Kickcan & Conkers: Aze design

Saturday, 26 September 2009

Going back to their roots

Traditional Polish paper-cut and contemporary folkart-inspired rooster carpet from MOHO design

I love paper and I love patterns. I can remember being given bright white paper doilies to colour, paint, cut up or use as stencils when I was younger. Paper doilies always seemed to come in handy for Christmas decorations too, adorning Angel frocks and wings year after year. I think my love of paper-cuts comes from early crafting with this intricate, wafer-thin material.

The first paper-cuts I discovered were these colourful Wycinanki from Poland, originally made with a pair of sheep-shearing scissors!

I'm very much drawn to Eastern Europe at the moment, and I'm really enjoying the Polish adventures of Lou et Tom on a daily basis. Isabelle has impeccable taste and posts some very inspiring photos. My favourites so far have to be of her flea market finds - vintage heaven!

Isabelle is celebrating her first year in blogland and is offering a beautiful selection of traditional Polish treasures. Her giveaway ends on Sunday though, so hurry, hurry!

It's been Design Week in London and I've had my eye on one event in particular, Polska Folk, part of the Tent London exhibition showing until Sunday at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. "Polska Folk is an exhibition of new work from young Polish designers who have reached back to traditional folk designs, materials and manufacturing processes in making their work."

At a time of globalisation and mass-media, Polish and other European designers are going back to their roots and rediscovering traditional production techniques according to Curator Agnieska Jacobson-Cielecka.

All of the artists exhibiting at Polska Folk are fascinated by decorative rural motifs (flowers, the omnipresent Rooster...) – laces, stripes, paper-cuts, aprons, traditional forms and natural materials, but their work also displays a sense of humour and irony. See for yourself - here's my selection of contemporary Polish designers to look out for.