THE NATIONAL LOTTERY HERITAGE FUND BOOSTS KRYSTYNA BEDNARCZYK’S LEGACY PROJECT
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project celebrates the life and contributions of Krystyna Bednarczyk. Despite her significant role as a pioneering arts editor, she remains relatively unknown. The project will begin with a symposium, 'KRYSTYNA BEDNARCZYK AND HER POETS’ AND PAINTERS’ PRESS’, on 18–19 November 2023, with both in-person and virtual sessions taking place at POSK in London. A literary and artistic workshop will also be part of the symposium.
Our main aim is to highlight Krystyna Bednarczyk’s influence on Polish and British culture. The project, which will run until October 2024, will include a variety of initiatives aimed at engaging a wider audience. We will create a physical and virtual map highlighting places in London associated with Krystyna Bednarczyk’s legacy. In addition, the project will include a guided tour along this route, seamlessly combining physical locations with interactive elements enhanced by augmented reality (AR).
The Union of Polish Writers Abroad would like to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund for their key role in making this project a reality.
For further information and project updates, please visit our website at https://www.zppno.org/project-bednarczyk/
or contact Project Lead: Justyna Gorzkowicz at projects@zppno.org
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About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033.
Over the next ten years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to bring about benefits for people, places and the natural environment.
We help protect, transform and share the things from the past that people care about, from popular museums and historic places, our natural environment and fragile species, to the languages and cultural traditions that celebrate who we are.
We are passionate about heritage and committed to driving innovation and collaboration to make a positive difference to people’s lives today, while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund www.heritagefund.org.uk
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ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM
Organised by the Research Center on the Legacy of Polish Migration (ReCeLPM) of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad (ZPPnO) in collaboration with University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies (UCL SSEES) and the Polish University Abroad (PUNO) warmly invite you to an international symposium on the life and work of Krystyna Bednarczyk.
Inauguration of an interdisciplinary project of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad (ZPPnO) entitled: “UNVEILING THE HERITAGE: KRYSTYNA BEDNARCZYK (1923–2011) – POLISH POET AND CO-FOUNDER OF POETS AND PAINTERS’ PRESS IN LONDON”, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NS-23-00154)
The aim of the Symposium is to honour Krystyna Bednarczyk (1923-2011) and her pioneering and still relatively unknown work in the field of artistic editing. In 1949, together with her husband Czesław, she founded the independent publishing and printing company 'Poets and Painters Press’ in London, where the couple had lived since 1946. The Bednarczyks gained their publishing experience working with the famous Polish typographer, Stanislaw Gliwa, and Peter Russell, Ezra Pound’s publisher in Tunbridge Wells. They invited artists from all over the world to collaborate with them, including Feliks Topolski, who became famous as the illustrator of George Bernard Shaw’s works. Together they published Topolski’s Chronicle, a highly regarded chronicle of world events. Thanks to the Bednarczyks, Czeslaw Milosz, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980, also appeared on the British publishing scene.
As editors of the literary quarterly 'Oficyna Poetów’ from 1966 to 1980, they published the poems of nearly 80 Polish emigree poets and 30 poets from Communist Poland. The quarterly also featured the work of some 50 artists. From 2005 to 2011, Krystyna Bednarczyk was the charwomen of ZPPnO and the editor of “Pamiętnik Literacki”/”Literary Dairy”.
This project dedicated, to the life and work of Krystyna Bednarczyk, begins with a Symposium on the centenary of her birth. It will take place in a hybrid format (in London at the Polish Social and Cultural Association – POSK and on the Zoom platform) on 18-19 November 2023 and will also include artistic workshops.
KOMITET NAUKOWY / ACADEMIC COMMITTEE
Regina Wasiak-Taylor (ZPPnO), prof. Ewa Lewandowska Tarasiuk (PUNO, Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej w Warszawie APS), dr Katarzyna Zechenter (UCL SSEES, ReCeLPM), dr Justyna Gorzkowicz (ReCeLPM, PUNO)
KOMITET ORGANIZACYJNY / ORGANISING COMMITTE
Wojciech Klas (PUNO, ZPPnO) – sekretarz / secretary, Urszula Lenik (PUNO), Jarosław Solecki (PUNO, Blue Point Art – BPA), Małgorzata Witkowska (PUNO)
You can download the Symposium programme in PDF format from here:
KRYSTYNA BEDNARCZYK AND HER POETS AND PAINTERS – PDF Programme
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For more on individual events, see posts below
KRYSTYNA I CZESŁAW – DZIENNIK LIRYCZNY / KRYSTYNA AND CZESŁAW – LYRICAL DIARY
Training session for volunteers of the Krystyna Bednarczyk project
