Kapliczkowo as a Non-Museum. Between Private Expression and the Local Community

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of Kapliczkowo—an informal, community-based space created by Bernard Zboiński that lies at the intersection of non-professional art, local memory, and grassroots musealization. Drawing on ethnographic research, interviews, and participant observation, the author conceptualizes Kapliczkowo as a “non-museum”: a cultural site that performs museal functions without an institutional framework. The analysis explores how this form of ephemeral heritage challenges conventional boundaries
between the sacred and the profane, the individual and the collective, and art and social practice. The study underscores the need to broaden museological categories to encompass relational, temporary, and locally embedded practices.