Exhibition as the Controlled Encounter of Two Countries: ”Poland – Czechoslovakia: Centuries of Neighborhood and Friendship” (1977–1978)
The most complex official exhibition project organized between Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War was a show titled ”Poland – Czechoslovakia: Centuries of Neighborhood and Friendship”. The show was conceived to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first Czechoslovak – Polish Treaty of Fr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Miejsce |
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| Online Access: | https://miejsce.asp.waw.pl/en/english-exhibition-as-the-controlled-encounter-of-two-countries-poland-czechoslovakia-centuries-of-neighborhood-and-friendship-1977-1978/ |
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| Summary: | The most complex official exhibition project organized between Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War was a show titled ”Poland – Czechoslovakia: Centuries of Neighborhood and Friendship”. The show was conceived to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first Czechoslovak – Polish Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Help. The project was co-organized by Czechoslovak and Polish institutions, and travelled to Kraków, Warsaw, Bratislava, and Prague for month-long presentations.
The exhibition was aimed at establishing the official narrative of the history of mutual contact, engaging scholars and museum professionals from both countries. The narrative included over 1,000 years of relations between the countries in question. This was represented by more than 1,000 objects, including paintings, sculptures, documents, and historical objects loaned from 156 Czechoslovak and Polish institutions and private individuals. The exhibits were divided into seventeen thematic sections, explained by descriptions in the catalog. The exhibition was not only supposed to be a presentation of historical cultural relations between three nations within (then) two countries, but to become a key event defining and building those relations.
This paper analyses the ”Poland – Czechoslovakia” exhibition in the light of recently growing scholarly interest in the history of exhibitions. As an official institutional project, the exhibition offers the possibility to analyze the circumstances of artistic life, exhibition practices, as well as the historiography of art in late socialism. |
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| ISSN: | 2956-4158 |