Polish Design Exhibition Opens in Brussels. It Will Commemorate Exceptional Female Designers

An exhibition presenting the profiles and works of 16 Polish female designers will open at the Design Museum in Brussels on Thursday. Just as women have gained a voice in design, Poland is now treated as a full-fledged design partner, the exhibition curator, Dr. Agnieszka Jacobsen-Cielecka, told PAP.

The exhibition "Looking Through Objects: Women in Contemporary Polish Design" focuses on everyday objects. Among the exhibits are geometric vases by Magda Jurek , a flower-like lamp made of recycled glass by Justyna Popławska , and a stoneware stool with bending legs by Natasza Grześkiewicz.

Each item is accompanied by a portrait of the author, photos from their studio showing what goes on behind the scenes, and quotes from interviews with them, illustrating what is most important to them in the creative process.

- Our idea is to show not only the objects, but also to create conditions for a closer encounter with the designer, i.e. to see her, hear her voice and find out in what environment or context these things were created - said Jacobsen-Cielecka.

- Each of these stories is different, because at the exhibition we have both people for whom design is the management of production processes and people who create with their own hands. Both designers who run their own companies and those who work for foreign brands - added the curator.

The objects, as he explains, were chosen to stand out and at the same time constitute a certain continuum and a coherent whole. The exhibition, for example, juxtaposed items made of the same materials but differing in the way they were made ; fulfilling the same function but created in a completely different style.

As the curator explains, although the exhibition does not have feminist aspirations, the inspiration for its creation was the observation of the important role played by women in Polish design.

- When my current co-curator Gian Luca Amadei came to Poland in 2007 as a journalist, he noticed that women were very present in the design world. At that time, it was quite exceptional, compared to England or Italy, for example - he recalls.

Many Polish designers currently work for top brands around the world. The exhibition's protagonists include Maja Ganszyniec, who designed for Ikea and Duka, and Maria Jeglińska-Adamczewska, who collaborates with the Danish textile company Kvadrat and the French furniture brand La Ligne Roset.

- Just as women have gained a full voice in design, Poland has recently become a full-fledged participant in the design market. Ten years ago it was a valued subcontractor of important European brands, today it is treated as an important design partner with good production and good designers - notes Jacobsen-Cielecka.

The exhibition at the Design Museum can be visited until September 28. The organizers are the Polish Institute in Brussels and the Design Museum in Brussels, and the partners are SWPS University in Warsaw, the Royal College of Art in London and the National Museum in Gdańsk . The exhibition is part of the cultural program as part of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council.