Vernacular Light /folk in a new light/ 

DESIGN: Basia Pruszyńska

Poland

make me! 2024

Vernacular Light is a collection of lamps that manifest folk art values related to the concept of Slow Design, such as the use of local, natural materials and a return to authentic craftsmanship. The project shows the lamp as a compilation of tradition and modernity. In the heyday of folk, there was no electricity, so the folk lamp was never created. Inspired by embroidery and cut-outs, she designed a product in which the ideas of folk art are present both visually and ideologically. To create the lamps, she used local wood and raw cotton fabric. To show traditional materials in a new way, she developed a technique of shaping fabric using bio-resin, giving the cotton cut-outs a 3D form. 

The collection shows that referencing folk art does not have to rely only on commercial reusing of well-known patterns. Instead, it should be focused on their development. Moreover, the project highlights that by coming back to our roots we can see traditional sustainable solutions in a new light.