Polska - Travel Memories
POLAND
I haven’t been there in such a long time but
For some reason I often still think about one
Particular image that reminds of the nation.
The strawberry kiosks on the street corners.
Folks selling fresh strawberries on the ends
Of the roads, and the blood red intensity of
The berries … And, the ironical mix of the
Alcohol shops dotted around the streets, mixed,
Almost door to door, with the pharmacy shops.
So, you would see the neon lights of the alcohol
Stores in one place and then twenty yards down
The street there would be the green neon beam
Of an APTEXA sign. Health and poison aligned.
But there are far many other visions and memorial
Content, too. It’s just that they are swirled up
In a type of dreamland that I rarely want to
Go back to, because I miss this country so much,
And the person that I used to visit there with –
I miss her as horrifically as any mental pain
I can describe in any of my writing. But, I
Suppose that by writing about this country
It can be a type of therapy. And so here goes.
The city I spent the most time in was Lodz.
A huge town with a population of around
700 000 people. And we would head through
The city on the wasp coloured trams that
Dinged and danged with their bells, along
The streets that were often filled with weeds
And under the tall buildings that were often
Left cracked and dilapidated. Sometimes
Because nobody was living in them and
Other times because they were still ruins
From the war. And, on so many walls nearby
That you glanced, there was football graffiti.
Or, other slogans that I didn’t know the
Origin of. Whenever you walked out on the
Street you were aware of high rises in the
Distance. Some folks find them ugly but I’ve
Always found them pretty in an off key way.
Those were hard fat bulky Soviet buildings
Of concrete that yomped up way high in the
Sky and there must’ve been hundreds of
People living in each domino set that you
Looked at: and they were dazed and delirious
In the central European sun. We would
Ride out to the outer parts of the city and
The flats would just go on and on into the
Distance. And whenever we rode on the trams or
On the train it always took thirty minutes to get
Anywhere – the town was that huge. Industrial.
We went to museums of textile works, ex-factories.
There was the sense that this city was one of
Working people, of GDP, of output. And yet it
Was still obliterated by warfare and mass crime,
Even in the late quarter of the 21 century.
We went to the Jewish cemetery, far, far away
From where we were staying. And it remains
One of the largest cemeteries in Europe.
For reasons that I don’t need to explain.
And most of the graveyards were surrounded by
Lofty trees in full bloom. Was a sunny day
When we went there. And the graves weren’t
Proper graves. They were merely little
Placards that stung meekly out of the soil,
And most of them didn’t have names. Just bodies,
Under the earth. Skeletons. … And, my girl
And I went travelling out of Lodz a lot, too,
Between Warsaw and Opole and Krakow.
Thus, I witnessed much of the dense countryside
Between the cities. And the fields were rich
And lush and they almost didn’t belong to the
Hard urbanity of the towns. There were still
Houses by the farms, but most of it was a series
Of long landscaped fields, flat and dazed in blue
Yellow, and hooker’s green. … And I remember
One time walking with her, and her parents,
And her mother said, “There was a great battle
Here, back in the war. Against the Nazis.”
And, we were literally just walking through
This angelic countryside. It was surreal
To hear her mention the Nazis so casually.
That they had been on this very turf,
70 years earlier, with their Blitzkrieg rage.
Her mother and father spoke only in English
To me; but I tried a few times with Polish,
And they found it funny, because my accent
Was so awful. But, when they were all speaking
In their own tongue, I liked the sound of their
Language and how it crashed and thrashed
With noises I couldn’t understand. It had
A rough, clumsy, dance-like quality to it:
That Slavic thing that I wished I knew how to
Speak. But there was very little chance,
Considering all of their cases, and so on.
Or, maybe I wasn’t smart enough to learn it
Properly. … But in those summers, too, there
Were the football tournaments. And, because
Polska are usually a decent football team,
They were often involved in the competitions.
This was unusual for me, since I come
From Scotland. And so the city squares and
The main streets would be filled with folks
Wearing soccer shirts, and there would be
Huge public TVs; and there was steaming pierogi,
And gaudy piwo [which is always high strength
In Poland, no matter which brand you pick]
And there would be an eruption whenever
There was a goal. Even though it was unlikely
That Poland would win the tournament it
Was still glorious to be involved.
When the games were over we would head
Elsewhere in the city and sit by the thick river and
Dabble at those intense beers. Yeah, I remember
Being in Warsaw by the Vistula and it was
Maybe eight in the evening and still piping
Hot and Poland was still throbbing and pulsing
With hundreds of other folks lacing the steps
By the bankside. The nation had been through
So much mayhem throughout its history,
And yet it was still here: there was a whole
Generation here by the banks of this mammoth
River: and even though I was a foreigner,
I still felt a part of the generation.
No, I wasn’t Slavic: but I loved this nation indeed.
