published “Dziennik Polski.” We are publishing an excerpt from the article.
“I once went to Heal’s on Tottenham Court Rd. in search of something difficult to find in other shops.
...Wandering from floor to floor, I found myself in the porcelain department, where I had no business being. But I saw that someone was just buying a cup I liked very much – it was large, with navy-blue dots on a white background. When I wanted to buy one too, I learned that it was the last one, because they were selling like ‘hot cakes,’ but that I should come back in a while, as they were expecting the next shipment from Poland.
‘From where?!!!’ I exclaimed in astonishment. From one question to the next, following the thread to the ball of wool, I learned more than I could have expected from a single cup. A young owner of antique shops in England, an expert on old porcelain, speaking Polish as well as English (she had wise Polish parents), during her travels around Poland came to Bolesławiec in the Jelenia Góra Voivodeship. Situated at the crossroads of trade routes from northern to southern Europe and from west to east /Brussels,
Dresden, Leipzig, Wrocław, Opole, Kraków, Przemyśl, Prague, Vienna/Bolesławiec had been a craft and trade center since the 13th century, specializing in various types of ceramics, thanks to deposits of suitable clay in the immediate vicinity. Under the partitions, on the German side /Bunzlau/, after the war it returned to Poland and managed to rebuild around 20 pottery factories, continuing a centuries-old tradition. After primitive medieval vessels, the style of ‘pottery’ /in accordance with the old name/ changed, introducing various patterns from folk art and later modernizing them according to its own style. Today these products are remarkably ingenious both in form /e.g. a vessel shaped like an apple—for baking an apple/ and in decoration and usefulness. Thanks to the properties of special clay /‘iron-stone’/, which is a type of porcelain, modern products are fireproof. Thus, an apple can be baked in the ‘apple,’ while in other vessels of various shapes and with various patterns one can prepare any baked dish, not only in an ordinary oven, but it can equally safely be put into a ‘microwave’...
(we received a copy of the article from “Ceramika Artystyczna”)
In the July 1993 issue No. 7 of “Przegląd Lubański,” we found an article by Adam Baniecki entitled “The Functions of Local Newspapers.” Among other things, it says: “The local press must serve its community; it must give it the opportunity to express itself comprehensively (and without complexes) on all topics that interest it, including more distant ones.
Lubań, possessing two television stations and two publications, is becoming a dynamic and culturally attractive city. Of course, progress—and what we call pluralism—does not develop equally well in every city, as it does in Lubań. Let Bolesławiec and the tragic situation of its only publication, “Głos Bolesławca,” serve as a warning. After a year of publication, launched on the initiative of the Towarzystwo Miłośników Bolesławca but in reality thanks to its editor-in-chief and a group of genuine enthusiasts writing for free, the publication is collapsing. Despite very tangible achievements, such as raising money for an ultrasound machine, not to mention promoting the city’s history and local culture, the city—withdrawing from its earlier promises—abandoned its intention to purchase three pages for its own needs. At the same time, a campaign of insinuations and slander began, alleging that post-Communist forces were behind the newspaper or that (and this is an absolute absurdity straight out of Ciemnogród!) the city needed only a local television station. I will leave this matter without comment, hoping that the community of nearby Bolesławiec will nevertheless not find television alone sufficient. The local press is not only about informing, but also about integrating the community, shaping opinions and attitudes, learning the culture of debate and the culture of living. Consequently, it teaches the ability to perceive the world closest to us—its problems, shortcomings and achievements. And it releases social activity.”