The fifth edition of X N\u00d3W\u2014a contemporary craft exhibition in the shop windows of service venues\u2014will take place in \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, a city primarily associated with the power of the textile industry. Factories, halls, weaving mills, and spinning mills shaped the local landscape, the rhythm of life, and the urban identity. Yet alongside these massive industrial establishments, there has always existed a quieter layer of \u0141\u00f3d\u017a: a network of small artisan workshops and studios\u2014places where skill, precision, a connection with materials, and the daily work of human hands truly mattered.<\/span><\/p>\n Today\u2019s new craft grows from these same values. Creators associated with the N\u00f3w. New Craft Association operate at the intersection of tradition and contemporary practice, balancing between handicraft, design, and art. They create unique forms in wood, ceramics, glass, metal, and textiles\u2014sometimes functional, sometimes sculptural\u2014always resulting from a careful dialogue with the material. Their work reflects respect for traditional techniques and locality, while also embracing contemporary forms of expression and experimentation.<\/span><\/p>\n The X N\u00d3W exhibition places their works outside galleries\u2014within the urban landscape of downtown \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, in shop windows and everyday public spaces. This initiative restores craft to its social place: close to people, close to the street, close to the city.<\/span><\/p>\n Curatorial walk: Friday, July 4, 2025, at 6:00 PM.<\/b><\/p>\n Second curatorial walk with a Polish Sign Language interpreter: Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 6:00 PM.<\/b><\/p>\n Start: Wasalaa, Roosevelta 10C (OFF Piotrkowska)<\/b><\/p>\n Makers:<\/b> Organizer: Stowarzyszenie N\u00f3w. Nowe Rzemios\u0142o<\/span><\/p>\n Exhibition Partner: City of \u0141\u00f3d\u017a<\/span><\/p>\n Media partner: Design Alive<\/span><\/p>\n Curator: Jakub Przyborowski<\/span><\/p>\n Graphic design: Jakub \u015awi\u0119cicki<\/span><\/p>\n Article at Design Alive LINK<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n The project \u201cX N\u00d3W \u2013 Contemporary Craft Exhibition in the Shop Windows of Service Venues\u201d is implemented thanks to funding from the City of \u0141\u00f3d\u017a budget.<\/span><\/p>\n OBJECTS BY LOCATION ON THE MAP:<\/b><\/p>\n 1. Wasalaa, ul. Roosevelta 10c<\/b><\/p>\n Beata Palikot-Borowska<\/b>,<\/span> Meadow<\/span><\/i> From the Fashion for Little Stars collection, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and Material: Multi-ply\/radziuszka weave on a cotton warp, wool weft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Meadow fabric is part of the Fashion for Little Stars collection. The collection is a work in progress\u2014so far, ten fabrics have been created on a single warp, each unique in expression and purpose. The base of the fabrics in the Fashion for Little Stars collection is the \u201cstar\u201d motif, a characteristic pattern of folk textiles from northeastern Poland woven using the radziuszka technique.\n\nThe Meadow fabric is inspired by the meadows of Podlasie, offering a contemporary interpretation of nature. It is delicate, fleeting, and suggestive\u2014a memory captured in the fabric, woven thread by thread into a light, airy textile, secured with a decorative band of hand-tied fringes.<\/span><\/p>\n Handwoven using the radziuszka technique. Traditional technique, contemporary form.<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/beata_palikot_borowska<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Katarzyna Harasym<\/b>, <\/span>Neocrystals<\/span><\/i>, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and Material: Slumping, sandblasted crystal glass.<\/span><\/p>\n Neocrystals is an ongoing project, with forms that continuously take on different shapes. It is a series of crystal objects reflecting the passage of time and new life through transformation. The project began after the death of the artist\u2019s grandmother in 2023. She inherited a damaged crystal vase and decided to fire it in a kiln, which led her to seek out old crystals to reshape them using the slumping technique.\n\nMatte and sandblasted, the Neocrystals appear like ghosts of previous crystal vessels, stretched through time. Each vase is unique and tells a different story.<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/harasymkaska\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2. OMG \u2013 Oh My Glasses, ul. Nawrot 2A<\/b><\/p>\n Magdalena Zarychta<\/b>, objects from the series <\/span>Melting Joy:<\/span><\/i> Green, Yellow, Lime, Lilac<\/span><\/i>, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and Material: Blown, hand-shaped soda glass.<\/span><\/p>\n The \u201cMelting Joy\u201d series was born from a need for color\u2014intense, vivid, and corporeal. For years, I worked mainly in transparent glass, often combined with metal. This contrast\u2014hot and cold, soft and hard\u2014carried both tension and fragility. Metal could be unpredictable; some pieces would crack, others would fall apart. At a certain point, I felt I no longer had to reconcile these contradictions\u2014I could leave them behind and step into a space of freedom.\n\n\u201cMelting Joy\u201d is a series of unique glass sculptures\u2014colorful, sensual, sometimes transparent, sometimes intensely colored, always one of a kind. It is my first time working with such a saturated palette\u2014a gesture of courage, but also of necessity, as if body and imagination finally needed to be filled with joy.