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She was born in 1994 in Warsaw, Poland. She is currently studying at Faculty of Graphics and Painting, at the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. She specializes in serigraphy. In 2016 She took a part in Erasmus student Programme - she studied abroad at ESAD College of Art and Design, Matosinhos, Portugal. In June 2018 she took a part in VII International Symposium at the Artistic University Centre of Culture and Art at “Dwór Kossaków” in Górki Wielkie 2018. In September 2018 Michalina participated in the FLASH DRAWING TOUR - Urbino - Fano - Pietrarubbia - International Symposium of the Intaglio Techniques Studio at the KAUS Urbino International Art Centre in Italy. Apart that she frequently takes a part in exhibitions and contests:
AWARDS:
- 22.11.2018 - First prize at 12th competition for students “Small graphic form” organized by Amcor Gallery , Łódź, Poland
- 23.08.2018 - Honorary mention in international poster contest “Vielfalt ist Kunst!/ Różnorodność to sztuka!/ Diversity is an art!”, Berlin, Germany
- 15.06.2018 - First prize of Zofia Kossak during VII International Symposium at the Artistic University Centre of Culture and Art at “Dwór Kossaków” in Górki Wielkie, Poland
- 12.04.2018 - Prize sponsored by Olimpia S. A., contest “Strzemiński Projekt 2018”, Łódź, Poland
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS:
- 14.11.2018 - “Zapis \ Transcript” - Exhibition of silkscreen artworks; “Gallery of Flat Print 14”; Rzeszów University, Al. mjr. W. Kopisto 2a, Rzeszów
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS:
- 28.02.2019 - CARMO AND THE HEART OF DARKNESS - Arts in the Public Sphere; Sala Vieira da Silva Maison Andre Gouveia, Paris, France
- 06.02.2019 - CARMO AND THE HEART OF DARKNESS - Arts in the Public Sphere; Sala Iberia, Cuenca, Spain
- 05.12.18 - "O!świecenie", Exhibition of finalist of Graphic contest named after Jan Feliks Piwarski; Gabinet Rycin BUW, ul. Dobra 56/66, Warszawa
- 22.11.2018 - Laureats’ Exhibition of “12th contest for small students graphic form”; Gallery Amcor, Aleksandrowska 55 street, Łódź
- 11.11.2018 - “Za wolność / For Liberty” - The Academy of Fine Arts students’ exhibition of the works from Poster Studio and Textile Workshop; Central Museum of Textiles ,Piotrkowska 282, Łódź
- 25.09.2018 - „Metal is cool / Flash Drawing Tour 2018: Urbino/Fano/Pietrarubbia” - The exhibition of the Intalgio Workshop; Oratorio San Giovanni Battista Sala Salimbeni, via Barocci 31 25, Italy
- 23.08.2018 - “Vielfalt ist Kunst\1/Różnorodność to sztuka!/Diversity is an art!” - Międzynarodowa wystawa plakatów; Instytut Polski w Berlinie, Burgstraße 27, 10178 Berlin, Germany
- 19.06-11.07.2018 - "Mikstury \ Mixtures" - Nationwide Exhibition of Graphics accompanying The Final of II edition of Festival “Mikstury Kultury”; National Forum of Music, plac Wolności 1 street, Wroclaw
-22.06 - 12.07.2018 - “Eksperymentarium i goście \ The Association Eksperymentarium and the guests” - Gallery ASP, Piotrkowska 68 Street, Łódź
- 17.04.2018 - “Innowacje w Grafice \ Innovation in Printmaking” - Exhibition of students’ artistic Graphics; Gallery “Pomiędzy”, Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts, Wojska Polskiego 121 street, Lódź
- 21 - 22.02.2018 - Laureats’ Exhibition “Konkurs im. Władysława Strzemińskiego w Łodzi - Projekt 2018 \ Contest named after Władyslaw Strzemiński - Project 2018”, Art Inkubator, Tymienieckiego 3 street, Lodz
- 09 - 23.11.2016 - “Harenda/Soczewka 2016” - Students’ ASP Exhibition of painting from open air in Soczewka; Gallery ASP, Piotrkowska 68 street, Łódź
- 2.10.2016 - “Wystawa prac studentów z Pracowni Podstaw Grafiki Warsztatowej 209 \ Exhibition of Students work from studio of Basic Graphic Workshop 209”; Gallery ASP, ul, Piotrkowska 68 street, Łódź
- 16.12.2016 - 31.01 2017 - „Nowa przestrzeń. Czwarta wystawa prac studentów ASP / News space. IV exhibition of ASP students ”; at Filharmony named after A. Rubinsteina, Narutowicza 20/22 street, Łódź
- 01 - 31.05.2016 - “Otwarta wystawa / An Open Exhibition” - An Exhibition of the students from Graphic Basics Studio at Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts , Wojska Polskiego 121 street, Łódź
- 11 - 25.09.2015 - “INTERAKCJE / INTERACTIONS” - The Exhibition associated with “Łódź Design Festival”; at “Niebostan” Piotrkowska 17 street, Łódź
- 9 Maj 2014 - Students’ of Faculty of Materials Technology and Textile Design of the Lodz University of Technology Exhibition “Retrospekcja/Retrospection”, Willa Józefa Richtera, 10/12 Skorupki Street, Łódź
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