The mass influx of Poles to the United Kingdom since the European Union broadened its reach in 2004 is well documented. According to recent statistics, there are around 100,000 Polish nationals in Scotland, with a third of them in Edinburgh alone. The Polish community in the Scottish capital has even brought comparisons to Chicago – probably the most Polish city outside Poland. Over recent months, a creative synergy has emerged amongst Poles in Edinburgh.
Polish Art Scotland (PAS), a community-based organisation supporting Polish artists living and working in Scotland, was founded in October 2006. It was the brainchild of Gemma Bentley and Nathaniel Clark, both having recently graduated in Art History at the University of Edinburgh. Impressed with the depth and quality of Eastern European art, they set out to expose it to the Edinburgh public.
PAS aspires to offer stimulating exhibitions of contemporary Polish art, whilst demonstrating the unique talent-pool of Polish immigrants. The organisation also seeks to encourage links between the artists and the local community, providing opportunities for artists and visitors to exchange experiences. At another level, it also helps the native population to understand the social, psychological and practical complexities of the immigration process.
From the outset, PAS has been supported by various influential people from the Scottish art scene. Notable patrons include David Petterson (Edinburgh City Art Centre), Jeremy Howard (St Andrews University, author of East European Art 1650-1950), and the legendary art impresario Richard Demarco, long-famed for his cultural links with Poland.
The breakthrough event for PAS took place in late June 2007, with their first exhibition We Are Working – New Polish Art, Architecture & Design in Scotland at the Spiral Club in Edinburgh. The exhibition offered works of various media from paintings, posters and photography to jewellery, sculpture and architectural projects. Worth a mention were Aleksandra Roch’s atmospheric photographs; the nostalgic lithographs of Basia Mróz; and the ergonomic designs of Piotr Piotrowski. The exhibition transformed the venue in to an inspirational space filled with art: young and imperfect at times, but searching for fresh forms and true meanings.
This first exhibition, intended as a showcase event to introduce the work of the organisation, was complemented by an array of supporting events. These included a series of accompanying lectures, club nights with Polish DJs, and a public discussion attended by the Polish Vice Consul and media representatives. The founders of the project were overwhelmed by the positive feedback they received. As a result of the success of the event, the Demarco European Art Foundation made it possible for PAS to present a second exhibition at the Roxy Art House.
I Don’t Want to Talk About Communism. New Polish Art, Architecture and Design in Scotland, presented the work of 23 Polish artists during the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. While again an eclectic offering, the organisers were more focussed on the selection of works used, and the exhibition layout. This more refined collection also received an encouraging response, with Demarco himself describing it as “absolutely mind-bending”. As with their debut venture, PAS enriched the project with additional events. The highlight of these was a film festival in the Sala Café, presenting new independent Polish films (with English subtitles), which were shown simultaneously in Poland, Germany and Scotland.
According to Tekla Woźniak, a graduate from the Fine Arts Academy in Poznań, the PAS enterprise has offered an important outlet for Polish artists, emphasising the “physical and mental space [it gives them] to develop themselves”. Aware of the monotonous and uninspiring nature of the “day jobs” most Poles do, Tekla underlines the value of being creative “after work”. “Art is self-therapeutic” she remarks, “and keeps our souls alive”. While acknowledging the organisation has some way to go in terms of marketing, public relations and financial support, she praises the enormous amount of voluntary work undertaken to bring the group together and arrange the resulting events. For her, this is a mark of their desire for creative exposure.
Outwith PAS, Poles are becoming more active in the Scottish cultural sphere. Arek Kozak, an artist from Wrocław, is devoted to making art accessible for people from less privileged social backgrounds. As an artist in residence at the Craigmillar Arts Centre he set out to demonstrate to locals “how easily something dull and depressing can be switched into something beautiful”. One of his projects transformed derelict council tenancies into a surreal exhibition space, where empty window apertures were covered with bright paintings.
Another Polish expatriate, Radosław Gąsiorek, promotes Polish culture in Scotland through edinburgh.com.pl, which he manages. His philosophy is quite candid: “life doesn’t have to be limited to doing the dishes and going to a pub”. Koralia Maciej graduated in Graphics at the Academy of Fine Art in Krakow, specialising in silkscreen design. She typifies the artistic immigrant: living and working in Edinburgh, taking an active part in group exhibitions, developing her own projects, while continuing to cooperate with art galleries “back home”.
The success of PAS has encouraged others to set up shows independently. This Is A Time For Dreaming, curated by Emila Sosnowska, took place in the Out of the Blue Drill Hall Gallery in October 2007. It featured works by 12 Edinburgh-based artists, and sought to demonstrate the vibrancy of the artistic immigrant community. “Each artist’s personal investigation and intense perception of the city resulted in works that allow us to see it from a different viewpoint” explained Sosnowska. Elsewhere Arek Kozak and Goshka Bialek are involved in a venture to enhance the links between the Kraków Academy of Fine Art and Edinburgh College of Art. Tekla Woźniak is researching the idea of a Polish exhibition in Glasgow, and she hopes to continue to explore the “emigration theme”.
The architect Jaromir Gąsiorek, a participant in the PAS exhibitions, sums up the current state of play for the Polish-Scottish art movement: “The first steps were taken. Now those who can forge the route ahead have emerged”.
