Jan Gryboś "In the Rhythm of the Old Village" - Folk Sculpture Exhibition

A folk sculpture exhibition by Jan Gryboś, “In the Rhythm of the Old Village”, is on display at the Szymbark open-air museum (Skansen), a branch of the Karwacjan Manor Art Gallery in Gorlice.

Karwacjan Manor Art Gallery in Gorlice on the exhibition (translated from the museum’s Polish description; no English page for this exhibition was found on the museum’s site):

We invite you to the Szymbark open-air museum on 16 August at 15:00 for the opening of Jan Gryboś’s folk sculpture exhibition. The exhibition will be on display until 14 November 2026.

What to expect

The sculptures are shown outdoors, among the open-air museum’s relocated cottages, granaries and wooden church - the display sits inside a working ethnographic site, not a gallery. The opening took place on 16 August 2026 at 15:00. There is no separate ticket for the exhibition: ordinary admission to the Skansen covers it.

Context

Jan Gryboś comes from Gródek, a village near Gorlice. The museum itself frames him as a recently rediscovered artist: in 2024 the same institution ran a show at Szymbark titled “Jan Gryboś - an unknown folk artist from Gródek” (“Jan Gryboś - nieznany artysta ludowy z Gródka”); the current exhibition continues that discovery. His craft belongs to the Polish folk-sculpture tradition, which for centuries served mainly religious purposes: figures of Christ, the Virgin Mary and saints were placed in roadside shrines and household altars, carved in wood (soft wood such as linden for small figurines, harder wood for larger pieces) and painted in a limited palette. A visitor with no prior knowledge of Gryboś should read his work in that light rather than as secular or decorative carving.

Tickets and time

Admission to the Skansen, which covers the exhibition, is 16 PLN standard or 10 PLN reduced; Tuesdays are free at every branch of the museum. Organised groups of 10-25 people pay 10 PLN per person, plus 60 PLN for a guide. Opening hours run Tuesday-Friday 9:00-16:00 and weekends 10:00-17:00 from May to September; Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-15:00 in October and April; shorter hours from November to March, closed on Sundays. Last entry is one hour before closing. English on site: the museum publishes no English page for this exhibition, and no English labelling is confirmed for the Skansen buildings - come prepared with a translation app if you do not read Polish. The grounds are demanding for wheelchairs and strollers, with unpaved paths, high thresholds and narrow doorways between buildings; guide dogs are permitted. Fifteen minutes covers the exhibition itself; budget two to three hours for the open-air museum as a whole.

Tickets, opening hours, and current details are on the Karwacjan Manor Art Gallery in Gorlice website .

Museum profile: Karwacjan Manor Art Gallery in Gorlice .