Stanisława Staśkiewicz

Personal archive of designs

Ms Stanisława Staśkiewicz comes from the Dawid family that has given us many recognised folk artists. She’s been doing paper cutting since 1968 and this is her flagship area of work. She learned her skills from her husband’s family, but over time she has improved them with her own unique creative forms. She also makes flowers for bouquets, decorates Easter eggs, models byśki. Like all women of her generation, she can weave on a loom. She lives in a multigenerational home together with the family of her son who is the sołtys [village leader] of Strzałki. She passes on her skills to her grandchildren who are good at making cut-outs and decorating Easter eggs.

She is a mistress of both miniatures, as well as large forms. Her cut-outs reproduce old patterns but also introduce her original ides: she cuts out leluje, stars, a multi-level forest and figures of Kurpies. They say that “everything must be in your head” to remember and know how to make cut-outs. She is thrifty, and can use every, even the tiniest scrap of paper after the bigger cut-outs – she uses the leftovers for miniatures which she then gives away.

She wants to pass on her passion to the next generation. For this purpose, she keeps her own archive of designs to which she has given a touching message. Each theme she applies is cut-out and put in an envelope – “it’s for the children”, she says, “so they know there’s no fraud here, everything’s real”. She described the collection by hand: “Staśkiewicz Stanisława. Forms for paper cut-outs to redraw, for all, small and big birds, small and big cribs. I leave everything to you: Sebek, Kasia, Gabrysia, Iza. Please keep it…”

In the part of the house where she lives, she has kept the traditional interior elements: a tile stove, the holy corner with old paintings and statues of saints, beautifully decorated with bouquets. She says that “our rituals should last until the end of the world and we need to pass them to one another, so everyone knows that people used to do this”. How true it is!

Ms Stanisława values sincere people and despises lies. She always says what’s in her heart. And she speaks beautifully, and sings moving, religious songs in a dialect. Contact with her is a pure pleasure. She is open, she talks about life, people and is willing to share her memories and dreams.

She has participated in many regional reviews of folk art, competitions, exhibitions. Every year, she appears at the “Dying Jobs” event at the Kurpie Homestead in Kadzidło and at the Kurpie wedding, as well as during the Folk Festival of Kurpie and Podlasie. You can find cut-outs in the North-Masovian Museum in Łomża. She has won numerous awards and distinctions. She has been honoured with the badge of The Distinguished Culture Activist, the “Pro Masovia” Medal, The Starosta of Ostrołęka Award and an honorary badge for the Distinguished contribution to the Polish culture, given by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. She is a member of the Association of Folk Artists.