\n\nThe forms into which I blow the glass I have been creating by hand for years. I sculpt, fire, and modify wooden molds, whose surfaces develop subtle distortions over time, making each work unique. In this series, I added steel inserts resembling steps or staircases, introducing contrast, structure, and tension.\n\nWorking with fire, glass, and air is always a meeting with unpredictability\u2014I let the material speak its own language, while also attempting to shape it according to my own intentions. Each sculpture is an experiment with color and texture, simultaneously glossy and matte, physically heavy yet visually ephemeral. They evoke sweetness without being sweet; they are bold, playful, and corporeal. They are an explosion of energy, a touch that electrifies and leaves a sensory memory.\n\nThe series remains open-ended. Each new form is another expression of the same need\u2014for contact with joy, color, and form. This is glass that does not submit, but instead plays\u2014with light, shape, and me.<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/magdalenazarychta.artist\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3. Ro\u015blinnik, ul. Sienkiewicza 20<\/b><\/p>\n Olga Milczy\u0144ska<\/b>, objects from the series <\/span>Posts Stands<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Obstacles<\/span><\/i>, <\/b>2024<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and Material: Coil-built, glazed stoneware.<\/span><\/p>\n The series was created with the idea of wandering and searching for the right path. The works in this series directly reference objects found along the road, accompanying us on our journeys, marking direction, or even **\u201csubstituting\u201d the path for<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/olga.milczynska\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jakub \u015awi\u0119cicki<\/b>, <\/span>Clay<\/span><\/i>from the serie <\/span>Monostriped landscape<\/span><\/i>, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and Material: Naturally dyed with clay, faux chenille quilt, linen-viscose fabric.<\/span><\/p>\n The minimalist Clay object from the Monostriped Landscape series is inspired by the landscapes of the \u015awi\u0119tokrzyskie fields and local raw materials. Using the faux chenille quilt technique and fabrics naturally dyed with local clay, repurposed from second-hand textiles, the artist created a decorative textile bas-relief with a richly textured surface. The natural pigments give the fibers a unique character that evolves over time. The dyeing process, which requires relatively low energy and water consumption, along with the use of recycled materials, significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the resulting object.<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/_kuba_swiecicki\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4. Golden Beard Barbershop, ul. Sienkiewicza 23<\/b><\/p>\n P55 Mirrors,<\/b> INBETWEEN<\/span><\/i> No. 5<\/span><\/i> serie <\/span>serii <\/span>INBETWEEN<\/span><\/i>, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and Material: Silvering, gilding on glass, laminated, painted and waxed wood, Optiwhite glass, green Antisol glass, silvering solution, white gold leaf, oak wood.<\/span><\/p>\n Double-sided, freestanding mirror<\/span> It is an extension of the INBETWEEN series and stems from the need to expand mirrors with a kind of \u201cframe.\u201d The main concept of the composition is the juxtaposition of mirrored planes with semi- or fully three-dimensional objects.<\/span> INBETWEEN No. 5, in which the mirrored panels correspond with wooden elements\u2014planes. The larger green mirror was created using the silvering technique with corrosion, while the smaller one was made using white gold leaf.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/p55mirrors\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Robert Wieczorek,<\/b> Field<\/span><\/i>, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and Material: Rips and rips derivatives, plain weave, Kowarska wool, sisal, linen.<\/span><\/p>\n The fabric, inspired by the fallow landscapes of the K\u0142odzko Valley, is a poetic interpretation of nature that has been abandoned, yet remains alive beneath the surface of time. Its structure reflects the uneven, deserted fields\u2014former sites of human labor, now overgrown with dry grasses and shrouded in quiet snow.\n\nThe layers of material are arranged like horizontal bands of fields\u2014buried, yet not forgotten. In the central part of the composition, a white field appears symbolically, referencing the majestic \u015anie\u017cnik, the highest peak of the K\u0142odzko Valley. It is intersected by vertical accents reminiscent of bare trees, which\u2014like the entire fabric\u2014await the arrival of spring and renewal.\n\nThis is a story of transience, memory, and the potential that lies dormant in what is abandoned. The structure of the textile captures a landscape\u2014not only physical, but also emotional\u2014full of longing, silence, and hope.<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/robertwieczorekart<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5. Ma\u0142gorzata Olejniczak Hair Salon, 14 Traugutta Street<\/b><\/p>\n Square Drop,<\/b> Little cabinet from the collection <\/span>Oddity<\/span><\/i>designed by <\/span>Kosmos Project<\/span><\/i>, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and material: a piece of furniture made of solid, bleached ash wood, with brass elements<\/span><\/p>\n Little cabinet is part of the ODDITY furniture collection, which is the result of a collaboration by the brand <\/span>Square Drop<\/span><\/a> ze studiem <\/span>Kosmos Project<\/span><\/a>It is an example of the combination of the multi-generational craftsmanship of a historic furniture workshop with contemporary design.