Historical Connections Between Poland & the London Design Biennale

Photo of the Cadavre Exquis: An Anatomy of Utopia exhibition at the London Design Biennale, Somerset House in London, 2016, photo: Jędrzej Sokołowski, default, Photo of the Cadavre Exquis: An Anatomy of Utopia exhibition at the London Design Biennale, Somerset House in London, 2016, photo: Jędrzej Sokołowski, Historical Connections Between Poland & the London Design Biennale

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Established in 2016, the London Design Biennale is one of the world’s most significant design events. Held every two years at Somerset House in London, it foregrounds the global role of design through international collaboration. Each edition is shaped by a theme developed by a rotating artistic director.

The exhibitions presented by participating countries aim to propose design-led responses to universal challenges facing humanity today, from environmental preservation to questions of cultural identity and post-conflict recovery. Through design and design thinking, the biennale brings nations together to explore creative, forward-looking solutions to these shared concerns.

Poland has participated in every edition of the London Design Biennale. Organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the country’s exhibitions, many of which have been recognised with awards, consistently offer distinctive interpretations of each theme. Below, we explore the historical connections between Poland and the London Design Biennale, celebrating the thought-provoking exhibitions created by Polish artists, designers and curators.

2016: ‘Cadavre Exquis: An Anatomy of Utopia’

In the inaugural year of the London Design Biennale, designer and curator Maria Jeglińska was invited, together with curator Klara Czerniewska, to develop Poland’s response to the 2016 theme, Utopia by Design. Celebrating the 500th anniversary of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia – a satirical novel depicting an idealised, fictional island society – the biennale aimed to provoke real change by imagining aspirational or cautionary futures.

Poland’s interactive exhibition, titled Cadavre Exquis: An Anatomy of Utopia, sought to explore how design and innovation can contribute to a better world. Its form was inspired by the Surrealist word-association game ‘The Exquisite Corpse’ (hence the title Cadavre Exquis), inviting visitors to participate as co-creators of the narrative. Jeglińska and Czerniewska cast viewers as wanderers moving through the installation, encountering questions and choices that allowed them to shape their own path toward utopia or dystopia.

By giving visitors control over the outcome, the exhibition examined urgent questions surrounding both individual and collective quests for new utopias, emphasising the idea that utopias are human-made constructs.

Cadavre Exquis: Poland's Installation at the London Design Biennale – Image Gallery

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2018: ‘A Matter of Things’

The second edition of the London Design Biennale centred on the theme Emotional States, inviting participants to examine how design shapes our lives and influences our experiences during emotionally turbulent times.

Coinciding with the centenary of Poland’s independence, the exhibition curated by Małgorzata Wesołowska presented ten objects that, while seemingly mundane, especially to non-Polish visitors, were deeply connected to emotionally charged events from the one hundred years of Poland’s most recent history. The selection included a round table, a camp bed and even toilet paper on a rope. Each object had gained significance either by accidental association with a historical moment or through its functional role within a shared social experience. Displayed as full-scale models, the items allowed visitors to appreciate their physicality and their relationship to the human body. They were accompanied by explanatory texts and archival photographs that provided cultural and historical context.

The installation was recognised by the international London Design Biennale jury, receiving an Honourable Mention for its broad, inclusive portrayal of everyday life in Poland and its illustration of how resourceful solutions often emerge from necessity and urgency.

A Matter of Things – The Polish Exhibition at the London Design Biennale 2018 – Image Gallery

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2021: ‘The Clothed Home: Tuning in to the Seasonal Imagination’

Resonance was the theme of the 2021 London Design Biennale, focusing on the idea that every human action and design decision has consequences, both positive and negative. Participants were encouraged to consider how these ripple effects might help address critical global challenges and shape a better future.

Poland’s pavilion was conceived by Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Simone De Iacobis of Centrala design studio, curator Aleksandra Kędziorek and artist Alicja Bielawska. Together they created The Clothed Home: Tuning in to the Seasonal Imagination, a conceptual exhibition that explored how textiles have traditionally been used to reflect seasonal changes within domestic interiors. Drawing on historical rituals and craft practices, the installation looked forward, searching for contemporary approaches to climate-responsive design.

The title played on the idea of ‘clothing’ one’s home through hand-woven rugs, wall hangings, carpets and other textile forms. With each season came a different textile or arrangement, shaped by atmospheric, cultural and social conditions that influenced the appearance and atmosphere of the home. The exhibition featured items crafted by local Polish artisans using traditional weaving techniques and natural materials. A colour palette inspired by nature’s cycles helped create a richly multisensory experience.

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‘The Clothed Home: Tuning in to the Seasonal Imagination’, London Design Biennale 2021, https://alicjabielawska.com/the-clothed-home-polish-pavilion-london-design-biennale-2021/

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2023: ‘Poetics of Necessity’

Poland’s 2023 London Design Biennale pavilion was designed by Zofia Jaworowska, Michał Sikorski and Petro Vladimirov for the theme The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the project drew inspiration from the BRDA Foundation’s Windows initiative, launched by Jaworowska and Vladimirov, which collected reusable windows donated by Poles to help Ukrainians rebuild their homes. Instead of a traditional display, the curators used the space to highlight social engagement and humanitarian aid.

Focusing on how unlikely objects, such as reclaimed windows, gain new purpose during crises, the pavilion presented the process behind the aid. Poland’s contribution unfolded in three stages: collecting the windows, exhibiting them in London and sending them to Kyiv and Kharkiv, where they became building materials for people restoring damaged homes. This transformation of waste into useful objects underscored how even simple materials can bring safety and relief in times of crisis.

With two rooms at their disposal, the curators created a pair of zones: the first evoked a workshop/storage space explaining acquisition, logistics and transport; the second recreated domestic interiors showing how the windows were installed and repurposed. The immersive setup offered visitors insight into temporary solutions essential during emergencies.

The exhibition received the London Design Biennale 2023 Medal for the most outstanding overall contribution.

'Poetics of Necessity' - London Design Biennale 2023 [gallery]

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2025: ‘Records of Waiting’

The latest edition of the London Design Biennale explored the theme Surface Reflections, which focused on how ideas are shaped by both internal experiences and external influences, touching on notions of identity, tradition, legacy and emotion.

Poland’s curatorial team of Jakub Gawkowski, Monika Rosińska and Maciej Siuda created Records of Waiting, an exhibition drawing on the woodcarving traditions of Poland’s mountain region to visually represent the experience of waiting. The display showed how the history of material culture can illuminate contemporary issues related to time, revealing that waiting is not experienced equally. Power, social roles and structural inequalities all shape how long and how intensely people wait. Through carved ornamentation, the pavilion made this invisible process both visible and tactile.

The hand-carved wooden panels depicted 12 situations from contemporary Poland marked by prolonged waiting, such as years spent repaying a mortgage, months waiting for a public healthcare appointment or hours lost in daily traffic. Together, these examples demonstrated how waiting is both individual and collective and how deeply it is tied to broader inequalities.

Records of Waiting received the Theme Medal, with the international jury recognising its thoughtful exploration of time and waiting. This marked the third award for the Polish pavilion across its five participations in the biennale.

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‘Records of Waiting’, London Design Biennale 2025, https://www.archdaily.com/1031605/10-pavilion-highlights-from-the-london-design-biennale-2025

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The last five editions of the London Design Biennale have showcased the many ways Polish culture and tradition can be adapted and applied to diverse themes and global issues, often earning awards and recognition from the international jury. The next edition of the event is scheduled for 2027, and we cannot wait to see what the Polish pavilion will present.

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