The Oskar Kolberg Award "For Merits to Folk Culture" is the oldest and most important award in the field of traditional culture in Poland, granted by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in seven categories. The award was established in 1974. Its patron is Oskar Kolberg (1814-1890), a Polish ethnographer, folklorist and composer.
This year's gala will be held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on September 12, 2024 at 1 p.m. Winners will receive Oskar Kolberg Medals designed by Anna Jarnuszkiewicz, commemorative diplomas and financial prizes funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and the Mazovian Voivodeship Government. A live broadcast of the event will be available on the YouTube channel of the National Institute of Music and Dance and at www.nagrodakolberg.pl.
Recall that the winners of the 49th edition of the Oskar Kolberg Award "For merits to folk culture" were:
- In category I for artists in the field of visual arts and music and dance folklore:
Anna Dunat - singer and storyteller who promotes the traditions of the Żywiec Highlanders. An important aspect of her activity is the generational transmission, carried out by sharing knowledge, teaching archaic singing skills to young adepts and admirers of traditional music. (Pewel Wielka, Silesian voivodeship, Żywiec region),
Grażyna and Tadeusz Kruczyński - makers of ceramic toys: birds, ocarinas. Organizers of clay toy making workshops (Żywiec, Silesian voivodeship, Żywiec region),
Helena Napierała - singer, continuator of monodic and polyphonic singing, founder of the "Wigranie" ensemble, popularizer of regional dialect, traditions and culture (Stary Folwark, Podlaskie voivodeship, Suwalszczyzna),
Halina Pajka - cutout artist, master of ritual arts. She is one of the most outstanding folk artists from the Kurpiowska Puszcza Zielona region. She deals with Kurpie embroidery, weaving, makes Easter eggs, palms, paper bouquets and kierce. Promoter of Kurpie traditions and culture (Kadzidło, Mazowieckie province, Kurpie),
Stanislawa Ewa Skowysz-Mucha - Easter egg maker, runs the Museum of Leipzig Easter Eggs, founder of the Association of Lovers of Leipzig Easter Eggs and Traditions, organizer of workshops on traditional Easter egg making (Leipzig, Podlasie Province, Podlasie)
- In Category II for the Master of Tradition:
Anna Chuda - folk singer, dancer and storyteller from Biskupizna. Extremely involved in educational projects. She conducts singing workshops and provides consultation to younger folk artists. (Posadowo, Greater Poland Province, Biskupizna)
- In category III for artists for folk writing:
Barbara Kryszczuk - poet and prose writer. Her work is dominated by themes related to folk and religious culture. In prose works, which are distinguished by strong memoirism, she describes rural traditions, rituals and the realities of peasant life (Turkowice, Lublin Province, Hrubieszow Land)
- In Category IV for researchers, scientists and entertainers:
Donat Niewiadomski - literary historian, folklorist, regionalist, cultural animator, expert and authority on folk literature. His scientific achievements have contributed to the protection and popularization of the author's folk literature (Lublin, Lublin province),
Elzbieta Piskorz-Branekova - ethnographer, specialist in Polish folk costumes and traditional embroidery, collector. She conducts research and publishing activities in the field of traditional costumes. Creator of the European costume collection and the Balkan collection at the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw (Warsaw, Mazowieckie voivodeship).
- In category V for folk bands:
Folk Band from Gniewczyna Łańcucka - one of the few traditional folk bands making music in the Przeworsk region. It has been functioning since 1993 with an instrumental lineup or with soloists. Protects and popularizes tangible and intangible cultural heritage (Gniewczyna Łańcucka, Subcarpathian voivodeship, Podkarpackie region).
