Ep. 133: Clever Extra - POLKI Hidden Power
“Drawing from rich traditions of the 60s and 70s of the last century, the contemporary Polish design and illustration shows the accuracy of observation, a sense of humor, irony, clarity and, at the same time, simplicity of the form. Yet, seen through the eyes of Polish women, it not only provides us with the moment of reflection, or admiration of the esthetics, but sometimes even though seemingly trivial, simple topics, touches upon important issues, such as the position of the women in the world. For centuries women were in a subordinate position in terms of their rights, voice, independence, their social and familial status. They had limited choices and little freedom. The status of women may be different today – even though female rights are relatively new and fragile matter in this world. Yet, does it still require any special strength, power or determination to be a woman?
‘POLKI Hidden Power’ is the online exhibition that aims to take a closer look at Polish women, as well as the achievements of Polish illustrations and design today. We present both the work of Polish illustrators as well as designers, particularly ceramists, that allude to the subject of womanhood in their works and the objects that embody the feminine strength in different ways. We invite you for a journey with nine Polish artists and their hidden powers.”
Monika Brauntsch, Exhibition Curator
The Spirit of Poland Foundation
Amy Devers: As promised, here’s a special bonus, a short interview with curator and founder of the Spirit of Poland Foundation, Monika Brauntsch, who along with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and Wanted Design has organized Polki Hidden Power, an online exhibition featuring female Polish illustrators and designers with works that allude to the subject of womanhood and seek out traces of feminine hidden power. Here’s Monika.
Monika Brauntsch: My name is Monika Brauntsch, I'm from Poland and I live in Sopot which is the city in the north of Poland by the sea on the Polish coast and I've been working with design for the last 13 years doing different things. I started off with the product design, but actually these days I'm working more with the exhibitions and also with the social design. It's more like design for social impact for some social change.
AD: That sounds wonderful, there is this wonderful art exhibition online right now that you curated called POLKI Hidden Power. Can you tell me about this exhibition? What is the central theme, what are the artists and designers included, and what kinds of works are on view?
MB: We came up with this idea of creating this exhibition three years ago. And it happened because, as I mentioned, I worked with the exhibitions and we also have a foundation called the Spirit of Poland and the aim of the foundation is to promote Polish designers worldwide. We had to go to apply to organize another exhibition and apply for the grant and the grant is actually called INDEPENDENT and it was set up because the 100th anniversary of Poland getting the Independence.
I'm not going to talk about the history, but it's quite important and quite related to this exhibition. We organized this exhibition as part of the Independent program and when Poland got their independence 100 years ago, actually one of the first things that happened was giving the Electoral Rights to women. It happened in 1918, about 100 years ago before the United States because it was in 1920.
When I started studying this subject, then we are thinking about creating the new exhibition, I thought, wow, it's really interesting that actually the female rights, they only exist in the world for more or less for 100 years and that means that before that, women had to have a very different position in the society. We know that, but we don't often think about it, that in the history it's all only 100 years that the position of the women started changing. When we thought about it and we were discussing it, it was my colleague Ewelina which is one of the artists in this exhibition but also the co-curator of this exhibition, we thought it would be very interesting to look at the female art through the subject of the 'hidden power'.
The power that was like the force for dreaming to fight about their rights in the society and which still is this force because as we know, the position of the women is still not equal in the world. The women still have to fight for their rights in many aspects and in many places in the world, but also in our countries where the female rights are pretty established, we still have to fight for certain things. So, we thought, okay, if the female rights are so limited, that means that women have to have some special 'hidden powers' and therefore they have to express these powers in their hearts.
We thought, okay, that will be the key for creating this exhibition. The name of the exhibition is POLKI Hidden Power. POLKI meaning 'Polish women'. The Hidden Power relates to the hidden power of the artists and we asked them about their own definition of the 'hidden power'. The idea was to select some words which will well represent the subjects, how did they express this inner power, inner strength that they have and also the pieces that somehow are like really strong pieces of art that express this feminine point of view.
We invited nine designers to participate in this exhibition, they all bring their own definitions, their different points of view, they use different techniques, they work in different materials because we have graphic designers or the illustrators and we also have the designers like working with ceramics. So, these are the works presented in this exhibition and actually this is the fourth edition of this exhibition. This edition is very different because in the past we just had the, let's say 'normal' installation presenting the worlds.
