The Debrief

In this episode of The Debrief, we take a look at a new exhibition which shows the history of instant photos in Poland – ‘Archives in a Flash’ at the National Museum in Gdańsk.

Host John Beauchamp talks to curator Witold Kanicki about how Polaroids and Instax photography were slowly introduced to Poland in the 1970s, how their use has developed over time and how they have been left out of the main narrative on Polish photography.

There is no news this episode – our weekly reviews resume in September!

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

In this episode of The Debrief, we speak to Dr. Kamil Adamczyk, who recently came back from an emergency medical mission in Uganda to help the fight against COVID-19.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Dr. Kamil Adamczyk

Dr. Adamczyk not only was a doctor treating patients for COVID at Warsaw’s National Stadium, but shortly afterwards joined the PCPM Polish Center for International Aid to help Uganda in fighting COVID by setting up an emergency ward at the hospital in Entebbe.

There is no news this episode – our weekly reviews resume in September!

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

In the show, host John Beauchamp speaks to journalist Andrzej Krajewski about a new book he’s written about his family which took him through boxes in the attic and from archive to archive in order to put the pieces of his family history together.

A number of these memories concern the Warsaw Uprising, which of course started on 1 August 1944 and lasted for 63 days as a last ditch attempt to fight for Poland’s freedom.

In this week’s review:

• Belarusian sprinter Tsimanouskaya arrives in Warsaw
• Poland mulls restrictions for regions with poor vaccination rates
• Ukrainian employees sought-after in Poland

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

The grand Krzysztofory Palace has reopened to the public, while the final touches are still being placed on its permanent exhibition. A number of temporary exhibitions have also been planned, as curator Kamil Stasiak tells Debrief host John Beauchamp.

In this week’s review:

• PM again appeals to Poles to get vaccinated
• Warsaw Uprising commemorations held in Polish capital
• Health care spending to be increased to 7% of GDP, says PM

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

A new exhibition at the Muzeum Sztuki gallery in Łódź by contemporary artist Agnieszka Kurant focuses on the “simultaneously creative and destructive role of error in the face of modern automation and algorithmisation”.

John Beauchamp speaks to curator Jakub Gawkowski about this avant-garde critique of neo-liberalism and the seemingly indivisible lines of natural/artificial as well as pitching the individual against the collective.

In this week’s review:

• Petition to oust education minister gets 100,000 signatures
• Delta variant requires higher herd immunity – Dep Health Minister
• Retail sales up in June – stats office

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

Basking in the summer heat, the rooftops housing the Old Town of Toruń shine an envious eye on the glass-fronted entrance to the cool confines of the CSW Centre for Contemporary Art.

Inside, a look back at one of Poland’s most commercially successful and prolific artists Edward Dwurnik, with an exhibition tallying more than 450 his works produced over his lifetime.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Paulina Kuhn from the Toruń Centre of Contemporary Art.

This monumental show is the first of its kind since Edward Dwurnik died in 2018 following a career spanning half a century. Born in 1943, the talented artist produced a massive collection numbering over 20,000 works, ranging from urban murals and sweeping canvases to scale drawings and print graphics.

The exhibition marks an important chapter in the CSW’s still young history, as Dwurnik’s striking blue and black portrait of a punked-up Copernicus was the first work of art donated to the new gallery’s collection when it was founded fifteen years ago in 2006.

In this week’s review:

• Zygmunt bell celebrates 500th birthday
• Polish flag carrier suffers huge loss in 2020 pandemic year
• Flag-bearers of Poland team at Tokyo Olympics opening announced

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

What is the Polish style? Perhaps there is more than one? A new exhibition at the National Museum in Kraków aims to answer these questions, opening a series of exhibitions entitled ‘4x Modernity’ which look at Polish art, design and architecture from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Professor Andrzej Szczerski, director of the National Museum in Kraków, about the exhibition.

In this week’s review:

• President hands over draft act on reconstruction of the Saski Palace
• Biotech firms get boost from pandemic on Warsaw Stock Exchange
• Polish director receives Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

We get the inside info behind commemorating one of Poland’s most renowned generals in the UK after several decades since the end of World War II.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to George Byczyński, a British Pole who was instrumental in the fundraising campaign of a new bust of World War II hero General Władysław Anders, which has just gone on permanent display at London’s National Army Museum.

In this week’s review:

• Bust of WWII hero General Anders unveiled in historic ceremony at London’s National Army Museum
• Poland one of world’s largest exporters of ice cream
• Polish satellites go into orbit

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

Five Johannes Hevelius works, including Selenographia and Machina coelestis, have been included on the National List of the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ Programme.

Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687), born in Gdańsk, was a town councillor, a well-educated lawyer and an astronomer.

Host John Beauchamp talks to Maria Michalska from the Polish Academy of Sciences Library in Gdańsk about the works of Johannes Hevelius (Jan Heweliusz) and their entry onto the UNESCO heritage list.

You can find out more about the library’s collection and see Hevelius’ works here.

In this week’s review:

• Poland imposes 10-day quarantine for travellers from outside Schengen Area
• Most Poles plan vacation at home
• Poland knocked out of Euro 2020

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

Titled ‘Such A Landscape’, the exhibition theme goes beyond spotlighting Polish-Jewish relations to explore feelings of hatred, animosity and ‘otherness’ set against the larger picture of the Polish landscape.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to the head of the POLIN Exhibition Department Joanna Fikus about the new show.

In this week’s review:

• Pfizer to end extra vaccine supplies to Poland
• Health ministry braces itself for next Covid wave
• More support for nuclear power – survey

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!