Publication date: 22.09.2021

The publication, which is related to the exhibition presented in 2015 at Zachęta, "Just After the War", the publication paints the landscape of post-WWII Polish art in all its tragedy, complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. It shows how artists reacted to the new, dynamically changing socio-political reality and an atmosphere, on the one hand, of the ‘euphoria of reconstruction’, and on the other, of post-war mourning and ‘great trepidation’. For them, it was a time of dramatic choices, both ethical and artistic. A dozen or so essays dealing with the era’s cultural policy, painting, architecture, urban planning, film and photography have been accompanied by short texts devoted to the history of selected works, exhibitions, events or institutions.

The book includes a chronology of political and artistic events, with an epilogue in the form of selfcriticisms written at the time by five important figures of the era, who are also among the protagonists of the exhibition: Mieczysław Berman, Jerzy Borejsza, Tadeusz Borowski, Bohdan Lachert, and Andrzej Wróblewski.

The publication also contains photographs documenting the exhibition at Zachęta.