MORGANTOWN — A szopka, or traditional Polish nativity scene, is a brightly colored and shiny piece of art that stands anywhere from three inches to six feet tall.
Two szopki, also called creches, created by artist Joseph Borytksy, are on display until Jan. 15 at the Morgantown Art Association Gallery in the Mountaineer Mall off Green Bag Road.
The tradition started in Krakow, Poland, before television and radio, Borytsky said.
“The way it used to be, they used to, years ago, they used to go from house to house with these creches and they would hold morality plays,” Borytsky said.
The script to a szopka puppet play, “The Christmas Spider,” is on display next to a creche at the MAA gallery.
Musicians such as violin and accordion players would accompany the creches. The first floor of a creche was used for finger puppets and the second always had a nativity scene, Borytsky said.
Creches also must feature architectural features from the city of Krakow. The right and left towers on one of Borytsky’s creches on display at the MAA gallery, with primary colors of red and green, are from St. Mary’s Basilica, in the Krakow town square.
Other rules of creche construction are that it must shine and it must be made with found items, such as cereal boxes. On Borytsky’s red-and-green creche, only the base is wood. Borytsky used poinsettia foil flattened with a rolling pin to cover the exterior of his red-and-green creche.
“Everything else is cardboard, foil,” Borytsky said. “Back in the day, they used to use candy wrappers, anything that had shine. Today we have a lot more materials that you can work with, which is nice.”
In 1937, 100 people or more would bring szopki to the town square for display, Borytsky said. It became a competition and the winning creches, by age group, are displayed in the Szopka Museum.
“I don’t want it to be lost or forgotten about. I’d like to promote it, keep it promoted, you know, keep it alive,” Borytsky said. He’s considering holding a class on how to build szopka in 2022.
For those interested in learning, his email is borytskyj@gmail.com.
Borytsky has made three creches and is working on a fourth. He also works in two other traditional Polish art forms — egg decorating and elaborate paper cutting.
Susan Witt, gallery director for MAA, said Borytsky’s art has been well received since first entered “Exhibit 60” – an exhibition open to anyone within 60 miles – about five years ago.
“He’s just a very, very talented man, and works in all of these wonderful Polish art forms, which is just really exciting and different for our gallery,” Witt said.
The MAA gallery is open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
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