"Broniewski" is an interdisciplinary artistic undertaking, organized by Raster gallery, dedicated the Polish poet and translator Władysław Broniewski (1897-1962). The exhibition - which will be shown in Warsaw and Berlin - is to be accompanied by a CD album with contemporary interpretations of Broniewski’s poems by the artists from the independent music scene.
"Broniewski" used to call himself a "revolutionary poet". In the history of the Polish 20th century literature and in the common memory of the last three generations alike Broniewski came to be remembered as both the leading representative of the proletarian poetry and the inheritor of the national romantic tradition. He was both a communist and a patriot; an artist and an activist of the pre-war Left. Eventually, with the end of the Second World War he became a much-abused icon of the socialist literature. Broniewski’s is a multi-dimensional and ambiguous figure - intriguing through the songlike rhythm of his workers’ poems and twisted, though typical of most of his contemporaries, biography. A Polish Mayakovsky who died too late.

The character of Władysław Broniewski is a starting point for discussing relations between art and the state, between independency and power, as well as the contemporary meaning of the notion of patriotism itself. Is politically active art possible? What traps are there, set by the course of History that changed the communist-committed poet into a representative of the hatred establishment of the pseudo-democratic, socialist state?
Majority of the artists participating in our project belong to the generations which remember the former system well. At the same time, it are the generations that matured in the times of great political changes at the birth of capitalism. In spite of this, of perhaps due to this fact, the figure of the monumental poet from the Polish People’s Republic is of particular importance to us. It embodies this very part of the collective memory with which we still do not know how to cope.

Finally, to us Broniewski is an outstanding and fascinating poet of great sincerity, sensitivity and buoyancy, whose works remain absolutely valid in the present-day context. The deep social commitment of his pre-war revolutionist poems comes surprisingly close to the philosophy of the contemporary freedom groups. And his pure lyric poems, not overburdened with linguistic sophistication, are truly beautiful and timeless.
The artists invited to participate in the "Broniewski" exhibition represent not only different generations but also varying ideas concerning one’s political duties. From the poetic activism of Przemysław Kwiek (born 1945), to an intellectual game with mass culture played by Zbigniew Libera (born 1959), to post-punk leftism of Wilhelm Sasnal (born 1972) and social approach of Rafał Bujnowski (born 1974), to poetic and existentialist individualism
of Michal Budny (born 1974), Oskar Dawicki (born 1971) or Zbigniew Rogalski (born 1974). The exhibition also features archive materials. For the first time we officially present fragments of a film entitled "Along the Vistula riverbank" (Brzegiem Wisły), shot by the poet's daughter Joanna Kozicka, which was originally meant to illustrate the poem "Vistula" (Wisła), written by Broniewski in 1953. Death of "Anka" Kozicka the following year put an end to this project.
Another theme illustrating the relations between the language of poetry and visual arts is the story of Władysław Broniewski’s monument in his hometown of Płock. This monumental work bears all features of the poet - it has an enormous inner force and inhospitable environment around.
By inviting musicians to sing and record Broniewski’s poems, we wanted to let his voice resound again - in different historical circumstances - but with the same strength as in the times of the Great Crises of the 20th century. Because, putting it simply, "Broniewski" tells about matters that could not possibly become obsolete: war, love, politics and alcohol.

BRONIEWSKI - CD ALBUM

1. Władysław Broniewski - "Bezrobotny" 2:13
2. Andy - "Przypływ" 3:32
3. Świetlicki & Ostrowski & Click - "Bagnet na broń" 4:08
4. Pustki - "Przekwitanie" 2:59
5. Meble - "Rozmowa z historią" 3:22
6. Mass Kotki - "Piosenka dziewczyny. Walc" 4:24
7. Muniek Staszczyk + Pustki - "Kalambury" 2:32
8. Przyzwoitość - "Dąb" 4:58
9. Paresłów - "Ulica Miła" 3:24
10. Cukunft - "Troska i pieśń" - 4:57
11. Starzy Singers + Świetlicki - "[Szedł Glinka]" 5:40
12. Brudne Dzieci Sida - "[Druga w nocy]" 1:01
13. Adam Olszewski - "Łódź" 4:29
14. Moja Adrenalina - "Twarde ręce" 3:19
15. Siostry Wrońskie - "Ballady i romanse" 2:58
16. Eldo - "[Mury, bruki]" 2:15
17. Budyń - "Bezsenność" - 4:49
18. Brudne Mięso - "Posłuchajcie tej prośby. W parku." 2:14
19. Helsinki - "Wisła" 3:58
20. Pidżama Porno - "Nocny gość" 6:06

total: 73:29