WEH Kanton © 2008
Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:20:39 +0800
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Culture
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The style and personality of Polish life have been shaped over a thousand years. National culture was born of influences of the Latin and the Byzantine worlds, and from a dialogue between ethnic minorities in Poland. The Poles have always welcomed foreign artists and been eager to follow what was happening in other countries. In the 19th and 20th centuries Poles' concentration on cultural development often took the place of political and economic activity. These factors contributed to the versatile character of Polish art, with all its complex nuances.
Dialogue and the interpenetration of cultures have been major characteristics of Polish tradition for centuries. Customs, manners, clothes have reflected the influences of east and west. Traditional costumes worn by the gentry in the 16th and 17th centuries were inspired by rich eastern ornamental styles, including Islamic influences. Polish cuisine and social mores are another reflection of these various influences.
Polish towns reflect the whole spectrum of European styles. Poland's eastern frontiers marked the boundary of the influences of Western architecture on the continent. History has not been kind to Poland's architectural monuments. However, a number of ancient edifices have survived: castles, churches and palaces, sometimes unique in the regional or European context. Some of them have been laboriously restored (the Royal Castle in Cracow), or completely reconstructed having been totally ruined in the last war (the Old Town and Royal Castle in Warsaw, the Old Town in Gdansk and Wroclaw). Kazimierz on the Vistula is an example of a well-preserved Medieval town. Cracow ranks among the best preserved Gothic and Renaissance urban complexes in Europe. Polish church architecture deserves special attention. Some interesting buildings were also constructed during the communist regime in the style of social realism. Recently, some remarkable examples of modern architecture have been built.
Polish art has always reflected world trends, while maintaining its unique character. Jan Matejko's famous school of historical painting produced monumental portrayals of momentous events in Polish history. Stanislaw Witkiewicz was an ardent supporter of realism in Polish art, its main representative being Jozef Chelmonski. Young Poland witnessed the birth of modern Polish art, engaged in formal experimentation. Its main representatives were Jacek Malczewski (symbolism), Stanislaw Wyspianski, Jozef Mehoffer and a group of Polish impressionists. Artists of the twentieth century avant-garde reflected various schools and trends. The art of Tadeusz Makowski was influenced by cubism; Wladyslaw Strzeminski and Henryk Stazewski worked within the idiom of constructivism.
Among distinguished contemporary artist are Roman Opalka, Leon Tarasewicz, Jerzy Nowosielski, and of the younger generation, Miroslaw Balka and Katarzyna Kozyra. The most celebrated Polish sculptors include Xawery Dunikowski, Katarzyna Kobro, Alina Szapocznikow and Magdalena Abakanowicz. Since the inter-war years, Polish artistic and documentary photography has also held
a worldwide recognition which it still commands. In the sixties the Polish Poster School was formed, with Henryk Tomaszewski and Waldemar Swierzy at its head.
The origins of Polish literature written in the vernacular instead of Latin date back to the 14th century. Poems, laments and epigrams written by Jan Kochanowski established him as a leading representative of European Renaissance literature. Baroque and Classicist literature was a factor uniting the multinational Poland together. Jan Potocki's novel 'The Saragossa Manuscript' became a world classic. Wojciech Hass' film based on this novel, a favourite of Luis Bunuel, later became a cult film on university campuses. In the 19th century when Poland did not exist as an independent state, great Romantic literature flourished. Poets like Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Slowacki and Zygmunt Krasinski became spiritual leaders of a nation deprived of its sovereignty, prophesying its revival. Henryk Sienkiewicz (a Noble prizewinner for Quo Vadis in 1905) was a eulogist of the historical tradition.
In the first half of the 20th century many outstanding literary works sprang from multi-cultural dialogue and avant-garde experimentation. A special role in this was played by the tradition of Kresy ('Borderlands'), the eastern regions of Poland with two major centres, in Vilnius and Lviv. In these regions Jewish tradition and the mystic movement of Chassidism developed. Kresy were a cultural melting pot of over a dozen nationalities, an area where multi-national and multi-cultural art flourished. The works of Bruno Schulz, Boleslaw Lesmian, Jozef Czechowicz were written there. In the south of Poland, Zakopane was the birthplace of the avant-garde works of Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy). After the Second World War many Polish writers found themselves abroad, with many concentrated around the Paris-based 'Kultura' publication run by Jerzy Giedroyc. The group of emigrant writers included Witold Gombrowicz, Gustaw Herling Grudzinski, Czeslaw Milosz, Slawomir Mrozek.
