Cieślewicz’s ‘Forefather’s Eve’ (occasional notes on posters)
This poster produced by Roman Cieślewicz in 1967 has become an iconic image in the history of the People’s Republic of Poland. Designed to promote a new performance of Adam Mickiewicz’s nineteenth century poetic drama, Forefather’s Eve (Dziady), Cieślewicz’s design captures the simmering frustration with Soviet control over Poland. The central motif seems to be a desiccated landscape or a figure with a hole … Read more
Sounding the Body Electric – art, cybernetics and electro-acoustic music in Eastern Europe in the 1960s
Neo-Constructivist, light and kinetic art, cybernetic design, concrete and electro-acoustic music were fields of high creativity and experiment in Eastern Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. Seizing the opportunities presented by the relaxation of political control of the arts after Stalinism and exploiting the new official encouragement given to cybernetics, electronics and computing, … Read more
Socialist recreation? Amateur film and photography in the People’s Republic of Poland and East Germany
This piece was published in a book which is very difficult to find, so I have posted my contribution below.
Personal Search
Here is a discussion of an undeservedly obscure Polish film, Rewizja Osobista / Personal Search, 1972. It was commissioned by the Bureau of Loose Associations / Piktogram.
