Listings - Polish Culture in the UK

Contents
  • Polish photographers examine a British Night Out
  • BBC's former Polish Broadcasts
  • Book on Polish Artists Exiled in Britain
  • Polish Film Posters
  • Polish-Anglo Radio Station
  • Polish Artist - Artur Zmijewski
  • Polish magazines and newspapers in the UK
  • Polish Film screened in the UK
  • The POSK Gallery
  • Biały Orzeł - Polish Dance
  • Polish Culture and Tradition Website
  • 'Smacznego' Photography Blog by Georgios Makkas
  • Polish Artist - Miroslaw Balka
  • Made in Poland Festival
  • The Polish Cultural Institute
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Polish photographers examine a British Night Out

Two talented Polish migrant photographers have taken to the streets of Cardiff and Newcastle to capture something of a British night out. 

Maciej Dakowicz's Cardiff photo project (as featured in The Sun and Daily Mail newspapers)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/collections/72157616467357584/

Piotr Wiktorski's Newcastle upon Tyne photo project entitled 'Geordie's Night Out': http://www.2b.nepco.org.uk/blog/24/noca-w-newcastle 

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BBC's former Polish Broadcasts

You can still access some to the BBC's former Polish broadcasts here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/polish/ (BBC Polish broadcasts 1939-2005).

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Book on Polish Artists Exiled in Britain


Book: Art in Exile: Polish Painters in Post-War Britain, by Douglas Hall


Sansom & Co, Bristol, RRP £35


Written by Douglas Hall, who worked in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and had a keen interest in publicising the work of Polish painters in Britain following World War II, this book acts as a the definitive history of Polish artists while exiled in Britain. It concentrates on the work of artists, Henryk Gotlib (1890-1966), Alexander Zyw (1905-1995), Marian Kratochwil (1906-97), Jankel Adler (1895-1949) and Josef Herman (1911-2000).




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Polish Film Posters


The Guardian recently ran this interesting piece about modern Polish film poster design:
Guardian article about Homework Studio Film Posters
The article reflects on the Kemistry Gallery's exhibition about the Warsaw based poster design company, the Homework Studio. The exhibition ran from 5th March - 17th April 2010. Details can be found here: The Kemistry Gallery Polish Film Exhibition
  Journalists at The Guardian also had fun letting readers guess the film being promoted in rare Polish film posters, in response to an exhibition at London's Cinephilia West Gallery (now closed down). Access the article here: Guardian article about Rare Polish Film Posters
or read more about the original Cinephilia exhibition here: Cinephilia West Gallery Polish Film Poster Exhibition


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Polish-Anglo Radio Station


Orła FM is a Polish-English radio station based in London which streams broadcasts online at:  Orla FM.  If you're learning Polish it's really helpful, as news and adverts are read in Polish with lots of British places names and references. The music the station plays is predominantly British/American contemporary easy-listening numbers and 80's Brit pop.


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Polish Artist - Artur Zmijewski 


The work of Warsaw born artist, filmmaker and photographer Artur Zmijewski is being exhibited here in the North East. His piece 'Democracies' (2009) which captures images of political protest in Europe and the Middle East, together with his seminal work 'Repetition' (2005) about the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, is being shown at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland from July 30th - October 9th 2010.
Artur Zmijewski Exhibition Details


Also screened in the Northern Gallery is Zmijewski's gripping film, 'Them' (2007) which I was lucky enough to see at the Glasgow Film Festival 2008: Artur Zmijewski film at Glasgow Film Festival 2008


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Polish magazines and newspapers in the UK


Two popular London based online Polish magazines inlcude Goniec and Cooltura (links provided here):


Goniec Magazine
Cooltura Magazine


But for the best in regional North East Polish magazines visit 2B and Polnews
2B Magazine North East
PolNews Online Newspaper North East


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Polish Film screened in the UK


For billingual Polish-English film reviews, screening details and the latest film news, Polish Connection proves to be an excellent site and is sponsored by the none other than the Polish Film Institute.
Billingual Polish-English film reviews from Polish Connection


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The POSK Gallery


The Posk Gallery in Hammersmith, London, is open to the public from 10am-9pm daily and exhibits painting, drawings, graphic art, sculpture, ceramic art and photography by artists living in Poland or Polish artists abroad.
POSK Art Gallery (UK based gallery specialising in Polish artists)


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Biały Orzeł - Polish Dance


For anyone interested in different variations of Polish dance, this site is a must:
Biały Orzeł - Polish Dance Specialists
The White Eagle Song and Dance Essemble is an exciting award winning troop, originally composed of  émigré Poles to Canada. I especially like the feature on the Biały Orzeł website about regional dance variations, the costumes look great and the group's repertoire is huge. We should create the British version of this group and put them on 'Britain's Got Talent'! I like the sound of the Goralskie Region routine as "in these dances the Goral men impress their women and display feats of skill and strength" great! sign me up for the Zbojnicki dance.


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A useful Polish Culture and Tradition Website

Master Page. pl is a handy site for those wanting to know about Polish traditions and ettiquette. The site has been running since 1995 and now has over 3,000 pages detailing facts about Poland, focusing mainly on Polish business, travel, culture and tourism.

Here's the link:

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The 'Smacznego' Photography Blog by Georgios Makkas

Not strictly Polish Culture in the UK, but Polish culture in Poland here, and very very engaging it is too!
The Greek photographer, Georgios Makkas, travels around Poland  exploring the eating habits of Polish households- Poznan to Białystok, Gdańsk to Nowa Huta, Wrocław to Lublin (all over). He visits Polish families from diverse backgrounds, photographs them at their dinning-room table and attempts to make a “food map”of Poland.

To view 'Smazcnego' visit this link: Smacznego Blog

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Polish Artist - Miroslaw Balka


I had the great fortune to stumble on the work of Miroslaw Balka on a day trip to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art back in 2008. His print portfolio exhibition 'Entering Paradise' and video projection 'BlueGasEyes' engaged in issues of human nature, history, identity and the fragility of life.
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Miroslaw Balka exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art 2008)


Now Balka's work is back in Britain, but sadly for us, all the way down in London.
The Unilever Series: Miroslaw Balka
Tate Modern 13 October 2009 – 5 April 2010
Miroslaw Balka Exhibition at Tate Modern


I propose a campaign to 'Bring Balka to the Baltic'.


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Made in Poland Festival


29th May 2010 – 27th June 2010
music / film / art exhibitions / theatre
With the aim of promoting Polish or Polish-inspired art, film and music, as well as educational and sport events, this annual festival, now in its third year, has a very diverse and exciting programme of events. You don't need to be Polish to enjoy a taste of Poland here in the North East! Everyone welcome! Please go to: Made in Poland  to find out more.
The festival kicks off with the International Children's Day Celebration on Saturday 29th May, 12.30pm, at the Polish Club (2 Maple Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7SF - next to Newcastle College). Admission is free. Once again, all welcome!


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And of course, this page would not be complete if I didn't provide a link to
The Polish Cultural Institute:
Polish Culture Organisation