Polish Punk Collection by Anna Dąbrowska-Lyons

http://courage.btk.mta.hu/courage/individual/n16681

'Zygzak', Daniel and 'Siwy' — members of Warsaw punk movement in early 1980s. A photograph by Anna Dąbrowska-Lyons from the album Polski punk 1978-1982.

Punk in Polish People's Republic began in 1978 and it quickly gained popularity in Warsaw, as well as in other cities. In its initial phase, the movement maintained close ties with student clubs and galleries, where performance art, mail art, and concrete poetry flourished at the time. The collection of a punk photographer Anna Dąbrowska-Lyons includes zines, photographs, and newspaper clippings from the years 1978 to ca. 1982. The most interesting of these materials were featured in the album titled Polski punk (Polish Punk) published in 1999. The album documents the first wave of punk in Warsaw, while also presenting original, artistic photographs, collages, and graphics which blend the Western influence of punk and the new wave with the poetry of futurism, Dada, and conceptual theories of the 1970s.

Location

London, United Kingdom
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Warszawa, Warsaw, Poland
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Languages

English
Polish

Website

https://www.facebook.com/punkpl/

Name of collection

Polish Punk 1978-1982

Provenance and cultural activities

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Description of content

The collection of Anna Dąbrowska-Lyons contains punk zines, photographs, and newspaper clippings gathered mainly between 1978 and ca. 1982 and later, before her emigration to London in 1986. Most notable fanzines include such titles as: Post and PUNK published by Henryk Gajewski, Zjadacz Radia and Papier Białych Wulkanów by Jacek “Luter” Lenartowicz, Kanał Review by Andrzej “Amok” Turczynowicz, Radio Złote Kłosy by Anna “Ada” Dąbrowska, Tomasz Hornung’s Organ and Szmata by Stefan “Mikes” Mikulski. They come complemented with numerous brochures and leaflets, e.g. from the first 1^st Polish New Wave Festival in Kołobrzeg or the 1^st New Wave Festival (I Festiwal Nowej Fali) in Toruń, both organised in 1980, as well as with bulletins published by members of Tilt and Kryzys bands, which in 1981 transformed into the first Polish punk superband, Brygada Kryzys. The poetry of these publications represents a blend of Western fanzines inspirations with the legacy of futurism, Dada, and other avant-garde movements. Surrealistic novelettes by “Luter” were featured next to Gajewski's constructivistic typography, extremely expressive photographs by “Ada”, and humorous illustrations by Tomasz “Frantz” Lipiński of Tilt.

The most interesting of these materials were included in the Polski punk album, published independently by Anna Dąbrowska-Lyons in 1999. “Ada’s” photographs, full of dynamism, motion, and emotions, constitute an important part of the album. Dąbrowska created unique photographic portraits of her punk friends, masterfully capturing the mimics, flinches, and emotions expressed by human faces. The portraits are complemented with photographs from concerts, events, and meetings, often vivid and exuberant, which perfectly illustrate the fashion, the atmosphere, and the lifestyle of the punk community at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s.

Content

graphics: 10-99
grey literature (regular archival documents such as brochures, bulletins, leaflets, reports, intelligence files, records, working papers, meeting minutes): 10-99
photos: 100-499

Operator(s)

Dąbrowska-Lyons, Anna

Owner(s)

Dąbrowska-Lyons, Anna

Geographical scope of recent operation

national

Topics

Founder(s)

Dąbrowska-Lyons, Anna

Date of founding

1978

Place of founding

Warszawa, Warsaw, Poland
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Creator(s) of content

Collector(s)

Dąbrowska-Lyons, Anna

Important events in the history of the collection

Photo exhibition at Desa gallery in Warsaw

Access type

visits by appointments

Author(s) of this page

Stanczyk, Xawery

References

Ania Dąbrowska-Lyons, Polski punk 1978-1982, Agencja Promocyjno-Wydawnicza ADA, Warszawa 1999.

Łukasz Ronduda, Sztuka polska lat 70. Awangarda, Polski Western, Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski, Jelenia Góra-Warszawa 2009.

Dąbrowska-Lyons, Anna, interview by Stanczyk, Xawery, September 19, 2017. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection

Last edited on: 2020-03-02 10:40:54

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