| Councillor Margaret Cochrane will officially launch the Easter in Poland, Polish Folk Art Exhibition in the foyer of the Cairns City Council Offices at 5.00pm on Tuesday 22 March 2005. CARMA (Cairns and Region Multicultural Association) together with the Museum Resource Centre for FNQ have organised the Polish folk art exhibition, which is open to the public until April 16th 2005 during the opening hours of Cairns City Council (Monday-Friday, 8.00am-5.00pm).
All objects on display have been made in Polish villages in the last 10 years, testifying to the continuity of exquisite skills and traditions.
The highlight of the exhibition is a collection of Easter eggs, some decorated in Poland and others decorated by Polish artists living in Australia, using a range of stunning techniques. While some of the designs have been produced with an ancient method of wax resist-dyeing, others have been skillfully scratched or made of layers of coloured paper. The skills used in the decoration of some of the eggs are astonishing – however, this is not surprising, considering that in parts of Poland until recently some women used to decorate up to 500 eggs every Easter!
The egg has been recognised in many parts of the world as a symbol of new emerging life. In Poland, similar to other countries of Eastern and Central Europe, the ancient pre-Christian tradition of decorating eggs has survived to the present day, incorporated into Easter rituals.
In Poland, Easter coincides with spring - the time, when village houses undergo annual renovation. The exhibition presents a range of colourful, elaborate paper cut-outs which every spring, are stuck to the walls of newly painted rooms. It also features two stunning folk costumes, which Polish villagers still wear on special occasions.
This unique collection was assembled for the Australian audience by the Museum of Ethnography and Archaeology in Łódź. The current custodian of the collection is Perc Tucker Regional Gallery in Townsville.
Although the exhibition presents the cultural traditions of Poland, the launch of this project has attracted members of several community groups. The songs and music will be performed by the PNG Logohu Cultural Group, Natasha Arens of the Russian community, as well as by the St Monica Cathedral choir conducted by Toni Dunstan and accompanied by Larry Hammond. Members of the German and Austrian community group will demonstrate various methods of Easter egg decoration.
‘Easter in Poland’ is open to the public until April 16th 2005 during the opening hours of Cairns City Council (Monday-Friday, 8.00am-5.00pm).
For further information, please contact Helga Headrick on 4044 4812 or mobile. 0407 032 624.
Cairns City Council Phone: (07) 40 443021 Fax: (07) 40 443049
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