- In category VI for folk groups:
Highland Song Theater "Dunawiec " - has been in operation since 1984.It consists of descendants of Polish reemigrants from Bukovina - the Chadec highlanders who came to Lower Silesia in 1947.It is one of the few groups in the region that, in addition to dialect, rituals and an impressive repertoire of old songs, have preserved traditional festive costumes (Zbylutów, Lower Silesian voivodeship, Lower Silesia),
Regional ensemble "Wilamowice" - Founded in 1948, the Wilamowice people are descendants of 13th-century settlers of Western Europe. The ensemble has a multi-generational character. Its repertoire includes dances and songs sung in Wilamowice, with numerous influences from other regions of Poland and Europe (Wilamowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Oświęcim Land).
- In category VII for institutions and organizations of merit in the care and dissemination of folk culture:
Communal Cultural Center in Podegrodzie - carries out the mission of protecting the generational transmission and popularization of the cultural heritage of the region of Lachy Sądeckie and Podegrodzie. Since 1976, it has been conducting multidimensional regional education (Podegrodzie, Małopolskie Voivodeship, Lachy Podegrodzkie),
Jan Dekert Lubuskie Museum in Gorzow Wielkopolski - the oldest museum in Lubuskie Voivodeship; co-organizer of the Michal Kowalski National Easter egg contests (Gorzow Wielkopolski, Lubuskie Voivodeship, Lubuska Land).
Once again, as part of the Oskar Kolberg Prize, a special award will also be given to an exceptional student designated by the Master of Tradition. This year the award will go to Maria Polowczyk.
Również 12 września o godz. 18.00 w siedzibie Narodowego Instytutu Kultury i Dziedzictwa Wsi (Warszawa, Krakowskie Przedmieście 66), odbędzie się Koncert laureatów wraz z potańcówką tradycyjną.
Podczas wieczoru wystąpią: Góralski Teatr Pieśni „Dunawiec” z Dolnego Śląska, Anna Chuda zaśpiewa z uczennicami – (w tym z wyróżnioną Marią Polowczyk) z Biskupizny, Anna Dunat zaśpiewa z kapelą z Żywiecczyzny, Kapela Ludowa z Gniewczyny Łańcuckiej poderwie do tańca, a na zakończenie Zespół Regionalny „Wilamowice” oraz Kapela Sercówka z Gminnego Ośrodka Kultury w Podegrodziu. Koncert poprowadzi Krzysztof Trebunia-Tutka. Organizatorami koncertu laureatów i potańcówki są Narodowy Instytut Muzyki i Tańca oraz Narodowy Instytut Kultury i Dziedzictwa Wsi. Koncertowi towarzyszyć będzie wystawa „Byśki, kozy i pająki – czyli kultura ludowa w obiektywie Marty Ankiersztejn”, przedstawiająca portrety wybranych laureatów Nagrody z ostatnich czterech lat, a także prace – rzeźby, tkaniny, wycinanki, koronki – wykonane przez artystów uwiecznionych na zdjęciach. Do zobaczenia będą pisanki, zabawki rzeźbione w drewnie, koronki, tytułowe byśki, kozy i pająki, i wiele innych.
The organizer of the Oskar Kolberg Award "For Merits to Folk Culture" is the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The competition and gala are implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance in cooperation with the Radom Village Museum in Radom and its branch, the Oskar Kolberg Museum in Przysucha. Funders of the financial prizes are the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and the Mazovian Voivodeship Government.
Media patrons of the Gala of the 49th Oskar Kolberg Award:
TVP3 Warsaw, Polskie Radio SA, Dwójka - Polish Radio, Radio Folk Culture Center,
Gość Niedzielny, Culture.pl, muzyka tradycyjna.pl, kultura ludowa.pl, Folk 24, Pismo Folkowe.
More information about the award and its past winners from 1974-2023 can be found
at nimit.pl and www.nagrodakolberg.pl.
National Institute of Music and Dance
Alina Święs - Head of Music Projects Department: alina.swies@nimit.pl
Media contact at NIMiT
Agnieszka Wyszomirska agnieszka.wyszomirska@nimit.pl
+48 887 240 011
