What’s cooking in Łódź? Dictionary of Łódź-specific slang | Exhibition

What’s cooking in Łódź? Dictionary of Łódź-specific slang is the next instalment of an artistic and educational project through which we aim to draw attention to the uniqueness of Łódź. This time, we have decided to look for traces of multicultural Łódź in… the kitchen.

Details

When:

• Opening with a Curatorial Tour | March 14, 2025 (Friday), 5:30 PM
• Exhibition | March 15–30, 2025 (Monday to Sunday), 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Where:
Workshops of Culture in Lublin, Grodzka 7, Exhibition Hall, 2nd Floor

Admission: Free

Accessibility

• The opening event will be interpreted into Polish Sign Language (PJM).
• Learn more about accessibility at Workshops of Culture and contact us here: https://warsztatykultury.pl/en/accessibility/

A word from the cutorator

During the heyday of the textile industry, people began to arrive in Łódź looking for work in factories. The town became an attractive place to live and work for newcomers, workers, craftsmen, traders, people of many professions, including bakers, tailors, and shoemakers. In addition to the immigrant population from the Polish territories, Jews, Russians, and Germans also settled here. Towards the end of the 19th century, the city already had over three hundred thousand inhabitants. Łódź was becoming a multicultural city, with the representatives of four religions and nationalities living side by side, and with their respective cultures, art and customs intermingling. This former multiculturalism of Łódź is also reflected in the local cuisine, which is an extremely interesting part of the heritage of Łódź.

It should be noted that only a small group of Łódź residents belonged to the wealthy elite of the capitalist world. The majority of the population led a very modest, one might even say, poor life. Such was also her everyday cuisine – inexpensive and simple, consisting of cheap and locally available products, such as potatoes, from which the housewives of Łódź could conjure up various dishes which were also extremely tasty and filling, such as “kluski żelazne” garnished with cracklings from pork or bacon, or dumplings with strawberries, served usually with spring cabbage, cherished by both adults and children.

In the space of the City Art Gallery in Łódź – the Re:Medium Gallery, we want to showcase several works depicting specific dishes and delicacies for which the culinary art of our city is renowned. Dziad kapuściany, chałka z masłem, śledzie pod pierzynką, zalewajka, kluski żelazne or leberka – all the names sound familiar, but we do not always know their origins or how they made their way to our tables. Our selection of works for the exhibition is subjective and includes 12 illustrations in the format of 100×70 cm, this time presented in the form of kitchen tapestry called “makatka”, a somewhat forgotten element of interior decoration, although in the 1970s they could still be seen in many homes. The depictions printed or embroidered on a piece of canvas or linen fabric consisted of an image and a directly related motto. It is worth noting that makatki became widespread in Poland at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and originated from the areas of present-day Germany and the Netherlands. Usually, they were monochrome, with patterns embroidered in blue, sometimes red threads, though there were also multicolored ones.

Combining tradition with modernity, we have tried to create something unique. We hope that the leading Polish artists, whom we have invited to collaborate with us this year, will surprise both Łódź residents and visitors from other regions of Poland with their original graphic interpretations of Łódź dishes. As always, this time too, the authors have tried to present their chosen slogans with charm and humour, while at the same time leaving a great deal of room for the viewers’ imagination and encouraging them to attempt their own interpretation. In addition to the dishes already mentioned, the illustrated concepts include such delicacies as polewka gruszkowa, wodzianka, drygle, garus, żulik. Each work is accompanied by a short description of the dish, which has been creatively interpreted and presented in the form of a makatka.

Some of the dishes prepared in the homes of factory workers are well-known and still often cooked today, such as zalewajka or the already mentioned knedle and kluski. Some are known by different names, for example, leberka, which is pâté sausage, but probably every inhabitant of Łódź knows that it tastes best with a sznytka of bread. It is definitely worth reminiscing about our local cuisine, about the dishes that evoke pleasant memories and nostalgic feelings. We hope that the What’s Cooking in Łódź project, which is the next instalment of the Dictionary of Łódź-specific slang, will enable everyone visiting the exhibition to experience many nostalgic moments and perhaps also serve as inspiration to explore culinary traditions within their own families.

The current project, like its earlier editions, is also the result of cooperation between the City Gallery of Art in Łódź and the Łódź Design Festival.

Organisers: Warsztaty Kultury w Lublinie, City Art Gallery in Łódź, Łódź Design Festival

Artists: Karol Banach, Katarzyna Bogucka, Teodor Durski, Gosia Herba, Marta Ignerska, Jakub Kamiński, Hanna Kmieć, Natalia Konca (Namazane), Agata Królak, Ola Niepsuj, Patrycja Podkościelny, Paweł Szlotawa

Curators: Adriana Usarek, Michał Piernikowski

Visual identity: Ida Stańczyk