“Folka’"is a portmanteau of Polka (Polish girl) and Folk, which simply means a Polish girl who likes folk. Folka is a shop in London, born out of passion for folk and naive art, started by me and my dear friend Karolina Paczkowska Martin. The idea of opening a shop came to us when we were both travelling across Poland, often without a car, walking for a long time in and through villages in the rain as there was very irregular bus service, meeting artists, recording interviews, and documenting their unique art.
We opened Folka in January 2019, in Brixton Village in London. Our idea was to bring unique pieces of folk art you would never find or see in London. Shortly after we opened, my friend Karolina decided to leave the shop to look after her lovely twin boys. I have since run the shop myself, moving operations to my neighbourhood of Stoke Newington. The move happened just before the pandemic, so the first year in the new space was an emotional rollercoaster.
All the same, it’s been a great success. It’s incredible how positively people react when they enter the shop. A great many customers think Folka is a Mexican shop. And, it is true: both Polish and Mexican folk art have a lot of similarities - colourful paper cuts, pom poms, and sculptures. But whereas Mexican art is known worldwide, Polish art not so well known. For this reason, I am happy to give everyone a little tour and tell stories about all the art pieces and the artists.
At Folka, I curate and showcase various crafts from different regions in Poland. I’ve always adored Easter Palms - made in Poland only for Easter. I stock them throughout the year at Folka. My favorite are palms from Kurpie,
which are made entirely of paper flowers. I also collaborate with folk artists like Bogumiła and Zofia, who make them especially for Folka. While I always mention their history and symbolism, and, that, after getting it blessed in a church, you should keep it at home to bring you good luck and scare away bad demons: but in some ways, the palms at Folka have lost their religious meaning and significance. Customers simply enjoy their design, and often like to get them instead of fresh flowers. I remember a time when Mothers’ Day in England was very close to the Easter celebration. I was over the moon seeing how many Mums got a unique palm, even knowing my Mum would feel a little bit offended by such a secular adaptation of this religious practice.
I also collaborate with Polish artists to make a
variety of products for the shop. When visiting Folka, it is always possible to see a selection of beautiful pajaki from different regions - Kurpie or Łowicz, for example. You might also see colourful nativity scenes from Krakow, called Szopka Krakowska, made with paper and foil, unique ceramics by Adam, woven wall hangings from Podlasie, wooden sculptures by Dionizy and other wooden
traditional toys from
Above
Folka Window.
Photo by Pamela Kelly.
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