This year, because of Covid we had to do it online and because of that we decided to do some short films presenting the profiles of each artist. In the films they talk about themselves, they talk about who they are; they talk about what drives them, what motivates them, about their inspirations. I have to say that even for me, even though I've seen these exhibitions so many times and I know the work so well, it was like a nice and surprising thing to find out even more about the artists and about their lives. I have to say that it's quite inspiring and I really encourage to have a look at the things.
AD: I agree. I felt like the work itself was very strong and I had this gravitational pull towards it because it feels so deeply honest, but not self-important in this way. I think that probably we can talk about Hidden Power and feminine strength in a little bit. But, those films were such a deepening of the intimacy I felt, to be able to connect with the artist and to get a window into their process and their personality and connect it to the work that they make I think added a lot of depth and richness to the whole exhibition. So, I was really engaged by those films.
MB: It's nice to hear that. [Laughter]
AD: You've explained why the exhibition came about and the history of independence in Poland and I know that female rights are something that we are always needing to fight for and to protect. Why do you think this work is so relevant and so resonant at this particular moment in time?
MB: I think there are like different levels to answer this question. The first level is that this exhibition when you first look at it, it's actually kind of colorful and joyful and you don't think about any second meaning. But, on this level I would say it's quite inspirational almost inspiring you to create something to think about certain issues. I think actually in this particular moment that we are in, dealing with the new issue which is Covid, it's something that even when I was watching the films, it gave me some extra inspirations and strength and I was thinking, okay, wow! I just find it so interesting that this artist talks about this aspect and this aspect is something I can relate to.
So, I think on this level it just gives us some new ideas to think about, some things to get inspired with and I think this is quite an important thing. But, this exhibition doesn't have any second meaning. We are talking about the 'hidden power' of the ladies, but then when we look at the particular walls of the artists, then you'll see that for them the definition of the hidden power is different in each case. I think this is also a very important issue because you can see that some of the artists they are really involved in the feminine movement, or they are really socially involved or engaged.
I think this is also something really important because I think the change always starts from the individual people and when you see that other people are involved it also gives you the courage and it gives you some kind of encouragement to think about it in your life and get involved as well. So, I think in that respect it's really important as well.
AD: I agree, it's a catalyst of sorts. But particularly when it’s coming, when it's emanating from the feminine it's got a more nurturing guidance to it I think.
MB: Yeah.
AD: I'd love for you to let me in a little bit to your curatorial process. Conceiving of this exhibition and selecting the works, what was that like?
MB: The idea was first of all to work with the contemporary Polish designers and illustrators that are women. So, that was the first limitation [laughs], not limitation but in that way that it -
AD: Parameters.
MB: Yeah, it narrowed the subject that we are working with.
AD: Okay.
MB: Also another thing was that we have to work particularly with the women that refer to the subject in their art or in their work. So, having this let's say, narrow path, it wasn't actually that much of a challenge because I have been working with different exhibitions we've designed for a couple of years now. More or less I know what we have in the Polish design scene and from what you can select. I would say the selection process itself wasn't like that much of a challenge, but the idea was of course to choose and to pick up different works, works which are kind of relating to the subject of feminine strength in different way.
So, we have the works which are like I would say more ironic using more sense of humor or being almost sarcastic. We have the works which are more like a personal statement where the artists are relating to certain feelings that they have. We have the works that are like illustration of certain conditions, and we have works which are like their artistic interpretation as well. But, the common thing is the subject of the femininity in their art. The selection process I would say it just happened naturally. We just selected from what we knew it will be good and representative for the subject.
AD: Well, and the subject manner, the 'hidden power' of feminine strength, the works that you chose, I think you've touched on a few descriptors that were really evocative. There is, you know, humor and sarcasm. There is a kind of clarity and intimacy and it's even quite joyful as you mentioned at the top of the interview. The multitudes of feminine strength are expressed in this exhibition in so many ways and while strength itself is not specific to females, feminine strength is often under-recognized by culture and especially in all of its multi-dimensions. Can you describe maybe in more detail some of the specific examples of feminine strength in the specific works?
MB: Yeah.
AD: And maybe some that you found so resonant?
MB: Yeah, I actually agree with you that the feminine strength is somehow not recognized enough and actually I think it still is a very important subject to explore. Actually, when we look at this exhibition maybe I will go through the artists?
AD: Yeah.
