Płazów Woodcuts Come Back to Life: Józef Lewkowicz in Rzeszów
The Płazów woodcut is one of those traditions that are easy to overlook and well worth knowing. It is a collection of 19th-century woodcut printing blocks linked to Płazów in Lubaczów County: 13 wooden tablets, some carved on both sides, giving 22 blocks in all. The subjects are mainly religious: scenes from the Old and New Testaments, images of Mary and Jesus, and saints of the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches.
The reconstruction of the blocks of Maciej Kostrzycki from Płazów was taken on by Józef Lewkowicz, a folk artist from Nowe Sioło. According to Rzeszów Info, it is painstaking work: the surviving patterns have to be read and transferred onto wood while keeping the language of old art. In 2022, “Revival and Development of the Płazów Woodcut” was entered in the national register of good practices for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, and Lewkowicz became one of the first official custodians of the tradition. In 2025 he received the “Meritorious for Polish Culture” badge.
The exhibition “Józef Lewkowicz – Within the Circle of the Płazów Woodcut” at the F. Kotula Ethnographic Museum in Rzeszów (Rynek 6) shows prints of the reconstructed images as well as the artist's own works. The opening was set for 24 September 2026 at 5 pm, and admission was free. The highlight was to be the unveiling of his newest piece, a woodcut of St. Onuphrius, the 16th reconstructed block.
I am glad that someone treats a piece of wood and the line cut into it as living history, not just an exhibit behind glass.
Source: Rzeszów Info
The reconstruction of the blocks of Maciej Kostrzycki from Płazów was taken on by Józef Lewkowicz, a folk artist from Nowe Sioło. According to Rzeszów Info, it is painstaking work: the surviving patterns have to be read and transferred onto wood while keeping the language of old art. In 2022, “Revival and Development of the Płazów Woodcut” was entered in the national register of good practices for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, and Lewkowicz became one of the first official custodians of the tradition. In 2025 he received the “Meritorious for Polish Culture” badge.
The exhibition “Józef Lewkowicz – Within the Circle of the Płazów Woodcut” at the F. Kotula Ethnographic Museum in Rzeszów (Rynek 6) shows prints of the reconstructed images as well as the artist's own works. The opening was set for 24 September 2026 at 5 pm, and admission was free. The highlight was to be the unveiling of his newest piece, a woodcut of St. Onuphrius, the 16th reconstructed block.
I am glad that someone treats a piece of wood and the line cut into it as living history, not just an exhibit behind glass.
Source: Rzeszów Info
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