Amateur actors from the local folk theater “Czeladonka” from Lubenka, near the border between Poland and Belarus, perform scenes based on old customs and rituals, cultivated by generations. The actors are farmers, who work in the fields during the day. They only have evenings to work on their plays.

One show is often played by a whole family. Sometimes even three generations of actors take part in one performance. Staging takes place outdoor in different parts of the village. The audience follows the actors as they move with their stage. In the end, the actors together with the spectators join a feast.

Karczeby is a part of larger work on Polish villages, focusing on the relationship between human being and nature and on the essence of humanity in relation to the earth. Project presents the people living in villages, their strong devotion to the land and respect for nature. It also shows how hard work is converted into the farmers’ dignity. In a dialect spoken in the east of Poland, which is a mixture of Polish and Belarusian, Karczeb is a vernacular word for people strongly connected to the land they cultivate. A Karczeb is also called a stump with roots still stuck in the ground after the tree has been cut down. It refers metaphorically to the problems these people have experienced with various aggressive authorities, who have tried to eradicate or dislocate them in the past. However, they still stand tall on their land. And when a Karczeb farmer’s life comes to an end, he is buried in his soil, but his children or grandchildren remain on the land to continue the tradition of their ancestors.

--Karczeby exerpt by Horst Kloever, The New York Times Lens Blog