This is a unique place where you can learn about the traditions of pottery. In Medynia the past and the present can be encountered side by side. The old wooden cottages preserve the memory of the forefathers who lived in Poland’s largest pottery district, while the modern brick buildings contain large pottery workshops, expositions, and kilns as well as a pottery shop.
The Pottery Centre MEDYNIA comprises two wooden cottages from the late 1800s, as well as modern brick buildings and a pottery kiln with a roofing.
The wooden cottages were moved here from the village of Medynia in 2000, when the Potters' Croft was first established. One of them, an old farmhouse, contains furnishings and tools such as dowry chests, benches, and querns. The other cottage is a workshop, similar to those which once were present in almost every homestead in this area. Inside you can see a foot-powered potter's wheel, a bench for clay processing, tools, rollers as well as hooks with drying clay pots hanging under the ceiling. Both cottages witnessed the life and work of the people who once lived here. Visitors can also listen to memories recorded by older residents of Medynia who give their account of the past.
One building houses an information desk, a ticket office and a shop with unique ceramic items created by local artisans. There is also a large room where pottery workshops for groups and individuals are organised throughout the year. A massive glass wall provides a view to the courtyard and the wooden cottages.
Another building holds two exhibition rooms. They are connected by a hallway in which the floor is made from tempered glass; looking down you can see an unusual ceramic scale model of the old pottery district. Made by Anna and Krzysztof Brzuzan, the model shows the size of the area which in the past comprised four villages: Medynia Głogowska, Medynia Łańcucka, Pogwizdów and Zalesie, beautifully located amidst forests and fields.
There is also a special room which presents information about the local artists and their works. Visitors can admire here a unique ceramic fireplace from the 1980s, made by the potter Stefan Głowiak, as well as the works by two female artists: Emilia Chmiel, who was the first to create ceramic sculptures in Medynia, and Władysława Prucnal whose works are known for their characteristic and recognisable style.
The exposition in another room depicts the history of pottery in this area, from the 19th century to the present day, and explains the manufacturing technology and the methods used here in the processes of firing, decorating and glazing. A particularly noteworthy exhibit in this room is a traditional pottery kiln, built here only as a part of the exposition; in fact this is a replica of a kiln located nearby on the property of the Głowiak family.
You can also watch here a fascinating documentary showing the whole process of pottery production shortly after WWII, starting with the extraction of clay and ending with the sale of the products at the fairs in Łańcut and Leżajsk.
Made in Medynia Głogowska in 1949 by students of the Łódź Film School and by the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Łódź, the documentary shows Medynia as it once was, and as it is today only remembered by the oldest people living here. Medynia Pottery Centre can use the documentary to present the history and the traditions of this region to young people owing to the efforts of Bogusław Rostworowski and Christine Rickards-Rostworowska (author of the book about the art of Władysława Prucnal).
A pottery kiln, which has been built in the Pottery Centre, is used a few times a year during a special event when the local potters bring their products in order to carry out the firing process here. The spectacular event is always watched by many visitors.
You will find information about the opening hours and tickets at www.medynia.com
You can find out more about the pottery traditions in Medynia Głogowska in a separate article.