The formal inscription is due to be confirmed at a UNESCO conference in New Delhi, India, which will run from December 8 to 13.
"For craftspeople and local communities who have kept this skill alive for generations, this is a special moment," said Wojciech Świątkowski, head of the association.
He added that recognition by UNESCO honors a long tradition and creates a chance to develop new educational and promotional projects that will bring basketry closer to younger generations in Poland and abroad.
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, keeps the intangible heritage list to help protect living cultural practices, from music and rituals to craft skills.
Basketry traditions will become Poland’s seventh entry on the list, alongside the Kraków nativity scene tradition, tree beekeeping culture, falconry, the flower carpets tradition for Corpus Christi processions, timber rafting, and the polonaise, a traditional Polish dance.
In Poland, basketry has a long history. Artisans have used plant materials such as grass stems, straw and pine or juniper roots.
Today, around 90 percent of work relies on willow wicker, which grows well along riverbanks and has helped tie the craft to the country’s river landscapes.
Historically, basketmakers produced everyday objects and fishing gear, including woven fish traps known as samołówka. The craft spread with waves of settlement from the Middle Ages to the mid-nineteenth century, helped by Olęder colonists of Dutch and German origin who brought their own techniques and needs.
Later, from the second half of the 19th century, specialist schools in regions such as Galicia, Greater Poland and central Mazovia shaped modern Polish basketry, and many of these traditions are still maintained through educational programs run by local craft associations and companies.
Although social media and global markets tend to push basket designs in similar directions worldwide, Polish craftspeople say the continued dominance of willow as a basic material keeps their work closely linked to local history and rural culture.
Formal training opportunities are now limited, however, as only a handful of vocational programs still prepare new professional artisans, including a regional school in the central town of Łowicz.
Nowy Tomyśl in western Poland has become a symbol of this craft. In 2000, local basket makers built a giant wicker basket that won a Guinness World Record, then replaced it with an even larger structure in 2006, again recognized as the world’s biggest wicker basket.
The project was designed as a public landmark that celebrates the region’s basketry heritage and its contemporary community of artisans.
Świątkowski said the UNESCO listing should make it easier to organize workshops, exhibitions and international exchanges with other countries that protect their own craft traditions.
For many basketmakers, he added, the UNESCO decision represents both recognition and a practical tool to support local workshops, education and cultural tourism in the years ahead.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP