- Title: Flowery Polish village 'blooms' in spring
- Date: 26th May 2017
- Summary: ZALIPIE, POLAND (MAY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO POLISH VILLAGE OF ZALIPIE ZALIPIE FIRE BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS DECORATED WITH FLOWER DRAWINGS AROUND WINDOWS OLD WATER PUMP VARIOUS OF BUILDING DECORATED WITH FLOWER PAINTINGS EXTERIOR OF ZALIPIE RESIDENTS LUCYNA LATA AND JANINA STALICA'S HOUSE LATA PAINTING WELL WITH FLORAL MOTIFS CLOSE UP OF FLOWERS PAINTED ON WELL LATA PAINTING FLOWERS ON WELL BUCKET DECORATED WITH FLOWERS HANGING OVER WELL (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) ZALIPIE RESIDENT, LUCYNA LATA, SAYING: "I like the way these flowers surround me and the farm. It is colourful all year round." HENS IN GARDEN CLOSE UP OF HENS EATING FROM DECORATED CHICKEN COOP BARN CLOSE UP OF DOG NEXT TO BARN ZALIPIE RESIDENT, JANINA STALICA, STANDING AT ENTRANCE TO HER HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) ZALIPIE RESIDENT, JANINA STALICA, SAYING: "In the old days people did not sit at the TVs, they visited each other. They sat on the ditch (on the grass), they enjoyed holidays, they sang. But when the man came home every woman wanted to have the most beautiful house." KITCHEN INSIDE ZALIPIE RESIDENT DANUTA DYMON'S HOUSE DECORATED KITCHEN TOOLS ON TABLE CLOSE UP OF KETTLE PAINTED WITH FLOWERS DYMON SITTING DOWN CLOSE UP OF DECORATED POTTERY VARIOUS OF DECORATED ELEMENTS IN DYMON'S HOUSE DANUTA DYMON TALKING WITH JOURNALIST VARIOUS OF DYMON'S HOUSE, ALL DECORATED WITH FLOWER MOTIFS (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) ZALIPIE RESIDENT, DANUTA DYMON, SAYING: "Oh how it attracts me. It is calming, relaxing, as if I went to a flower paradise, surrounded by them." WOMAN PAINTING HOUSE WALL VARIOUS OF ZALIPIE RESIDENT, ZOFIA JANECZEK, PAINTING HER HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) ZALIPIE RESIDENT, ZOFIA JANECZEK, SAYING: "We are sometimes inspired by the flowers that grow in the garden, sometimes the inspiration comes from an area or simply from the imagination." VARIOUS OF "WOMEN'S PAINTER HOUSE" (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) WOMEN'S PAINTER HOUSE DIRECTOR, WANDA CHLASTAWA, SAYING: "This is not an open-air museum, it is a normal village where people work on farms and in their free time women paint their homesteads, their homes. It's just a way of life, a way to beautify our farm and it is our pride that more than a century old tradition is still blooming." EXTERIOR OF ZALIPIE CHURCH VARIOUS OF FLOWER PAINTINGS DECORATING CHURCH WALLS VARIOUS OF DECORATED WOODEN HOUSES IN ZALIPIE
- Embargoed: 9th June 2017 11:47
- Keywords: painting houses decoration flowers Poland
- Location: ZALIPIE, POLAND
- City: ZALIPIE, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0016IH652X
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The small Polish village of Zalipie "blooms" in spring as its villagers re-paint the thousands of lively flowers decorating the walls of their wooden houses.
Colours, shape and size are decided by homeowners, but nothing goes unpainted in the little village, located about 90 kilometres east of Krakow.
Even the church or the fire brigade headquarters are covered with paintings of flowers.
Legend says the villagers started painting flowers on their homes many years ago to cover up smudges of soot and smoke from their wood-burning stoves.
Lucyna Lata, who paints new flowers on all the walls of her farm every year, said it made her home colourful all year round.
For her it is a family tradition. Her grandmother taught her mother to decorate their farm every year, and she is happy that the painting skills have passed from one generation to the next.
Janina Stalica, who owns a traditional humble wooden house decorated mostly with white flowers, said women in the past worked hard to have the most shiny and beautiful house and show it with pride when their husbands came home.
But flowers here go beyond walls. Not only buildings are decorated. Pottery, kitchen tools, tablecloth or curtains are also brightened up with flowers.
"We are sometimes inspired by the flowers that grow in the garden, sometimes the inspiration comes from an area or simply from the imagination," Zofia Janeczek, said.
In Danuta Dymon's home there is not one single thing that remains uncovered in flowery paintings. Even her kettle and coal stove are lively. Danuta herself always dresses in clothes painted with her favourite colours.
"Oh how it attracts me. It is calming, relaxing, as if I went to a flower paradise, surrounded by them," she says.
Eighty painters in the village have created their own "Women's Painter House", where they share experiences and show tourists their techniques and designs.
"It's just a way of life, a way to beautify our farm and it is our pride that more than a century old tradition is still blooming," its director, Wanda Chlastawa, said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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