Until 31 March 2021.
The Cracovian tradition of making elaborate nativity scenes dates back to the 19th century. As the beautiful custom started falling out of favour during the interwar period, the municipal authorities came to the rescue in by launching the Nativity Scene Contest in 1937. The contest was resumed after the Second World War, with the Museum of Kraków stepping in as the organiser. Today, the custom has reached international acclaim as Poland’s first entry on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2018. Due to the pandemic restrictions, on the first Thursday of December 2020 constructors aren’t able to gather at the Adam Mickiewicz statue on the Rynek Główny and take their nativity scenes to the jury at Celestat, and the competition is held online instead. Let’s enjoy the latest beautiful nativity scenes made by Cracovian constructors at the online exhibition launched by the Museum of Kraków on 7 December – and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that Celestat will be able to open to the public in the coming months! (Dorota Dziunikowska, „Karnet” monthly)