MB: Because it would be good to talk about them as well. Let's start with Izabela Kaczmarek-Szurek. She's representing the brand Sunday Is Monday and the work that will present in this exhibition they actually created for this brand, Sunday Is Monday and this is a brand dedicated to yoga. So, actually the posters are like an interpretation of different yoga positions, but they are kind of sarcastic and ironic interpretation and this is trying to find some balance between trying to be fit and exercise and between all the duties that the women have on a daily basis.
They are really trying to be fit, but at the same time they have so many things to do that they're trying to find this balance and this balance is sometimes like a little bit of a joke. [Laughs] This is what is really reflected in the posters, when you kind of gave up and end up finding your balance in a glass of wine or something like that, or trying to find the balance with the child on your hand or something like that. I really like this interpretation that Izabela made because I think it really reflects exactly how you feel sometimes when you're trying to find the kind of stable position and attitude in the crazy world around you.
When we talk about the ironic approach, another artist using I would say lots of irony and sense of humor in her works is Sabina Samulska. She uses that in a very different way. Her characters are really exaggerated, they are almost like kind of funny posters and when you look at the women you think, okay, this is not what women look like. But, at the same time you can relate to that because it's really certain things like the wage or like public health, something like that.
This is something that she shows in her works in a really kind of, I would say, funny and ironic manner. Also there's a little bit of the irony in the works of Ewelina Skowrońska and the work is called Shaving Girls. Ewelina is more like a visual artist but I think the ceramic figures that she did the Shaving Girls; it really is like a nice comment to today's reality when you think that shaving becomes some kind of another daily task that you have to do. Well, not maybe daily, but regular let's say, and the little ceramic figures they are really kind of nice, iconical presentation of today's reality.
Then also in the exhibition we have Basia Gryzbowska Flores and I think Basia's illustrations are a result of her thoughts and her definition and research what it means to be a woman. I think she is quite literate relating to certain things, like for example #MeToo Movement and movements like that that are really very much connected with feminism. In the exhibition we also have the artist Magdelena Pankiewicz. Her illustrations they are more direct, literate, and in the exhibition we are showing the Summer Series which is relating to the idea of swimming and relaxing and it's actually quite interesting because when we are showing the posters in the exhibitions, many people were coming and saying, wow! I want this poster because this is exactly how I feel like. I like this moment of reflection.
I like this moment when I'm doing certain things and I can just think about my life. And this is exactly like the description of the work as well. It really somehow allows people to refer to that. Another artist is Aleksandra Morawiak, she's making those beautiful collages and I would say she only mastered this technique and the collages they are like more pieces of art. There is no direct message here, but you can see she's often using the images of the woman and also some patterns like pieces of nature, of jacks which are really well connected with those female images.
We are also presenting the series Great Inventors created by Kaja Kusztra and Great Inventors is a collection of the porcelain designed for the Kristoff company and in this collection she's showing the great inventors that were really important for the science and actually it's interesting that many of them were women. So, Kaja created those beautiful illustrations of the images of those women that are applied to ceramics. Another ceramicist that we have in the exhibition is Malwina Konopacka and her vases; her vase called OKO which means 'eye' and this is also a reflection on the family life from the female perspective.
She's one of the artists that mainly focuses on this form which are the vases and the porcelain totems. Actually in her career she's just like developing those interpretations of the vases together with her children actually. There was like lots of interpretation of the forms that she does, like getting her kids involved or kind of co-creating with them and creating some nice works. We have Maria Jeglińska as well and her pieces are more like the strong pieces, just representing nice strong patterns which are quite feminine as well.
So, this is the selection of the artists that we have and yeah, talking about these strengths that you mentioned and these artistic means that they're using like the humor and clarity and intimacy, I think you can really see them in this world and I would not say they are like specific to female, but we can see this feminine interpretation than those particular artists and I think it's quite personal.
AD: I think what the Hidden Power title is so evocative because these are things that are sort of innate in the feminine experience and so our strength in terms of moving mountains has come from these multitudes of smaller strength that we bind together collectively and express in ways that are not hugely calling attention to themselves.
MB:Yeah, I totally agree with you and actually I think a nice comment to that is perhaps that we have, as a leading text for the exhibition that was written by Carol Flueckiger, she's a Professor of Arts from School of Arts from Texas Tech University and the school was also hosting this exhibition three years ago. What Carol said in the text that she wrote for this exhibition after she'd seen the work, she said that actually, the exhibition is about the intimacy of small every day, individual conditions such as body hair or weight gain, meditation, childrearing or house-plants.
