The Atlas of Polish Traditional Costumes 1949–2019. Directions in Research on Traditional Costumes in Poland after 1945

Abstract

In 1949 the first book of the Atlas of Polish Traditional Costumes series appeared. Józef Gajek was the one who initiated the series, published by Polish Folk Association to this day. He was associated with Polish Ethnographic Atlas, which had a great impact on the character of the series. Its main objective was to describe Polish traditional costumes according to particular regions. Janusz Kamocki and Barbara Bazielich were subsequent editors of the series. Since 2011 the authors of this article have been part of the editorial staff. At their initiative ten more books of the series were published in the years 2013–2018, field research on traditional handicraft was conducted and the Traditional Costume Section  was established. The article describes the circumstances accompanying this editorial series appearance and discusses both main directions in research on traditional costumes and activities for popularising knowledge of this unique cultural phenomenon.