<\/span><\/p>\n It exemplifies the fusion of multi-generational craftsmanship from a historic furniture workshop with contemporary design.<\/span><\/p>\n The construction of the furniture and the way it is finished highlight the sculptural character of the forms. The collection was created using exclusively Polish materials and in collaboration with local artisans. The furniture is made of solid ash, upholstered with wool from Tomasz\u00f3w, the stone comes from deposits in the \u015awi\u0119tokrzyskie Mountains, and the cast iron and brass fittings are crafted by local foundries and metalworkers.<\/span><\/p>\n Little Cabinet presented at the exhibition is an oval reference to the so-called 'table cabinets'\u2014small cabinets with tiny drawers and compartments for storing small items, jewelry, or documents. Its decorative interior, hidden behind simple doors, adds an element of surprise. The piece can be displayed either closed or open. <\/span>The door handle is left untreated, exactly as it was removed from the traditional casting mold. Solutions of this kind are intended to emphasize the craftsmanship involved in creating each element. The effect produced by the process itself becomes a form of decoration.<\/span><\/p>\n The natural materials and variety of textures give the furniture a highly sensual quality, with light refracting across its surfaces and altering perception depending on the illumination. All materials develop character over time, allowing the furniture to age beautifully and gain a sense of nobility. Each piece is signed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n IG: instagram.com\/squaredrop\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6. Owoce i Warzywa, ul. Traugutta 9<\/b><\/p>\n tartaruga studio<\/b>, <\/span>Svolv\u00e6r<\/span><\/i>, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and material: kilim, warp: cotton, weft: recycled wool.<\/span><\/p>\n The Svolv\u00e6r kilim is a record of memories from a journey through the Norwegian fjords\u2014a convergence of many colors, scents, and fleeting emotions. It is a creative, nostalgic ode to polar days spent among fjords and mountains that descend all the way to the sea; a memory of the smell of salt and cod, of days spent climbing and observing nature, and the ever-present aroma of coffee and cinnamon buns. The cold, which penetrated to the bone, and the wind left a salty taste on the lips.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Svolv\u00e6r kilim is a frame that never existed, recorded in memory and transferred onto paper, and then woven thread by thread into the form of a kilim.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The kilim itself is a long-lasting and timeless textile, which makes Svolv\u00e6r a kind of postcard\u2014a personal memento from the journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The fabric was handwoven using the kilim technique on countermarch looms. Despite employing traditional techniques and tools, the pattern breaks the classical canon of kilim design. Recycled wool yarn, sourced from post-production carpet waste, was used to create the fabric. While it cannot be reused in industrial production, its excellent properties make it an ideal material for handcrafted work.<\/span><\/p>\n The kilim took two weeks to make.<\/span><\/p>\n IG: <\/span>instagram.com\/tartaruga.studio\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 7. Ato Sushi, ul. 6 Sierpnia 1\/3<\/b><\/p>\n Huba,<\/b> Sculpture No.169\/24<\/span><\/i>, 2024 i Vase No.167\/24<\/i>, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n Technique and material: black ceramics, wood-fired kiln, unglazed terracotta.<\/span><\/p>\n The presented vase and sculpture are examples of the use of two different forming techniques.<\/span><\/p>\n The vase was thrown on a traditional kick wheel. The sculpture, on the other hand, represents an original technique\u2014it was made from a single block of clay by cutting and tearing away pieces with a knife, and then hollowed out to prevent cracking during firing.<\/span><\/p>\n Both objects were fired in a traditional wood-fired kiln using a technique called reduction, which gives the clay its characteristic black color. After firing, the surfaces were hot-impregnated with beeswax and a special oil, ensuring water resistance and deepening the color.<\/span><\/p>\n Firing black ceramics is one of the oldest pottery techniques\u2014once used in various regions of Poland, as well as in Lithuania, Ukraine, and Hungary. Today, it is rarely encountered, mostly in the context of historical and ethnographic reconstructions.<\/span><\/p>\n The presented forms have no counterparts in traditional black ceramics\u2014they represent a step toward a new aesthetic within this disappearing craft, while also attempting to preserve it through development and reinterpretation.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Katarzyna Harasym, Huba, Aliona Kryshtofik, Olga\u00a0Milczy\u0144ska, Kamila Mr\u00f3z, P55 Mirrors, Beata Palikot-Borowska, Jakub Przyborowski, Square Drop, Beata Szczepaniak, Jakub \u015awi\u0119cicki, Tartaruga Studio, Robert Wieczorek, Beata Wietrzy\u0144ska \/ In Weave, Magdalena Zarychta<\/b><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nownowerzemioslo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/xnow_socjale_post6-240x300.jpg\")
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