INFRONT ART
USA
Warsaw's MoMA acquires a key piece of Eastern European art
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“... it's difficult to believe something written by someone hammered on wine and who had been smoking herbs” Polish pop princess Doda earns herself a zł. 5,000 fine in January for “offending religious feelings” after offering the above thoughts on the Bible.
POLISH YOUR POLISH
Daj buziaka! (Die bu-zhe-ka) Give me a kiss! Bądź moją Walentynką! (Ben-dzh moi-em val-en-tynkum) Be my Valentine! Stać Cię tylko na tyle? (Sta-tsh ts-on tyl-ko na ti-le) Is that all that you can give me?
Wa r s a w I n s i d e r : 0 1 - 2 9 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 2
Reagan in Warsaw Late US President Ronald Reagan is revered by many in Poland as one of the greatest political leaders of the 20th century due to his hard-line stance against the Soviet Union. In his landmark address to the American people in 1981, the then president referred specifically to the plight of Poles, then under communist rule, when he said, “By persecuting Solidarity the Polish government wages war against its own people. I urge the Polish government and its allies to consider the consequences of their actions.” And to commemorate Reagan's role in Polish democracy, a statue of the former president was unveiled by legendary Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the end of 2011. The 3.5 meter bronze statue, which is located opposite the US Embassy on Al. Ujazdowskie, depicts Reagan making his famous 1987 speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, when he defiantly challenged, “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
PHOTOGRAPHS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: WARSAW MOMA, KEVIN DEMARIA, WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/DODA
Art lovers like will soon have the opportunity to view one of the most controversial Polish artworks of the 1990s, following the purchase of Zbigniew Libera's Lego Concentration Camp, by Warsaw's MoMA. The Lego model, which depicts a concentration camp with crematorium, inmates and Nazi guards, has been described by the museum, which purchased it for €55,000 from an unnamed Norwegian collector, as “one of the most important works of contemporary Polish art.”