The penultimate day of this year’s Ceramic Festival in Bolesławiec is gaining musical momentum. Before Goran Bregović appears on stage, the audience has the opportunity to hear SVAHY – a trio that draws on traditional folk music and the history of former inhabitants of the Polish countryside.
SVAHY consists of Patrycja Cywińska-Gacka, Ewa Pater and Małgorzata Żurańska-Wilkowska. The artists use unusual instruments that are not often seen on contemporary stages.
Patrycja Cywińska-Gacka plays the frame drum, tongue drum and baraban. Ewa Pater plays the suka biłgorajska, mandolin and guitar. Małgorzata Żurańska-Wilkowska plays the hurdy-gurdy. And all three also enchant the audience with their vocals.
The band itself describes its music as a meeting between contemporary female artists and tradition:
Once there were three girls from the city who fell in love with traditional rural music.
The band’s repertoire includes folk songs associated, among other places, with Pałuki and Kujawy. The artists emphasize that their music helps bring the stories and daily lives of former rural inhabitants closer to the audience.