Organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Zamek Cieszyn, in cooperation with the Fly with Art Foundation, it explores the history of Polish design in the 20th and 21st centuries through an original collection of glasses and cups.
The exhibition is a curatorial dialogue between ceramics designer Bogdan Kosak, and design historian Kasia Jeżowska. It features nearly forty examples of pieces dated from the beginning of the 20th century till the present. While archival and private photographs provide context for each piece of ceramics and glass design, the narrative illustrates how coffee culture has changed throughout the decades.
Polish culture, and design in particular, has been historically defined by two opposing endeavours: a persistent attempt to define a unique, national style on the one hand, and vivid allusions and international influences on the other. As displayed by the exhibition, these forces and their interaction can be seen through the evolution of the shapes and décor of cups and glasses. Changing coffee-drinking habits reflect the adjustment of international recipes to local palates and market supplies in times of shortage.
Being a luxury commodity, coffee was primarily served in wealthy houses and cafés, which were hubs of cultural and political life in every city. In the 1960s, it was introduced to the countryside with the "klubokawiarnia" which is a typical Polish phenomenon that combines a café with a cultural organization. As coffee became a popular and casual drink the industry responded by producing tableware of various sizes and prices. The exhibition is able to propose a design history that embraces the pretty and the ugly and that belongs to both high-brow and mass culture by featuring these objects that both influenced and served popular aesthetic tastes.
Glass&Cup: Polish Design Stories will participate in Istanbul Design Week thanks to efforts made by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Zamek Cieszyn and The Fly with Art Foundation.
Zamek Cieszyn is Poland's first regional design centre that implements designs to improve quality of life and the use of public space through exhibitions, workshops and conferences.
More information on their website.
The Fly with Art Foundation was created in 2011 on the initiative of Anita Bialic and Grażyna Brylewska, the founders of BB Gallery. The main aim of the foundation is to promote contemporary art and design through educational activities, and to increase knowledge and understanding of them.
More information can be found on the website.
Istanbul Design Week
Maçka Küçükçiftlik Park
Opening hours: 10:30 am—8:00 pm
Curators’ talk: Sunday, 1 December, 3:00 pm
Glass engraving workshops: Friday, 29 November, 3:00-5:00 pm
Sources: Fly with Art Foundation, Zamek Cieszyn, own sources, author: SMG 20/11/2013