The exhibition presents photographs from the 1970-88 period that document strikes on the Polish coast in December 1970 and August 1980, which led to the establishment of the “Solidarity” Independent and Self-governing Trade Union, one of the largest freedom movements in the 20th century. Photographs also portray a wave of strikes across Polish cities in the spring and summer of 1988. All those events contributed to Poland’s political transformation and ushered in changes across the entire former Eastern Bloc. Some photographs are presented to the public for the first time. The photographic material was selected by Sabine Weier, the German curator.
“Photographs by renowned reporters, such as Erazm Ciołek and Stanisław Markowski, have already become images ingrained in collective memory. By contrast, photos by less known photographers, and those taken by amateurs, remain mostly unknown. The European Solidarity Centre archives hides a trove of treasures, which provide an honest and intimate account of events during the Gdansk Shipyard strikes, and which show episodes until now overlooked in public debate,” says Katarzyna Wielga-Skolimowska, Director of the Polish Institute in Berlin. “For example, pictures shot during student protests at universities make a profound impression. Photos picked by Sabine Weier allow another take on Solidarity’s history,” adds Director Wielga-Skolimowska.
The online exhibition on the Google Cultural Institute available in Polish, German, Russian, English i French is accompanied by a print publication of “Strike,” in the format of a classic broadsheet newspaper, in German and English. It presents pictures by, among others, Piotr Babiński, Hans-Olav Forsang, Zdzisław Andrzej Fic, Alfons Klejna, Jerzy Kośnik, Bogusław Nieznalski and those from a private archive of Magdalena Wójcik-Sorba. In addition to photographs, the publication contains artists’ biographic entries, texts and interviews.
The project has been conceived in collaboration with the European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk, and the exhibition has received the honorary patronage of Polish President Bronisław Komorowski.
Source: Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Poland, Polish Institute in Berlin
Photo © Jerzy Kośnik. The archives of the European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk.