The exhibition at the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow is the first ever wide-reaching presentation of how design has changed in Poland over the last 30 years.
We will discover challenges faced by designers in the years after the political breakthrough, driven by the collapse of former ties with industry and under the newly forming capitalist system. The exhibition reveals how Polish designers entered the international arena at the turn of the 21st century and how Polish brands became increasingly noticeable in international markets, until they became equal to the competition.
Designing things tends to be associated with mass production and utility, but the exhibition also draws attention to less commercial aspects to contemporary design. We will discover niche trends, technologies which can be difficult to accept by the majority of users, and experiments in aestheticism. An important theme is the search for local identity, seeking inspiration in the past, recalling styles of the 1960s and reaching for regional traditions. We will also see designs created in response to pressing environmental and social issues. A section of the exhibition is dedicated to works by artist designers, spanning the boundaries between categories and usually displayed at art festivals and galleries. (Dorota Dziunikowska, miesięcznik „Karnet”)
