Batik Girl, The Fabulous Józefa Kogut

Turned wood decorated with batik, 1923, by Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

Me with Józefa at the entrance of the exhibition, 

animation by Kinga Klisz

Main reason to go to Kraków, was to still see the exhibition ‘Batik Girl. The Fabulous Józefa Kogut’. Almost missed it, but the Muzeum Etnograficzne w Krakowie (MEK) extended it till 20 September. 

I knew about the batik made in Krakow mostly through Maria Wronska-Friends writing. In 2006 she also curated an Batik exhibition at this museum. In the catalog the Javanese batiks from Rudolf Smends collection are shown next to the batiks made in Poland, she shows how strong the influence of motif was on the Polish designs and how big the batikmania was. 

Display with batik & paint on wooden objects by Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

Wooden box  decorated with batik, 1921, by Józefa Kogut, WANT!

MEK collections

The exhibition now highlights one Polish batikmaker, Józefa Kogut (1902–1979). She was based in Krakow were she learned the technique of drawing with wax using a canting as a young girl at the batik workshop run by Antoni Buszek founded in 1913. From the start Józefa’s sisters learned to make batik there, on textiles, but also wood. In 1919 Józefa joined. 

She made batik on cotton & silk, and on wood like chocolate boxes, toys & Easter eggs. 

The tradition of Batik is not so out of the box for Poland as one might think. The tradition of decorating eggs for Easter, pisanki, is actually done with a wax resist technique using a small wax pen that is often heated above a candle. 

Girls from the Krakow workshop

At the table holding up the plate is Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

Her tools!

Canting with wax still inside

Girls at the Batik studio at the Krakow workshop

Pisanki display at MEK

Pisanki display at MEK

With Antoni Buszek adaptation of Javanese batik, the wax pen was filled with wax and heated above a burner similar to how pisanki is done.

It was great to see more folk art at the other building of MEK to put Józefa work in perspective. Antoni Buszek let his students, or batik producers, work freely.

We thought it was a bit like painting at school. We drew more and more boldly, birds and plants, animals and all sorts of flourishes. Under Professor's guidance and with his encouragement, unexpected and amazing drawings were created, without any patterns being copied or imposed on us.

~ Józefa Kogut

Paper cutting art at MEK

Paper cutting art at MEK

Paper cutting art at MEK

Paper cutting art at MEK

The motifs drawn by Józefa look like a mix between Javanese batik & Polish folk art like pisanki & paper-cutting art. The mirroring in her designs is clearly taken from the paper-cutting art. The circles, and also her birds are like the Polish folkart birds. Great to see examples of this artform after seeing the batiks and see this connection in design. 

Display of some of Józefa's batik object of MNK collection

Batik on ceramics by the Krakow workshop

There was more batik being created in Krakow. In the MNK Museum of Applied Art next to batik by Józefa (from Maria Wronska-Friend I understood that MNK has a large collection of her work including many early pieces by her), there was also a vitrine with batik made on ceramic and copper (?!) by other makers in Krakow.

Tablecloth by Józefa Kogut

batik on raw cotton fabric from 1928

MEK collections

Part from the batik-decorated wall hanging exhibited in  the dining room 

at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts 

in Paris in 1925

MEK collections

In 1925 she and her sister are awarded for their contribution to the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. A dining room was decorated with batik, as a kind op wallpaper, by Józefa. Only a piece of it remains. In dark blue with a drawing in white  the center is filled with diamonds, ending in a big flower, framed by two flower garlands. On this piece a big butterfly between the leaves, on the ones on the photo also birds are visible.

The exhibition asked if she could afford to attend, but I couldn’t find an answer. Both their awards are in the exhibition too. 

Dress and batik fabric from 1926

MEK collections

Detail of pillowcase by Józefa Kogut

from ca. 1925

MEK collections

Detail of batik on silk by Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

The only Javanese (Cap) Batik in the exhibition, 

with reflection of projection of animation by Kinga Klisz

MEK collections

Józefa continued making batik even after the workshop closed in 1926 until the war starts in 1939. Her work is sold as souvenirs, in Poland and abroad. 

In the exhibition are next to batik on cloth and wood, also drawing. Little sketches for batiks, but also drawings & postcards of religious scenes & fantasy worlds. 

After the war she continues. A bio by herself in the exhibition reads as follows; 

In 1945, I returned to artistic work and was employed by the Artists Cooperative as a batik and pottery artist... From 1952 to 1968 my artistic and souvenir works (hand-painted on wood) were purchased by CPLIA [Centre of Folk Handicraft and Art] in Krakow, intended for export only.

From 1968, due to poor eyesight and bad health in general, I have not been gainfully employed. At first I received a monthly 500 zloty allowance from the Ministry of Art and Culture, and as of 1 October 1971 was awarded a special pension of 1,500 zloty a month.

And so, fifty years of my work in this field have passed.

In 1973 she trying to find a home for about 200 of objects she created, both batiked & painted. 

In 1981, two years after her death her sister Zofia donated it to the MEK.

Drawing by Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

Drawings by Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

Drawings by Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

The town mascot, Lajkonik, 

painted and with batik by Józefa Kogut

MEK collections

The exhibition shows many of Józefa’s lovely creations and is beautifully set-up. With colourful walls, her batiks get even more outspoken. With animations and also a do-it-yourself drawing booklet, her designs are brought to life, by illustrator Kinga Klisz. In the last room of the exhibition, you could colour and play dress-up to become part of Józefa's world. Of course I had to give it a go!

From one Batik girl to another, love this whole exhibition completly❣️

Also a book got made. I just missed the publication of it, but it share the work & story of the three sisters. Maria, Zofia and Józefa all learned the batik technique at the Krakow Workshops, lived together all their lives and supported each other. From some works it is no longer clear who made it, and perhaps or very likely the produced works together as well. You can order the book at the museum giftshop now.