Tu i tam / Here and there is an exhibition about being on the road and about home. It is about Polish migration to the United Kingdom – a story told by photographs and memories of many generations.
Anatol Krakowiecki marched hundreds of thousands of kilometres with the General Anders’ Army, and along the way, he documented the everyday reality of the journey of his own and a thousand other people. In the exhibition, we will see photographs from his private archive. Nurse Irena Troufar shared a similar experience – her story has been documented and described by Karolina Jonderko in Little Poland.
Moreover, we will present – for the very first time in Poland – photographs by Czesław Jan Siegieda, a documentalist who photographed the life of Polish community in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s ever since he was a child. As Martin Parr put it, „rarely do you see such an empathetic and meticulous project”.
Last, but not least, the exhibition will include two projects by Michał Iwanowski — Clear of People and Go Home, Polish. They are the artist’s attempt to understand the experience of migration – his own and his family’s. Moreover, Iwanowski poses a question about what freedom actually is today, including the freedom to move, travel, migrate.
Their stories show how much our everyday decisions depend on the time and place in which we happen to live. In addition to that, they raise questions about how our thinking about nationality, belonging and identity is changing.
The exhibition has been developed in partnership with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, where the other version of the exhibition, focusing on the Polish and Ukrainian communities in Bradford, will be displayed. Find out more about the exhibition here.
The Tu i tam / Here and there exhibition is supported by the British Council under the UK/Poland Season 2025
Curated by: Tim Smith, Marta Szymańska.
Artists: Anatol Krakowiecki, Karolina Jonderko, Tim Smith, Czesław Jan Siegieda, Michał Iwanowski.
Artists’ websites:
https://www.michaliwanowski.com/
https://czeslawsiegieda.co.uk/
https://www.karolinajonderko.com/#/little-poland/
https://www.panos.co.uk/photographer/tim-smith/
14 June - 27 July - exhibition at the Fotofestiwal Łódź
3 - 27 July - exhibition at the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture