Wooden Treasures
Poland's Wooden Churches: An Exhibition at the Archdiocesan Museum, ul. Kanonicza (until 20th November 2004)
Poland was in ruins at the end of the last war, and not the first time. Unfortunately, rebuilding in the Soviet years was patchwork, and pockets of beauty were often surrounded by new, box-like monstrosities that were completely at odds with the landscape in which they nestled.
One distinguished Polish historian who recently travelled the length and breadth of the country arrived at the following conclusion:
"Were it not for the unique position of the Catholic Church and its ability to get things done, there would be little to look at except ruins in large areas of the country. For the Church has looked after its buildings with devotion and intelligence, and they now represent the overwhelming majority of things worth looking at in Poland. Were it not for the surviving wooden churches (which many a progressive priest might have felt tempted to replace) we could have no sense of the most common experience of the past - for the great majority of churches, synagogues, mosques, palaces, manor houses and dwellings had always been made of wood.''
It's this wooden legacy that can be savoured at the current exhibition of photographs in the Archdiocesan Palace. The show is really a straightforward celebration of this heritage, as the photographs were all taken by amateur photographers. A competition for the best pictures of Poland's wooden sacral art was announced a year ago by Ars Populi magazine, and here are the results.
In fact, not only Roman Catholic buildings are displayed, and the winning prize has been awarded to Wlodzimerz Planeta for his crisp portraits of the onion-domed Greek Catholic churches of Bieszcady.
These beautiful buildings are now undergoing complex reclamation processes, as the local population were expelled by the Communists in 1947 in a notorious action known as Operation Vistula. Today, the old families are slowly beginning to return, although some churches have been in Roman Catholic hands since the action of 1947.
These charming photographs may not be the most artistic that you've ever seen. And indeed, what shines through is not a Leonardo type brilliance in composition or imagination. However, above all you can sense the love which people feel for these remarkable buildings - you'll be wanting to put on your hiking boots and set off on an adventure to the mountains without further ado. A delightful show.