Bez oparcia o dawne tradycje…Wystawa Plastyki Ziem Nadodrzańskich

Abstract

Without any recourse to past traditions… The Fine Arts Exhibitions of the Odra Lands

The Fine Arts Exhibitions of the Odra Lands (Wystawy Plastyki Ziem Nadodrzańskich (1959–1966) were one of the first large-scale-undertakings aiming to present and synopsize art created by artists who settled in the areas annexed to Poland in 1945 — starting from Gliwice, through Opole, Wrocław, Zielona Góra to Szczecin and Koszalin in the north. In the preface to the catalogue of the first of these exhibitions, which was presented to the public in 1959 in Warsaw’s Zachęta gallery, it was particularly emphasized that new centres of artistic life in that region were being formed “without any recourse to the past traditions” which made the question regarding the social role of art in “Western lands” a particularly salient issue. Subsequent reviews of the event appearing nationwide in the press also mainly related to the incorporation of Western lands into “the current of the artistic life of the country.” The exhibition formula was exhausted relatively soon (altogether four such exhibitions took place), although it did fulfil expectations — both politically and artistically. Jerzy Beski — one of the initiators of the undertaking — in his report on this remarkable artistic event noticed that “there are some parallels between the Exhibition of the Regained Land and the Exhibitions of the Odra Fine Arts”. The former, according to the artist, was meant to show that “the terrain is vivid, that it is Polish”, while the latter played the same role in the remit of the arts, proving the attractiveness and durability of new Polish artistic milieus.