Zbigniew Herbert, Tadeusz Rozewicz, Czeslaw Milosz (Nobel Prize in 1980), Wislawa Szymborska (Nobel Prize in 1996) belong to the group of the most outstanding 20th century Polish poets, novelists and playwrights, which also includes Witold Gombrowicz, Slawomir Mrozek, Stanislaw Lem (science fiction). Hanna Krall's reportage which focuses mainly on the war-time Jewish experience and Ryszard Kapuscinski's books have been translated into many languages.
It is difficult to grasp fully the detailed tradition of Polish romanticism and its consequences for Polish literature without a thorough knowledge of Polish history. The music of Frederic Chopin, inspired by Polish tradition and folklore, conveys the quintessence of romanticism. Since 1927, the Chopin International Piano Competition has been held every five years in Warsaw, one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world. Traditional Polish music inspired composers like Karol Szymanowski, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, Witold Lutoslawski, Wojciech Kilar, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki and Krzysztof Penderecki - all of whom rank among the world's most celebrated composers. Polish jazz with its special national flavour has fans and followers in many countries, its main figures being Krzysztof Komeda, Michal Urbaniak, Adam Makowicz and Tomasz Stanko. Successful composers of film music include Zbigniew Preisner, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek and Wojciech Kilar.
Graduates of the famous Lodz Film School include many celebrated directors, among them Roman Polanski ("Knife in the Water", "Rosemary's Baby", "Frantic", "The Pianist") and Krzysztof Zanussi, a leading director of the cinema of moral anxiety of the 70s. Andrzej Wajda's films offer an insightful analysis of what is universal in the Polish experience - the struggle to maintain human dignity under circumstances which hardly allow it. His major films, listed above, defined the identity of many generations in Poland. In 2000 Wajda was awarded an Oscar for his contribution to cinema. In the 90s Krzysztof Kieslowski's films, such as "Decalogue", "The Double Life of Veronica", "Three Colours", won great popularity. Other Polish film directors such as Agnieszka Holland and Jerzy Kaminski also work in Hollywood. Polish animated cinema has a long tradition, deriving its inspiration from Polish graphic art - Jan Lenica and Zbigniew Rybczynski (awarded an Oscar in 1983).
Polish avant-garde theatre is world-famous, with Jerzy Grotowski as its most innovative and creative representative. One of the most original twentieth century theatre figures was Tadeusz Kantor, painter, theatre theoretician, stage designer, playwright, his ideas finding their culmination in the theatre of death and his most recognised production being 'The Dead Class'.
Poland offers a variety of cultural experience. Those interested in high culture will enjoy the renowned music festivals (Wratislavia Cantans, Warsaw Autumn). Polish museums display remarkable art collections - masterpieces including Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine (The Family Czartoryski's Museum in Cracow); Vit Stoss's carved wooden altar (Saint Mary's Church in Cracow) and The Last Judgement by Hans Memling (The National Museum in Gdansk). Ethnographic museums and old village museums (skansens) also hold attractive collections. The panorama of Polish culture is completed by local festivals.
The most interesting festivals in Poland
- The Lent Mystery in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Easter Week.
- The International Book Fair, Warsaw, May.
- The International Festival of Orthodox Church Music, the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Hajnowka, last week of May.
- Concerts of Chopin's music, Lazienki Park in Warsaw, every Sunday from May to September.
- Malta, the International Theatre Festival, Poznan, June.
- The Mozart Festival, Warsaw, June.
- The International Festival of Organ Music, the Oliwa Cathedral, Gdansk, June-August.
- The Festival of Jewish Culture, Cracow, May.
- The Knights' Tournaments in Gniewo, Ogrodzieniec and Bytow, July-August.
- The International Festival of Street Theatre, Cracow, August.
- The International Festival of the Mountain Region Folklore in Zakopane, the end of August.
- "Wratislavia Cantans" International Music Festival, Wroclaw, early September.
- Archeological Picnic in Biskupin, September.
- Warsaw Autumn, Festival of Contemporary Music, Warsaw, September.
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