Polish history featured in London festival | Visitors flock to Beksiński gallery | Gdynia Film Festival opens tomorrow | Poland loses to Slovenia in EuroVolley upset
Polish history is taking center stage in several educational and cultural events at London’s National Army Museum, thanks to director-general Justin Maciejewski.
Maciejewski spoke with Polska Agencja Prasowa (PAP) ahead of the 2021 Chelsea History Festival, an immersive outdoor project that started in London on Friday and runs until September 26.
The festival includes several lectures on the history of Poland, including one by Jennifer Grant on Polish pilots serving in Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II and a speech by Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski on Poland’s landmark Constitution of May 3, 1791.
The event also features a panel discussion on the 1940 Katyn Massacre of Polish officers and intellectuals by Soviet Army soldiers and a presentation on the fascinating story of Poland’s elite “Silent-Unseen” paratroopers who trained in Britain to fight the Germans in occupied Poland during World War II.
In an interview, Maciejewski credited the Polish Embassy and the Polish Cultural Institute in London with helping organize the Polish-themed event. Maciejewski himself is a graduate of Cambridge University and a decorated veteran of the Iraq war; he has been in charge of London’s National Army Museum since 2018.
Source: Radio Poland
A gallery in southeastern Poland showcasing the works of celebrated Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński has reportedly attracted over 45 thousand visitors this year.
The gallery, located in a royal castle in the artist’s hometown of Sanok in southeastern Poland, includes thousands of paintings, sketches, reliefs, and sculptures by the controversial artist.
As a self-taught artist famed for his surrealistic and sometimes gruesome paintings, Beksiński was at odds with the European avant-garde at the time. He later gained a cult following in Poland and abroad, eventually becoming a leading figure in contemporary Polish art in the 1960s.
The artist gained additional notoriety due to his untimely death in 2005, after being stabbed outside his flat in Warsaw by a 19-year-old acquaintance reportedly upset that Beksiński wouldn’t lend him money.
A sampling of the artist’s works can be seen on the museum’s website at https://www.museeum.com/museum/beksinski-gallery.
Source: Radio Poland
Sixteen productions are set to battle it out for the Golden Lions award in the main competition of this year’s Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
The annual festival, first held in 1974, is one of the oldest film events in Europe. It provides Poland’s most prestigious showcase of new home-grown movies, as well as a collection of films from abroad.
The festival will officially open on Monday, September 20; a complete program of film screenings and events is available online at festiwalgdynia.pl.
Source: Radio Poland
In a shocking upset, the undefeated Polish men’s volleyball team lost to Slovenia 3-1 last night during the semifinals of the 2021 EuroVolley championship in Katowice.
The previously undefeated Polish team will now face off against Serbia, who also lost 1-3 in their semifinal match against Italy last night. The re-match between Poland and Serbia promises to be particularly engaging, as the match is both teams’ last chance for a spot on the podium.
The Poland-Serbia match is scheduled to start at 5:30 pm tonight in Katowice, with the final match between Italy and Slovenia set to air at 8:30 pm.
Source: https://eurovolley.cev.eu/
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and cool, with very little chance of rain and a strong breeze coming in from the northeast later in the day. Temperatures will peak around a high of 13°C, or 55°F, cooling off overnight to a low of 10°C or 50°F. Tomorrow will see a bit more sun, with a slight chance for rain in the early morning hours and temps remaining on the cool side as the week progresses.
Elizabeth Peck
