Kurpie Museum in Wach

Tradition brought to life at the Kurpie Museum.

If you want to have a hands-on and truly local experience of the Kurpie region, you should immediately visit the Kurpie Museum in Wach, This private enterprise was set up by Laura and Zdzisław Bziukiewicz 10 kilometres away from Kadzidło, near Ostrołęka. The Museum brings the quintessential tradition of the Kurpie region back to life due to efforts from Zdzisław Bziukiewicz, a native to the region, and his wife, Laura, who, although “imported”, as it were, demonstrates how deeply a stranger can settle in the area. This unique place is also a showcase for Kurpie traditional artefacts, a collection of over 4.5 thousand items as well as 5 thousand books, magazines, photographs and documents. Additionally, visitors can join one of the museum classes available and savour Kurpie specialities made by Laura.

The Bziukiewicz family offering a myriad of attractions, their museum is almost always open, which is a rare phenomenon. All you need to do is make a phone call to tour the museum. The museum is a family-run enterprise in which work and privacy are blended in perfect proportions..

Zdzisław and Laura Bziukiewicz’s collectors’ passion took a tangible form in 2009, when they decided to share their collection with the outside world. The Bziukieiwcz family have created a collection that encompasses almost all aspects of Kurpie life. They are on display in the following sections: Weaving, Amber Crafting, Carpentry, Cobbling, Wickerwork, Home, Homestead, Bee Keeping, Clothing, Black-Smithing, Forest, Stables, Craft, Library. The most recently created section is entirely devoted to the Kurpie Rifle Regiment (militaria).

A large proportion of the collection was established to save Kurpie everyday life and their celebrations from oblivion. Zdzisław Bziukiewicz cannot turn a blind eye to any of the historic artefacts because each of them has sentimental value and can tell a story of its own. For this reason, the Museum is literally filled with exhibits, which populate its outer and inner walls, floors and the ceiling, to make the most of the available space. To pack all this in, it is necessary to compact the existing exhibition for new items to arrive.

The Kurpie Musuem holds the largest collection focused on the Green Kurpie area. Earliest exhibits come from the beginning of the 17th century (Swedish cannon balls discovered in Myszyniec), while youngest artefacts are dated to the 1970s. They demonstrate the region’s evolution, which was determined by technology, the availabilityility of raw materials as well as social and mental change.The Kurpie Museum in Wach is collaborating with various cultural institutions, associations, public institutions, scientists and collectors. It also participates in research projects for private museums. Since 2011, the Museum has been operating under the auspices of the Warsaw University. Its educational offer is extremely diverse. Selected classes are carried out using genuine museum exhibits, which, on the contrary to public museums, is possible in a private-run institution. The classes are devoted to particular themes, including amber digging, traditional amber processing, making flowers with crepe paper, postcards and note cards, tatting lace, combing, breaking and weaving of flax, Easter palm making, painted Easter eggs, folk herbal medicine, village toys, laundry and linen pressing, jewellery and many others.

The Bziukiewicz family also run an agrotourism farm called “U Bursztyna”. The Museum organises Amber Day, which brings together the Amber Digging Competition, the May Day Picnic and the Kurpie Story-Telling competition, during which the Open Kurpie Story-Telling Review is held. They also take an active part in the Night of the Museums and organise temporary exhibitions featuring both public and provate collections.

There is a small shop on the site where you can buy amber, traditional hand-made lace, Kurpie painted eggs and souvenirs.