At the Museum of Ceramics, workshops on making Christmas tree decorations in the traditional way were organized before Christmas. Czech artisans taught participants how to decorate gingerbread Santas, snowmen, Christmas trees, fish and rocking horses, scented with cloves. The Polish participants showed children how to make a colorful Christmas tree chain, decorate baubles with original designs of their own, and make decorations from colorful wafers called “wafer worlds” (spherical forms made from pieces of wafer).
The activities took place in the exhibition hall, where workshop participants could view Czech Christmas nativity scenes—an exhibition prepared from the collection of the Krkonoše Museum in Vrchlabí. Czech nativity scenes are rich, elaborate compositions in which dozens of shepherds, lambs and angels are carved around the stable with the infant Jesus.
A tasty snack was prepared during the workshops: dumplings, beetroot soup and chocolate gingerbread. The children eagerly enjoyed the treats prepared for them, then enthusiastically returned to making decorations.
The workshops concluded with a performance by the Song and Dance Ensemble “Ziemia Bolesławiecka” and the vocal group Agnieszka Orawiec. The audience was treated to a wonderful traditional performance in the open air (in the museum garden): a Żywiec nativity play.
“In the Żywiec nativity play, all nationalities come to the little Jesus,” explained Elżbieta Andrusieczko-Tor, the ensemble’s choreographer. “In the version we performed, four regions of Poland were presented: Żywiec, Kraków, Mazovia and Kuyavia.”
The ensembles’ performance made a strong impression on the audience and was a beautiful highlight of the approaching Christmas celebrations.
Admission to the exhibition and participation in the demonstrations and workshops were free of charge. These activities were carried out as part of the project “Gardens of Living Tradition—Protecting the Shared Heritage of the Polish-Czech Borderland,” co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the Operational Programme of Cross-Border Cooperation Czech Republic–Republic of Poland 2007–2013.
(information: GH)