WAYS OF THE BLACK SPREAD OVER THE WHITE LAND

Ways of the White Spread Over the Black Land was a 1948 painting by Marian Bogusz. The reversed title of this exhibition illustrates the peculiar dynamics of Poland’s relationships with Blackness and Sub-Saharan Africa in times of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL). With the end of World War II, Poland came under the Communist social-political system, adopting with it an anti-fascist and anti-imperial ideology that condemned racism and colonial projects. Art, politics, and ethnography combined to produce an entanglement of meanings and agendas. As more and more African states declared independence at the turn of the 1950s and 60s, Poland forged new alliances, reflecting the ideologically determined Cold-War efforts to gain influence no less than they did reflect a genuine interest in the decolonized continent. These international relations eventually resulted in an increased exchange of ideas as well as individuals, which had an effect on artistic circles and visual culture of the time.