[M.K.] Jaką radę dałabyś początkującym tkaczom? [K.CH.] Nie bądzcie przerażeni! Tkactwo jest superfajne. To jest niesamowita przygoda. Przy krośnie możesz puścić wodze fantazji. Tkactwo naprawdę nie ma horyzontu. To prawdziwa twórczość, w której możesz wymyślać cuda.
KRYSTYNA CHODAK
Bio Krystyna Chodak – by profession, a psychiatrist; by passion, a weaver. A proud native of Podlasie, she affectionately refers to herself as an “autochthone”. A regionalist, researcher of family weaving histories, and collector of textiles. She is the founder of the local weaving group “Tkacka Reaktywacja” in Hajnówka.
For over five years, she has been successfully organizing the “Nowoberezowska Museum Night”. The 2024 edition took place at the Open-Air Museum in Białowieża under the theme “Skansen w Bratkach”.
She participates in weaving competitions and, in 2024, won second prize in the category of traditional weaving techniques in the 15th edition of the Borderland Weaving Competition “Tradition and Modernity – Weaving in the Bug and Krzyna Valleys”. Krystyna has also organized numerous weaving exhibitions, including at the Center for Tourism and Promo- tion “Land of the Bison” in Białowieża, the Orthodox Church of St. Apostle James in Łosinka, and the Orthodox Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Warsaw. Magdalena Kozioł: Where did your interest in weaving come from? Krystyna Chodak: The loom was always present in our home. When my mother stopped weaving, it was stored in the attic, seemingly waiting for its turn. Although I could already sew on a machine, knit, and cross-stitch, I had no idea how to use the loom. It was something I hadn’t mastered yet, but it intrigued me. [M.K.] Who in your family practiced weaving? [K.CH.] Starting with my immediate surroundings, my mother was the one who wove at home. The neighbors also wove. Back then, the village was alive with weaving—women visited each other, weaving in their homes in turns. My mother would go to the neighbors’ houses, and they would come to ours. It was a rotation that included a dif- ferent household each year. Besides my mother, my grandparents also wove. I even have a keepsake — a cere- monial towel woven by them. Unlike most such towels, it’s not embroidered but woven. The colorful pattern is woven directly into the fabric. [M.K.] How about your mother? Did you help her with weaving? [K.CH.] Yes, but the help I provided was very basic. My job was to set the board — I had to hold it and place it under the threads being lifted. It was monotonous and not very creative, so I felt more like a third-rate assistant. The loom itself was a mystery to me back then — I didn’t know how to approach it.
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Woven Heritage Interviews
Tkane Dziedzictwo Wywiady
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