Transposed from Afar yet Homegrown: An Introduction to Polish Japonisme

The Embassy of Poland in London invites you to a series of lectures on Polish Japonisme! 🌸 🎌 Led by Piotr Spławski PhD, they will take place every two weeks from 15 May to 12 June.

Inspiration taken from Japanese sources triggered a wave of new visual and conceptual languages in Poland in the late 19th and early 20th century: Polish Japonisme. It was a movement that defined modern art and manifested itself in the form of portraiture, still life, landscape, representations of flora and fauna, erotic imagery, and caricature.

Piotr Spławski is an independent art historian specialising in Japanese art and Japonisme. His research concentrates on Poland, the USA, and, most recently, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. He obtained a PhD in art history from Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, where he pursued an inquiry into Japonisme in Polish Pictorial Arts (1885-1939).

The event will take place in the large Japan-inspired reception room, decorated in this style during the 1920s. Although exemplifying some traditional symbolism of the region’s architecture, the general inspiration behind the room remains a mystery till this day.

Join us on 15 May for the first lecture in the series: “Transposed from Afar yet Homegrown: An Introduction to Polish Japonisme.” ⛩️

Please use the Weymouth Street entrance. Bring your ID and prepare for an airport-style security check. For this reason, try not to bring big bags and luggage.