Commemorating the centenary of the birth of
Jerzy Giedroyc, creator of the Paris-based journal "Kultura" [Culture], this exhibition provides a comprehensive look at this publisher, columnist and author of AUTOBIOGRAFIA NA CZTERY RECE / AUTOBIOGRAPHY FOR FOUR HANDS (written jointly with Krzysztof Pomian).
The display focuses on the Editor, as Giedroyc was fondly called, and his life's opus: the Literary Institute and its flagship journal, "Kultura." The show's title suggests that Giedroyc's true character might be revealed in "his surroundings": in people permanently associated with Maisons-Laffitte and incidental guests there, who included a number of visual artists. After all,
Jozef Czapski was primarily a painter, and apart from a number of his canvasses and drawings, the exhibition will include works by
Jan Lebenstein.
"The general feeling is that I'm a despot and that 'Kultura' has never had an editorial team unless you accept that it has always been made up of one person, that is, me. Contrary to that opinion, I am in fact open to suggestions and criticism, and I often change my mind based on discussions. 'Kultura' has undeniably had an editorial team and has one today. It includes people whose opinions I value and take into consideration. For me, editing 'Kultura' has been about moving around amidst these people and mediating between the views they express, views that at times differ and at other times are simply irreconcilable."
"(...) If I have one talent, it is that of a theatre or film director: the ability to pick the right subjects and people. That makes me a team person and allows me to change my mind if someone persuades me."
"(...) I am changing my tactics because politics is not a sacrament; if you want to participate in politics, you have to cling to a constantly changing reality. You must know how to remain true to principles while changing your views."
Jerzy Giedroyc, AUTOBIOGRAPHY FOR FOUR HANDS
Others on
Jerzy Giedroyc and "Kultura"...
Andrzej Oseka:
" 'Kultura' played an immense part in the struggle against Communist totalitarianism. Although that is deeply true, it is not the whole truth. The role of this journal, this intellectual center, is hardly done. Even though we can finally claim that we are at home and no longer live according to an imposed doctrine, we can neither forget ourselves, nor the fact that this doctrine shaped us for decades. Perhaps more than any other source, the Literary Institute's journals and books can tell us about this shaping process and the problems arising from it." (1991)
Helena Zaworska:
"Jerzy Giedroyc had historical imagination in his genes like some people have perfect pitch. He was endowed with an unparalleled sense of other people, a respect for multi-cultural tradition and tolerance, and thus he was immensely wealthy in spirit, which proved valuable and rare in his century. He referred to himself as a 'political beast,' though he understood politics as the reasonable, free arrangement of the world, as a means by which people relate to one another, as a rejection of primal aggression in favor of a solidary community. He saw intolerance and stupidity as a constant threat - one as difficult to defeat, perhaps, as totalitarian-imperial myths." (2000)
Czeslaw Milosz:
" 'Kultura's' status is absolutely mythical, just as the places and institutions of the Great Emigration of the 19th century are mythical."
Quotes drawn from publications produced in connection with the exhibition | |
Exhibition concept: Jolanta Pol; Academic consultant: Piotr Kloczowski; Visual design: Adam Orlewicz; Curator: Jolanta Pol
Exhibition coordinator: Janusz Odrowaz-Pieniazek
All items on display are from the collection of:
the
Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature, the
National Museum in Warsaw, the Institute for the Documentation and Study of Polish Literature, and Joanna Zamojdo,
Krystyna Zachwatowicz and
Andrzej Wajda