Locality in the Landscape. Ethnographic Annotation to the Project “Śladami Przeszłości po Gminie Mstów”

Abstract

The article focuses on the project carried out in 2015 in the Mstów commune (Częstochowa district, Silesian Voivodeship), consisting in the installation of information boards in the area (in the landscape) of this Jurassic commune under the common title “Śladami Przeszłości po Gminie Mstów”. The boards, presenting photographs and a short note on the history of a place (today often non-existent or having a different character), were placed in the original locations of objects connected to the local history and heritage. The authors of the project are the Commune Office, “local experts – enthusiasts” and residents. It was them who not only shared their memories (for creating descriptions), but also opened their home archives and made available unique photographs, not available in the official studies. The proposed ethnographic footnote is a commentary to this field exhibition, which has a sightseeing, educational character, preserving the memory of places which existence in social consciousness and the values attributed to them help to maintain the local identity. The concept that organizes and gives context to the considerations is landscape understood as a cultural, social and time construct.