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VISIONS OF POLAND
at the
Truman Brewery
24 to 27 September 2009
www.tentlondon.co.uk
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An exhibition of photographs
by Barbara Chandler
Exhibited alongside Polska Folk curated by Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka
For a presentation of the complete Visions of Poland portfolio, click here.
The September show at Tent focuses on images of the country side.
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The aesthetics of Polska Folk are rooted deep in the Polish countryside where landscape, agriculture, religion, tradition and family life have influenced craft and pattern for generations. Polish culture (including art and design), forcibly cut off from the west after the war, has nurtured and cherished its country heritage, which has offered inspiration in return. These photographs, taken from a wider archive spanning Polish life in town and country from 1989 to 2009, are perhaps an over-romantic - nostalgic even - view of Poland. Photographer Barbara Chandler is British, visiting Poland numerous times, to visit friends and continue her work. "This is the countryside as I have seen it as an outsider, " she says. "The innate charm and beauty of the landscape and its people and their ways made a deep visual impression on me. Here, in a Europe relatively undisturbed, was a way of life seemingly unchanged for many years."
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Political freedom for Poland came in 1989. In 2004, Poland was welcomed into the European Union. And today Poland is a vibrant modern economy with design, fashion and art at the cutting edge of global culture, industry and trade. Already the life depicted in these pictures is disappearing. And truly, who should need to live in a primitive cottage with a leaking straw roof and only a well for water? Life is hard with a horse and cart. Let us salute the new Poland and all it has to offer its people, Europe and the world, whilst still treasuring memories of the past...
Barbara Chandler adds more background:: |
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"The original Visions of Poland was also shown in Warsaw, in 1991 at the prestigious Stara Kordegarda Gallery at the Palace on the Lake in Lazienki Park. It was featured on Polish television, and received good press coverage in Britain. Three more shows were curated by Christian du Plessis of the Heifer Gallery and were held at the Posk Gallery in the Polish Centre in Hammersmith, West London, in 1992, 1993, and 1994.
Visions of Poland captured the mood, landscape and people of Poland in the1980s and early 1990s, and was the result of many trips to Poland, to stay with a friend, who had become close during his visit(s) to Britain. I was welcomed in particular by his sister and mother."
To see images available as cards, please explore the options on the left under CARDS FOR SALE
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