But these subjects are elevated as an experience worthy of unapologetic expression and it reminds of the courage it takes to recognize the overlooked. And this is hidden power. I really like how Carol phrased it because I think it exactly describes that actually those 'hidden powers' they are like small things, but they are elevated to a very different level through their artworks.
AD: Well, thank you so much for talking to us in-depth about this exhibition and I just want to let out listeners know that this exhibition is on view until December 15, 2020 and to learn more about the artists go to wanteddesignnyc.com/polki-hidden-power and of course we will include that link in the show notes.
MB: I would also like to mention that the exhibition is financed on the Program INDEPENDENT which is the fund of the Minister of Culture and the National Heritage of Poland and it's part of the “Cultural bridges” subsidy program of Adam Mickiewicz Institute which has been supporting this exhibition from the very beginning. This interview came about from the Polish Cultural Institute New York which is the partner of the exhibition and that was helping us a lot with the promotion of this event.
AD: All of these works will be available for sale in the store?
MB: Yes, that's right. Yeah, we're organizing a pop-up store together with Wanted Design IC Store. So, the Wanted Design Festival, they also have the stall.
AD: Industry City.
MB: In Industry City in Brooklyn, yeah. So, in the IC Store the exhibition will be on a little show and for sale in December this year.
AD: Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing about the exhibition, about your process, and for describing in such vivid detail these gorgeous works and exposing us to all of these artists that I'm so happy that we know about now.
MB: Thank you so much, Amy. It was a pleasure to talk to you.
AD: Thank you for listening! The POLKI hidden power exhibition is organized by the Spirit of Poland Foundation and WanteddesignNY in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York. It is on view until December 15, 2020 at wanteddesignnyc.com/polki/hidden/power. To learn more about Roberto Juarez, LERO Studio and his work with the Flashlight Collective, read the show notes. You can click the link in the details of this episode on your podcast app, or go to Cleverpodcast.com where you can also sign up for our newsletter. Subscribe to Clever on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you would please rate and review, it really does help us out. We also love chatting with you on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, you can find us at Clever Podcast and you can find me at Amy Devers. Clever is produced by 2VDE Media with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Laura Jaramillo and music by El Ten Eleven. Clever is proudly distributed by Design Milk.
Many thanks to our sponsors:
Polish Cultural Institute New York
The POLKI Hidden Power exhibition is organized by The Spirit of Poland foundation and WantedDesign NY, in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York. It is on view until December 15, 2020 at https://www.wanteddesignnyc.com/polki-hidden-power/
To learn more about the Polish Cultural Institute New York, visit polishculture-nyc.org.
Monika Brauntsch is a founder of The Spirit of Poland (TSOP) foundation, which organized Polki Hidden Power and many other design exhibitions and presentations around the world. She has conducted numerous workshops and lectures for cultural institutions, incl. Gdynia Design Days, Łódź Design Festival and Zamek Cieszyn, as well as workshops at the University of Brazil, Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial in Rio de Janeiro or at the TTU School of Arts.
Left: Basia Grzybowska Flores: Illustration of Women, 2015-2016. High quality print on mat 170g paper. 50 x 70 cm. Right: Me too, 2017. High quality print on mat 170g paper. 50 x 70 cm. Photos curtesy of the artist and The Spirit of Poland.
Ceramics by Malwina Konopacka
Art by Magdalena Pankiewicz
Cerm
Participating artists:
Izabela Kaczmarek – Szurek
sundayismonday.com
Basia Grzybowska-Flores
basiaillustration.com
Ewelina Skowronska
ewelinaskowronska.com
Maria Jeglińska
mariajeglinska.com
Aleksandra Morawiak
aleksandramorawiak.com
Malwina Konopacka
malwinakonopacka.com
Kaja Kusztra
https://www.artconnect.com/profile/kaja-kusztra
Sabina Samulska
samulska.com
Magdalena Pankiewicz
magdalenapankiewicz.com
Izabela Kaczmarek – Szurek
sundayismonday.com
Curated by: Monika Brauntsch
Organized by: The Spirit of Poland foundation and WantedDesign, in partnership with the Polish Culture Institute New York.
© Photos: Courtesy of The Spirit of Poland
POLKI Hidden Power Show Poster
Clever is produced by 2VDE Media. Thanks to Rich Stroffolino for editing this episode.
Music in this episode courtesy of El Ten Eleven—hear more on Bandcamp.
Shoutout to Jenny Rask for designing the Clever logo.
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