There are some things without which Poland would probably stop functioning.
Potatoes.
Waiting to see a doctor.
Mushroom picking.
The Easter food blessing.
And a wicker basket.
So when we came across Luz Palokaj’s film from the “He doesn’t stop” series, presenting Poland in a highly exaggerated, satirical nutshell, one small detail immediately caught our attention.
Or rather… two.
A wicker basket appears in the film twice.
Coincidence?
As people who have been working with wicker for years, we naturally believe it absolutely is not.
Scene 1
First, Easter. Naturally, with wicker.
If you want to show Poland to a foreigner in just a few seconds, sooner or later Easter is going to appear.
And when Easter appears, so does… a wicker basket.
Not a plastic carrier bag.
Not a plastic container.
Not a supermarket bag.
A wicker basket.
In the film, we see beautifully prepared Easter baskets filled with food for the traditional blessing: eggs, bread, cold meats, green sprigs and a white cloth.
In other words, the complete Polish Easter Starter Pack.
The Easter basket here is far more than simple packaging.
It is practically one of the lead actors.
Without it, the scene would look something like this:
“Father, I’ve brought the eggs in an old ice cream tub.”
And suddenly the whole atmosphere disappears.
Scene 2
Then the Pole heads into the forest.
And this is where things become even more unmistakably Polish.
Forest.
Mist.
Mushrooms.
People studying the forest floor with greater concentration than when completing their tax return.
And of course… a wicker basket, shaped remarkably like our very own Wernis basket!
Because every Pole knows that life presents us with some very serious existential questions:
– porcini or poisonous lookalike?
– where exactly were those bay boletes growing last year?
– who got up at 5.30 a.m. and “cleared out the whole forest” before everyone else?
– and why on earth did someone turn up to pick mushrooms carrying a Biedronka carrier bag?
That last one could genuinely end a friendship.
The Wicker Basket – Poland’s Supporting Hero
And that is exactly what we liked most about this film.
You can make a satirical story about Poland full of stereotypes, absurdities and cultural shortcuts…
…and somewhere among all of them, wicker appears completely naturally.
Because for generations, the wicker basket has simply been part of everyday life in Poland.
For the forest.
For the market.
For shopping.
For potatoes.
For apples.
For a picnic.
For storage.
For taking Easter food to church to be blessed.
And long before anyone came up with phrases such as zero waste, slow design, natural materials or sustainable living, our grandmothers simply picked up a wicker basket and went to the market.
No hashtags required.
First Came the Basket. Then Came the Marketing.
Today, the world is rediscovering natural materials.
We read about:
slow living,
eco design,
handmade,
sustainable products,
returning to nature.
And Polish wickerwork could simply reply:
“Nice of you to join us.”
Because baskets were being woven here long before anyone started photographing a linen tablecloth, a ceramic cup and dried flowers for Instagram.
In places such as Rudnik nad Sanem, Łętownia, Ulanów, Tarnogóra, Nowa Sarzyna, Wola Zarczycka, Łowisko, Groble and many other towns and villages across the surrounding part of the Podkarpackie region, wicker is not a seasonal interior trend.
It is a craft passed down from generation to generation.
And that is why it is both funny and rather wonderful to see a wicker basket appearing in a short film attempting to capture “Poland in a nutshell”.
Because apparently, you can fit Poland into a few dozen seconds.
But you cannot leave out the basket.
A Polish User Manual for the Wicker Basket
Spring:
🌿 fill it with your Easter food for the blessing.
Summer:
🍓 take it strawberry picking.
Autumn:
🍄 head into the forest for mushrooms.
Winter:
🪵 carry firewood to the fireplace.
One product. Four seasons.
Polish functional design, before we even started calling it design.
And perhaps that is exactly why wicker keeps coming back
Homes change.
Fashion changes.
Cars, phones and the way we shop all change.
But when we see a wicker basket filled with eggs and covered with a white cloth, we immediately know it is Easter.
And when we see someone in a forest carrying a wicker basket, we know exactly what they are doing.
We do not need a caption.
We do not need instructions.
It is one of those objects that has become part of our cultural memory.
And perhaps that is exactly why Luz Palokaj, while presenting his satirical version of Poland, reached for this image not once, but twice.
And us?
All we can say is:
Thank you for giving wicker its rightful place in the Polish cinematic universe. 🇵🇱🧺
Because whether we are taking eggs to church to be blessed or fighting for the last porcini mushroom in the forest…
a Pole without a basket simply is not quite the same.
Who is Luz Palokaj?
According to the description shared in a Facebook post, Luz Palokaj is a Swiss-Kosovan photographer and creator who also uses artificial intelligence tools in his work. One of his projects is a series of short films published on social media in which the same character “visits” different countries, presenting them through recognisable stereotypes, traditions, everyday habits and local atmosphere.
The series has already featured countries including Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal and Venezuela, before eventually turning its attention to Poland. The Polish instalment has a nostalgic aesthetic inspired by the 1990s and early 2000s. Its scenes include family and festive traditions, food, sport, the seaside, the mountains, mushroom picking, a wedding, carpet beating and recognisable locations. The main character is also shown dancing in Kraków’s Main Market Square. Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” is used in the background.
The author of the Facebook post also notes that the film about Poland quickly began circulating online and received a very positive response; it was reportedly praised by the Ambassador of Kosovo to Poland as well. Regardless of the scale of its online popularity, the concept itself is interesting: rather than creating a conventional promotional film, Palokaj builds a picture of the country from brief, instantly recognisable scenes and cultural shorthand - exactly the kind of scenes in which a wicker basket appears completely naturally.
This article was inspired by Luz Palokaj’s satirical film from the “He doesn’t stop” series. Luz Palokaj is a photographer, filmmaker and creative artist associated with LUP Studios.
The Wicker Stories
Handwoven stories. Made in Europe.
