The Museum of Kurpie Culture is housed in a burgher house constructed from 1823 to 1825 and known as the Old Post Office. When opened in 1975, the museum strove to continue in the footsteps of Adam Chetnik, the distinguished champion of the Kurpie region, who had founded the Primeval Forest Museum in Ostroleka in the 1930s.
The Ethnographic Section contains objects from the two forests of the Kurpie region, Green Forest and White Forest, and presents both the material and cultural aspects of those who have lived there. The holdings include village crafts, household equipment, ritual items, folk art (including a priceless collection of decorative paper cut-outs), sacred sculpture as well as Kurpie regional costumes with a valuable collection of women's clothing typical of the Puszcza Biala region dating from the late nineteenth century to the present. Of particular interest are the lace and textiles, kilims and buronkas typical of the region.
The History and Art Section includes objects related to the uprisings of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with a special focus on the battle of Ostroleka and General Jozef Bem. The Section also has mementos related to the 5th Regiment of the Zaslaw Uhlans, which was stationed in Ostroleka during the interwar period. The museum's art collections include paintings, graphic art and sculpture of the interwar period by Zofia Stryjenska, Waclaw Borowski, Vlastimil Hofman, Andrzej Pronaszko, Eugeniusz Zak and others, as well as works by contemporary local artists. Also on display are examples of nineteenth and early twentieth century furniture and decorative arts.
The Archaeological Section preserves objects which illustrate all facets of life in the Kurpie region from the late Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, including construction techniques, manufacturing, defence and burial rites. The most valuable finds have come from Ostroleka's fortified settlement.
Permanent exhibitions: "The Prehistory of the Kurpie Region"; "The Battle of Ostroleka: 26 May 1831"; "The Wiktor Gomulicki Memorial Room" (a writer and poet born in Ostroleka); "Gallery of Polish Art: First Half of the Twentieth Century"; "The Kurpie Folk Costume from White Forest".
Muzeum Kultury Kurpiowskiej
pl. gen. Bema 8
07-410 Ostrołęka
Region: mazowieckie
Phone: (+48 29) 764 54 43
Phone/Fax: (+48 29) 764 35 00
WWW: www.muzeum-ostroleka.art.pl
Email: muzeum@muzeum-ostroleka.art.pl