The ABCs of Polish Culture
The ABCs of Polish Culture is a project that draws our attention to the unique position of Polish artists on the global map of culture in the last one hundred years. The period from regaining independence until today has been full of extraordinary personalities such as Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Penderecki, Wisława Szymborska, Tamara Łempicka, and Tadeusz Kantor. Their achievements reached far and wide but they are a little forgotten nowadays. Never before did we have such a great influence on the landscape of global culture. Despite unfavourable conditions: world war, the communist regime and often painful political transformations, our domestic artists have always been able to slide confidently into global contexts and enter into a dialogue with contemporary trends, adding their own, unique and enriching perspective. The works we feature belong to high culture (classical music, literature, theatre), popular culture (comics, video games) and everything in between (jazz, visual design). Many of these pieces lean towards the avant-garde and are still met with fear and lack of understanding. The exhibition aims at eliminating the sense of discomfort that goes hand in hand with those feelings. It explains the character of the works in an accessible and communicative way. The exhibition presents 44 works created after 1944 that either gained international recognition or are representative of the artists who became famous abroad. The display has been divided into 11 sections, each presenting one field of culture (film, music, theatre etc.) represented by four works of art. Eleven graphic designers invited to the projected interpreted those 44 works on 44 posters – the main exhibits.
The book “Elementarz polskiej kultury” by Ewa Solarz, Karol Szafraniec and Małgorzata Miśkowiec has been published by Wywtórnia.
When: November 2020, Monday – Friday, 10.00-16.00
Where: Workshops of Culture, Grodzka 7, second floor