Ece Temelkuran wrote a short guide for Western readers on Turkish politics, history and culture. That doesn”t mean however that we are dealing with a superficial book; on the contrary, Turkey: The Insane and the Melancholy is a captivating essay on the formation of a contemporary authoritarian state. »
This exhibition is devoted to people engaged in underground work during World War II as part of the Krakow branch of the Polish Council to Aid Jews (Żegota). The exhibition currently presented in Oskar Schindler’s Factory, a branch of the Historical Museum, expands upon the themes present in the permanent exhibition Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945. »
Contrary to what is commonly feared in Poland, the interlocutors do not usually mean “Polish camps” nor suggest that Auschwitz, Treblinka or Majdanek were run by Poles. This is the view of a handful of dunces. »
The exhibition Szczecin Avant‑garde gathers the works of contemporary artists associated with the Department of Painting and New Media of the Fine Arts Academy in Szczecin, who are working through the ideas of classic avant‑garde. It is presented within the frame‑ work of the local context, specifically the history of two institutions that originated from the urban middle class – the museum and art school. Opposition to these two institutions and the ensuing reform were the basis of the avant‑garde project of the early 20th century. »
The exhibition presenting the Museum’s full collection of works by Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907). The collection of over 900 works by an artist who was one of Poland’s most eminent artists, making paintings, drawings, and graphics, and also a poet, playwright, set designer, and theatre reformer. The collection has unrivalled artistic value and is second to no other collection of Wyspiański’s works in Poland and abroad. »
Near Polotsk in Belarus, there are several dozen bodies of water with a regular circular shape. They are holy lakes, mystical places of worship of the pagan tribe of Krivichi, who inhabited these areas in early medieval times. For them, a circle symbolised a closed cycle of the transmigration of souls – rebirth and perpetual existence – therefore their temples were usually set up as circular structures. »
Carl Lohse created an œuvre that was as brilliant as it was short‑lived. From the autumn of 1919 to the spring of 1921, the expressionist painter experienced real creative noise, and by 1920, was feted for his great promise, but gave up his artistic existence for a life as a tram conductor and is still seen as an insider tip: Carl Lohse (1895–1965), from Hamburg, is one of the mavericks of modernist art. His early works are to be seen in the Albertinum at an exhibition put together in cooperation with the Ernst Barlachhaus in Hamburg. For the first time, the show highlights the main features of the artist from public and private collections from Eastern and Western Germany. »
Péter Korniss is one of the greatest masters of contemporary Hungarian photography, a recipient of the “Artist of the Nation” award, the Kossuth Prize and the Joseph Pulitzer Memorial Prize. His work centres on documenting the disappearing lifestyle of peasants in Hungary and Transylvania. The series of images that are featured in this exhibition at the Hungarian National Gallery, titled Continuous Memory, concentrate on the most important aspects of his entire career. »
24 June 1937 was just a regular day; there was nothing exceptional that day in the city’s history. However, this Lviv of everyday life best demonstrates the uniqueness of the city and its place on the map of 20th century modernity. The exhibition is a comprehensive presentation of the achievements of Lviv architects, shown against the backdrop of other areas of the city’s cultural life. Based on public and private collections from Poland and Ukraine, the exhibition is a diverse portrait of a Modernist city and highlights the role of Lviv as a centre of modernity during the times of the Second Polish Republic. »
Ziemowit Szczerek’s Intermarium is both a symptom and a diagnosis of the exhaustion of nationalistic language. While describing the political situation and public sentiments in Central Europe, the author actually uses the exact same categories he identifies as the source of problems, while wanting to distance himself from it. Watching the failure of the undertaking resembling Baron Munchausen’s idea of dragging himself out of the swamp by his hair paradoxically becomes the greatest benefit from reading this book. »
