An outline of semiotics and esthetics of the Roma sacred corners Cover Image

Zarys semiotyki i estetyki romskich kątów świętych
An outline of semiotics and esthetics of the Roma sacred corners

Author(s): Natalia Gancarz
Subject(s): Customs / Folklore, Visual Arts, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Sociology of Art
Published by: Muzeum Okręgowe w Tarnowie
Keywords: Polish sacred corners; semiotic of culture; aesthetic; Roma and Sinti, Poland; Polish folk culture; Carpathian Mountains; Gypsy style; frozen culture

Summary/Abstract: Looking at the character, significance and the esthetics of the “sacred corner” – a phenomenon of the Polish folk culture, longest present particularly in the Eastern and North-Eastern Poland, the author analyses contemporary decorations made in the Roma houses of the Carpathian Mountains as well as those of the Roma middleclass of various groups. The article aims at opening a discussion about the sourcesof the „Gypsy style” and invites the question of whether the Roma esthetics is a combination of elements borrowed from the poor strata of the majority group and frozen in the material culture of the Roma, while the majority ceased to employ these elements or rather a new space where new, specifically Roma things are being created.

  • Issue Year: 9/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 99-112
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English, Polish, Romany