A picture paints a thousand words, and these images created by Polish artist PaweÅ‚ KuczyÅ„ski display illustrations worthy of millions of words in their satirical expression. Originally from Szczecin, some of his works received recognition a few months ago through a series called ‘Stop and Think’. However for many people, they will be still unknown. [...]
For the past four weeks, Britian’s The Guardian newspaper has run a series it has called New Europe. It has spent one week each analysing Germany, France, Spain and finally in the past week, Poland. The introduction to the series says “Who are our neighbours? Too often Europe is discussed and reported through its common [...]
The Ice Road is a remarkable book both because it tells a little-known but important story of human suffering and because it does so in a way that doesn’t leave you wanting to slit your wrists. It is the autobiographical tale of 14-year-old Polish boy Stefan Waydenfeld and his family who were exiled to Siberia [...]
When I first saw the Kraków Opera House on ul. Lubicz, I was certain it was the train station. However, having seen Dworzec Głowny, I quickly realised otherwise. The Kraków opera house building is designed in two parts, with a long low grey building acting as the ante-chamber. It has a long curved roof which [...]
Well that’s what I thought it was! With lines like; It is embarrassing to be caught and killed for stupid reasons Silly holes in people are for breeding or are from shooting It’s fun to walk carelessly in a death zone Aye, aye, I thought. Our own dear Darth has been down here at the [...]
April is PaKa time in Krakow. For anyone who doesn’t know, PaKa is a hugely popular annual cabaret competition in Poland. Polish cabaret, or kabaret, usually consists of small troupes who perform comedy sketches, sing humorous songs, and generally muck about on the stage. To the Western ear ‘cabaret’ has slightly racy associations with scantily-clad [...]
Funny what you find when you’re sloshing around on the internet. For example, did you know that Dave Brubeck played an improvisational piece called “dziÄ™kuje” when collecting a State Department award for promoting America with overseas concerts, including Poland? He composed the tune in memory of his mother’s love of Chopin. I’m not a huge [...]
It’s a little-known fact outside of Poland, and a less-than-widely known fact within Poland, that Polish poster art is among the best in the world. A lot of people with impressive qualifications claim that it is THE best in the world, and I’m not about to argue. I love them. If I could figure out [...]
The prospect of a Polish movie with the title ‘Time to Die’ doesn’t immediately fill one with expectations of a fun-packed two hours. Fortunately it’s nowhere near as grim and depressing an experience as the title and pedigree might suggest. Although Dorota Kedzierzawska’s October 2007 film has been around for a few months now I [...]
Go and see Rezerwat with any expectation of ground-breaking cinema or thought-provoking narrative you’ll likely be disappointed. Go with the expectation of a simple heart-warming story and a bit of light comedic relief and you’ll have no regrets about parting with the ticket price. This recently released (January 2008) film from director Lukasz Palkowski tells [...]