"Coś z Niczego." Przejawy Improwizowanej, Opozycyjnej Działalności Twórczej Przechowywane w Archiwum Historycznym Komisji Krajowej NSZZ Solidarność
"Something out of Nothing." Manifestations of Improvised, Oppositional Creative Activity Kept in the Historical Archives of the National Commission of NSZZ Solidarność

Summary/Abstract: The Historical Archives of the National Commission of NSZZ Solidarity (AKKS), based in Gdańsk, apart from archival materials related to the functioning of probably the most famous trade union in Poland, also keep numerous museum objects. Among them, one can find a wide range of artistic manifestations of people engaged in the opposition activities against the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic. These are primarily leaflets, posters, postcards and postage stamps of the underground postal service, badge pins attached to clothing, pennants, decorative calendars, and furthermore banners, commemorative medals, coins, tapestries, devotional articles, sculptures, paintings, photographs of inscriptions on the walls and others. The authors of many of these artworks were not professional artists. Among them there were amateurs, employees of state-owned factories or enterprises not directly related to the world of art, driven to action by personal interests, the need to manifest themselves in the face of the reality, and specific circumstances. In the course of their creative activity, they struggled with various difficulties related to the limited access to materials, the lack of a studio or the need to keep their efforts secret. A selection of some of the material effects of such activities kept in AKKS from the 1980S , are presented in the article. It seems that they can serve to illustrate the methods used by the oppositionists – with artistic spirit – in struggling with the encountered obstacles, in efforts which often allowed the creation of “something out of nothing.”

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