...It accomplishes this mission by spreading knowledge of rural culture, encouraging the local community to learn about its heritage and showing urban residents the essence and beauty of this tradition. With folk artists in mind, the Institute has awarded scholarships under the "Master-Student" program, which aims to save local heritage and traditions and ensure the continuity of authentic folk art and crafts. It also tries to show the beauty of folk art through initiated competitions, such as a painting contest on the heritage of roadside shrines.
NIKiDW also supports folk culture researchers and their promoters. The competition for the best master's and doctoral thesis entitled "Roots and Wings" serves this purpose. Through it, it wants to disseminate and present the results of original scientific research devoted to the culture and heritage of the Polish countryside and encourage young scientists to continue their work in this area.
The institute organizes many events to promote folk culture. It opens its season in early spring with Women's Day for Folk. Usually starting in May, it launches its "Summer Scene" series, which presents the folklore of various regions of Poland. In autumn, it invites to the European Heritage Days, the Warsaw Bread Festival and the Independence Day. The series of outdoor events closes with an extremely colorful Christmas Fair.
The institute is a co-organizer or partner of many festivals, fairs and reviews where authentic traditional culture is presented, such as the Week of Beskid Culture, the Festival of Folk Bands and Singers, the National Sejmik of Polish Village Theaters, the Festival of the Children of the Mountains, and the Meetings of Cymbalists.
Narodowy Instytut Kultury i Dziedzictwa Wsi wraz z Telewizją Polską TVP3 Kraków przygotował w latach 2021-2023 r. serię ponad 20 filmów dokumentalnych pod wspólnym tytułem „Kultura na Ludowo #wspieram”, których celem było przedstawienie kultury ludowej różnych regionów Polski.
The institution also conducts publishing activities. In recent years, two games have been premiered: "Traditional Toys" and "Secrets of the Folk Trunk," through which one can learn about the diverse and beautiful folk art of the Polish countryside.
The offer for the youngest also includes puzzles depicting the painting "Sianokosy" by Marta Walczak-Stasiowska and "Carolers" by Zdzislaw Slonina. Particularly noteworthy are books with fairy tales from the series "From the Land of Golden Fields", i.e. "Miraculous Medicine and Other Folk Tales. Podkarpacie", "Miracles over the Rospuda and other folk tales. Podlasie and Suwalszczyzna," and "O dudziarz Szumigale i inne bajki ludowe. Greater Poland," containing traditional folk tales told by authentic storytellers.
In 2023, the Institute presented new publications entitled. "Polish Peasants Throughout the Ages" and "Sincerity, Simplicity, Authenticity. Memories of Stanisław Koguciuk". It also publishes a quarterly magazine, "Kultura Wsi," containing popular-scientific content on people, events and social changes in rural areas. The Institute's full range of publications can be found at www.nikidw.edu.pl.
