Polish-Dutch Exhibition Exchange in 1947–1989 as an Illustration of International Cultural Relations between „Smaller Players” of the Cold War Conflict
Michał Wenderski
miwen@amu.edu.plFaculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9610-7838
Abstract
This article gives an overview of Polish-Dutch cultural exchanges during the Cold War, with particular attention paid to art exhibitions organised in both countries. The Cold War divided Europe into two “blocs” presenting two opposite socio-political ideals, which had major impact on East-West cultural exchanges, particularly among the so-called “smaller players” of this conflict. This did not mean, however, that the fields of art and culture from both sides of the Iron Curtain had no points of contact or that cultural exchanges between countries such as Poland or the Netherlands hardly existed. This paper scrutinises the intertwinement of the fields of culture and power, and its effect on international artistic relations and exhibition exchange. It demonstrates that Polish-Dutch cultural relations were maintained and developed during the whole period, in spite of geopolitical tensions and struggles that had major impact on mutual exchange, its scale and dynamics.
Supporting Agencies
Keywords:
the Netherlands, Polish People’s Republic, Cold War, exhibition exchange, international cultural exchange, cultural diplomacyReferences
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Authors
Michał Wenderskimiwen@amu.edu.pl
Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9610-7838
Michał Wenderski, Ph.D., D.Litt., assistant professor at the Department of Dutch and South African Studies at the Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. His research focuses on the history of mutual relations and cultural exchange between Poland and the Low Countries. He has published, among others, on the interwar artistic and literary avant-garde (Cultural Mobility in the Interwar Avant-Garde Art Network, 2019) and the Cold War international cultural relations (Art and Politics During the Cold War, 2024).
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