Skansen in Kuligów on the Bug River

It is made of family mementos.

It has served as the setting for the films like: „Pornografia” i „Jasminum” by Jan Jakub Kolski. Some objects became elements of scenography in the film „Zemsta” by Andrzej Wajda. This charming spot is bustling with life – some classes for the youth, outdoor art sessions, collectors convents and numerous other events are conducted here. It has an established name, so it is hard to believe that it is a private initiative of one man – Mr Wojciech Urmanowski, who started creating this unique place out of … family mementos. This is how the Folk Culture Park, simple named Skansen in Kuligów on Bug (Skansen w Kuligowie nad Bugiem) has come into being.

Kuligów is a picturesque village, situated on the river marshes. The Skansen was started in the1990’s. Everything that this place is made of is the result of the need to exhibit the family mementos of the owner, whose childhood was spent in the nearby Jadów. With time his collection was enriched with many interesting objects, acquired through his private search over Masovia and Podlachia. Mr Wojciech’s mission has always been handing over to younger generations a part of the true rural past, constituting an integral element of history and ethnography.

The hut moved here date back to the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Today they are exhibited as fully equipped as it is possible. Within the skansen you can see a wayside forge from 1898 translocated from Podlasie, a cottage hut from Kuligów and a petty nobility manor from Podlachia (Podlasie). In a granary a few exhibitions have been prepared related to craft, such as pottery and braiding, and in a barn you can find farming and household tools. A cowshed has been turned into an exhibition place for other workshops: harness- maker’s, weaver’s, rope-maker’s and wheelwright’s – carpenter’s. Also a manor’s laundry was recreated along with a mangle and a coach house. Mr Wojciech Urmanowski is not going to stop at this point – his dream is to present some other old crafts and professions – boatbuilding, fishing and beekeeping. In order to ensure a proper direction of skansen development, the owner cooperates with specialists.

The place has comfortable infrastructure to meet the present day needs. Apart from a workshops room and a conference room there is also a kitchen, a roofed car port and toilets. Owing to this the museum is a wonderful venue for many events which in fact take place here quite often. Classes for kids and teenagers, outdoor art session on the Bug River (Nadbużańskie Plenery Artystyczne), meetings with a draftsman as part of the so-called the Melody of Charcoal and Paper (Melodia Węgla i Papieru) and Convents of Folk Culture and Small Towns Collectors organized under the patronage of National Heritage Institute (Narodowego Instytutu Dziedzictwa), are conducted here. In spring and summer there are plenty of events, so the place is really worth visiting. Being so authentic, the very place is a unique travel in time and a change from everyday chores.