"The Meetings with Jewish Culture" are an attempt to recreate the former appearance and climate of the Jewish little town, which should strengthen the identification of the inhabitants with their home town, its cultural heritage and the long process of the interpenetration of cultures. During the Meetings the streets of Chmielnik around the synagogue are full of stands with ceramics, sculptures and paintings. The participants in this feast can taste dishes of Jewish cuisine and artistic groups present Jewish art and culture. The feast has been held regularly since 2003, always during the third weekend of June. http://swietokrzyskisztetl.pl/en/
"The Feast of Polish Forget-Me-Not" pertains to the tradition of rural bouquets. The forget-me-not is a flower of our meadows, wilderness, marshes and peat moors; it grows on the banks of streams and fringes of forests, but also in our gardens and farmyards and on 15 May it blooms in our hearts. During this feast, children groups show their performances and ecological competitions and workshops take place. The forget-me-not is a symbol of our remembrance about the values of the Polish culture.
The Commune Harvest Festival - this is certainly the most singing, dancing and colourful feast organized in our commune annually.
It is arranged by employees of the Town and Commune Office of Chmielnik, teachers and employees of schools, the farmers' wives' association, volunteer fire brigades, Chmielnik culture centre and other individuals.
However, a huge amount of work involved in preparing the Harvest Festival returns a hundred times more in the cheerful smiles and happy looks of the farmers, whose all-year labour is perceived and appreciated at the end of the summer.
The Commune Painting Open-Air Workshops
Since 2002, the first days of June have seen the painting open-air workshops. They last two days. On the first day, on Saturday, children and teenagers from the schools of Chmielnik paint interesting places and nooks of one town or village of our commune. The aim of this event is to popularize and show the beautiful natural and architectural nooks of our commune. During the first years, awards were given and works of art were exhibited in Śladków Mały; at present in the Market Square of Chmielnik or at the Community Centre.
A shtetl in the Świętokrzyskie Province
The history of Chmielnik is inseparably associated with interpenetration of cultures - Polish and Jewish. This is the place where the most important trade routes crossed, from Sandomierz through Szydłów, Chęciny to Cracow.
Chmielnik was one of the most famous shtetls (derived from the Yiddish word meaning little town) in Poland, mostly inhabited by the Jews. Here, trade and craft were thriving until the outbreak of World War II. Its only heritage is the synagogue. In Hebrew, the synagogue literally means "a house of assembly". Therefore, the visual element of a house played a key role in our concept. The synagogue is not a sacral building within a Christian meaning. We are interested in the reconstruction of a multi-layer cultural and social life whose architectural context will be a field of activity for the inhabitants of Chmielnik.
Nowadays and before the World War II the synagogue was not only the place of worship and divine service, but also the place of studying the Torah and the Talmud, the assembly room and the seat of the Qahal. It hosted various commune authorities: the school, the archive, the mikveh, the funeral house, the slaughter house and the like.
The key aim is to establish the modern, interactive museum of "the Jewish Community in Chmielnik" in the former synagogue, whose body and interior should coexist with the area outside the building.
The symbol of the open house - inside the synagogue - in the form of a metal cube plays a significant role in the project.
Within a distance of 15 metres from the synagogue, in a specially designed basin, there will be a monument commemorating the holocaust of the Jews of Chmielnik.
In the vestibule, on one of the walls, there will be a multimedia map (in shades of old photographs) of pre-war Chmielnik and nearby shtetls depicting the exceptional dynamics and the significant role of the Jews in the present Świętokrzyskie Province. Here, it will be possible to acquire general knowledge about the localization and role of cities and towns.
The sign of recognition and the graphic emblem of the Museum is a metal cube symbolising a house open to four corners of the world. It will create an intimate space separated from the upper part of the synagogue, pulsing of the contemporary life of the room, which will host concerts, conferences and celebrations important to the town.
The house's roof will be a stage open to artistic inspirations of the inhabitants of Chmielnik. When light penetrates its interior, it will make the stage exceptional and contemplative. The glass sheet from which light will illuminate (or the other way round, the light of its surface will illuminate the birma) will be an exceptional place, separated from history, adjacent to the reconstructed pilasters, which will be a fragment that will inspire exceptional events in the life of the Chmielnik community.
In the central place, inside the cube, there will be a reconstruction of an 18th-century glass birma that will distinguish itself in the room with its light and ephemeral shape. The straight and geometric shape of "the house of the light" (open to the east through a wide entrance), the most significant place in the synagogue, it will be an intimate place that will attract the visitors' attention. The metal block, thanks to its radial notches in its upper part, will be a bond between two existences: the past and the present.
The exhibition space of the "former Market Square" will play an informative and historical role. It will depict scenes from the life of the pre-war town. While walking "the shtetl's synagogue street" around the space of reflection (thanks to photocells), we will be able to see the appearing photos of everyday life in pre-war Chmielnik.
The synagogue was not only a place of worship, but also a place of education, assembly and dialogue. Considering the above, one of the rooms will be used as a modern cinema and a conference room.
