the POLSKI blog

Have a look at this. This is a Polish group called Karbido, they use only one instrument – a wooden table:

They apparently performed during the Edinburgh Festival a couple of years ago, but to be honest I have never heard of them before.

They look intriguing. Have you seen them perform live? I’d love to know what you thought.

Well, Polish-Ukrainian. With some Argentinian influences.

Dagadana is a new group, which has just taken Poland by storm. Their debut CD was released earlier this month, but I’m told it’s very hard to find it in shops as it sells out within minutes.

According to their MySpace page, Dagadana’s music is a fusion of jazz, folk and electronica.

“This multicultural project should satisfy everyone who is ready to accept the Slavic soul – crazy and gentle in equal measure,” says the bio.

Their concerts are apparently real events where the audience is encouraged to bring along small instruments and join the fun.

Thanks to my friend Joanna  for introducing me to more great music (again).

Did you like it?

Years ago, when the inflation in Poland was in triple figures, we were all multi-millionaires.

I remember getting as a student a salary in the region of 14,000,000 old Polish Zloty, which would nowadays be worth probably around £300 or less.

I completely forgot what these notes used to look like until I stumbled across a fascinating collection on Flickr, called Polish Banknotes “Great Polish” featuring the entire collection of old 1980s and early 1990s notes.

There’s everything there – from a pretty worthless (even then) and pretty ugly 10 zloty note to a coveted 2,000,000 note featuring Ignacy Jan Paderewski, former Polish Prime Minister and pianist.

Marie Curie was featured on the commonly used, but pretty low-value 20,000 Zloty note, while Frederic Chopin was valued at only 5,000 Zloty.

Nicolas Copernicus, without whom we would still probably believe that the Sun circles the Earth and not the other way round, was featured on the 1,000 Zloty note. What a cheek.

I asked Peter, the owner of the collection on Flickr why he uploaded the images.

“Memories. Plus I wanted to share part of our history with the world,” he told me.

What a splendid idea.

You may have heard about the latest installation at Tate Modern in London by Miroslaw Balka, called How it is. It’s been there since October last year and – like every major installation in the Turbine Hall – it’s been covered by most mainstream UK media already. I only managed to see it for the first time yesterday.

It’s an epic ’sculpture’, which in fact is a very tall metal cube, accessible via a ramp in the Turbine Hall. Once inside you’re confronted with darkness and your senses need to readjust to the environment, which I guess is part of the experience.

The other part is probably more fun – you just stand there watching other people enter the dark chamber and observing their reactions.

While probably not as spectacular as the big sun or the slides a few years ago, the installation is probably worth a visit if you’re in the area.

It’s there until early April, so there’s plenty of time to visit Tate Modern. Otherwise, here are my pictures from yesterday:

When I started this blog, I wanted people to change their view of Poland. Out with the old, in with the new.

Glad things are changing. There are more and more Polish cultural events in the UK, I see more and more people who come to London just to visit – not to work – and 2010 also looks promising for the Polish economy.

Out of all European Union states, Poland was the only country which actually enjoyed a positive economic growth in 2009. And people are beginning (at last!) to look at Poland in a different way:

Outsiders often have fixed ideas of Poland: a big, poor country with shambolic governments, dreadful roads and eccentric habits. Old stereotypes die hard, but the facts paint an increasingly different picture. By the grim standards of recent centuries, Poland has never been more secure, richer or better-run.

This is the beginning of a great article I found in The Economist last week. Horse power to horsepower is a must-read for anyone interested in economy, politics and, er, Poland, of course. I’m not going to quote from it extensively here, just wanted to share the link with you.

But I’ll repeat myself: glad things are changing!

Image of Warsaw © jesuscm via Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence

If your commute takes ages – like mine – and if you keep complaining about not having enough time to digest your dinner, consider Cittaslow.

It would seem north-eastern Poland, with its lakes and forests and endless green fields, is hoping to attract people who want to live their lives in the slow lane. Hence the idea to join Cittaslow – a growing international network of small towns in 18 countries that have adopted a common set of rules and principles to improve the quality of life for those who live there. And for their visitors too.

The idea is to grow the local community, encourage people to support local food producers, attract visitors an make them feel welcome. A few British cities have already joined Cittaslow UK, but today I came across a mini gallery put together by the Huffington Post and featuring some Polish cities.

According to the site, Lidzbark Warmiński, Reszel, Biskupiec, and Bisztynek have joined the network and it would seem they are the first Polish cities to introduce the movement in Poland. As the Huffington Post says:

Decisions to adopt this philosophy were reached by the councils of the four cities together, to create a Polish network.

Not sure how many people are really willing to give up their cozy urban pads for this life in the slow lane, but it’s great news anyway, at least for the four communities.

But I also have to say it surprised me to learn that four different towns managed to agree on something together.

Is this the beginning of the end for the (in)famous Polish saying: “Where you have two Poles, you’ll have three different points of view”?

Image of Lidzbark Warminski (top) © JerzyW, and Reszel © jophan, both via Flickr and used under Creative Commons licence

Remember my Chopin post from a few weeks ago? Looks like London is getting ready for some Chopin celebrations too this year – just saw this in this week’s Time Out.

So glad there are more and more Polish events in London every year.

However, if you don’t want to splash out on Time Out, try the Polish Cultural Institute. They’ve created a guide to all the Chopin-related events taking place in the UK this year – you can download a free copy here.

I just want one CD for Christmas. I know it’s almost a year old, but I’ve only just been told about it. (Yeah, thanks, ‘friends’ for keeping me up to date). And I instantly fell in love with it.

Mieczyslaw Fogg was a very famous Polish crooner, whose career spanned half a century. He first started singing before the war and kept performing well into the 1980s. Always well-groomed, well-mannered, he appealed to the melancholic middle-aged ladies, who always dreamed of having a husband like him.

Needless to say, when I was a teenager it wasn’t particularly cool to listen to him. Actually, it wasn’t cool at all.

Fast forward twenty-odd years to 2008 and Fogg is back in fashion, but this time among the hip, twenty-something crowd.

Several young Polish artists re-recorded or remixed some of his old songs and released an album called Cafe Fogg. If you’re familiar with the Verve Remixed series, Cafe Fogg is in many ways very similar to that.

Here’s my absolute favourite, Bo to sie tak zwykle zaczyna (That’s the way it usually begins). The original song was remixed by The Bumelants and I love it:

Here’s another one I like – a song called Kiedy będziesz zakochany (When you’re in love), re-recorded by Novika:

Dear Santa! Got it?!

→ More from Cultural Beast