Feminist art and art history in state socialist Poland, as seen through all-women exhibitions

Abstract

This essay discusses the relationship between feminism and the art world in state socialist Poland. Contrary to the narrations that are centred around the second-wave feminism developed in the West, this essay concentrates on the significance of the socialist project of the emancipation of women. Its meaning is demonstrated through the study of all-women exhibitions, more precisely of three shows that were organised at those moments when women’s issues were intensively discussed in Poland: Women Fighting for Peace (Cracow, 1952), Women’s Art Festival (Poznań, 1980), and Polish Women Artists (Warsaw, 1991). The main questions addressed in the analysis are what discourses on women and women artists influenced the art world at a given period and how they evolved concerning the changing political situation. The study shows that the socialist project of women’s emancipation played an important role, both positively and negatively, in the development of feminist art history and activism in Poland.