Anka Dobrzyn: I am pleased to share that I have become a KPO for Culture scholarship holder.
As part of the scholarship, I am carrying out a project titled “Tradition Interwoven with Modernity.”
The project is funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (KPO) from the European Union’s NextGenerationEU resources, as part of investment A2.5.1: “A program supporting the activities of cultural sector entities and creative industries to stimulate their development.” The project is financed by the European Union, NextGenerationEU.
In the coming months, as part of this initiative, I will meet with weavers, complete weaving courses as well as training on the use of digital tools for editing multimedia materials. I will also share with you the knowledge gained through the scholarship and present new textiles created using traditional techniques.
weaver’s bingo
DETAIL – a collection of artistic textiles
As part of the scholarship, five textiles were designed and woven. The presented works depict the shopfronts of small local stores in Giżycko—places long familiar to residents, yet increasingly disappearing from the city’s urban landscape.
technique
The works were woven on horizontal handlooms and designed independently, based on photographs of shopfronts. Cotton yarn was used for both the warp and the weft, distinguishing the works from traditional double-warp textiles—known mainly from the Podlasie region—which are typically woven in wool.
The borders framing each composition were inspired by historic Masurian double-warp textiles described by Konrad Hahm in his 1937 publication Ostpreussische Bauernteppiche. Despite the material difference, the painstaking process of selecting each line of the pattern with a special batten remains faithful to tradition. The reverse of each textile forms a negative of its front.
tribute
The collection depicts the shopfronts of small local stores in Giżycko—places long familiar to residents, yet increasingly disappearing from the city’s urban landscape. It is a tribute to the people behind these counters, honoring their perseverance, experience, and readiness to help. The works commemorate the conversations, advice, and relationships built over many years—forms of human connection that cannot be replaced by the anonymity of large retail chains.
thoughtfulness
The collection is also an invitation to thoughtfulness: to look closely at the details woven into the textiles, and at those present in everyday life. It suggests that meaning resides precisely in such details—those that shape places, sustain memories, and give depth to encounters.
