Past Exhibitions

 For more detailed information, please see the following page (in Japanese) .

In the years following World War II, Poland was firmly on the path of communism. However, two fields—film and graphic design—made a break from socialist realism in the mid-1950s and, led by a new generation of artists, attained the Polish art world’s highest level of free expression. On the one hand was Poland’s film industry, which gave the world such directors as Andrzej Wajda and Jerzy Kawalerowicz. And on the other was the nation’s poster art, which attracted international attention for its original forms of expression. Both were given the name Polish School. It was during this time that Roman Cieślewicz, Jan Młodożeniec, and other preeminent designers made their mark in film poster art by rendering inspirations they received from cinema into works of free expression brimming with metaphor.
This exhibition was co-organized by National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) and The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MOMAK), to commemorate the centennial of diplomatic relations between Japan and Poland. It presents 96 posters, many of which are in the NFAJ’s collection, that were produced between the late 1950s and early 1990s. We hope the exhibition will draw attention to the posters of Polish films as well as to those of European nations, the United States, and Japan. Take some time to absorb and appreciate the numerous works presented—some elegant, and some radiating with tension—that were born from the encounter between film and graphic art.
Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Musashino Art University Museum & Library; The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama; Kawakita Memorial Film Institute; and individual poster owners for allowing us to exhibit their precious works here; to the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Japan and Polish Cultural Institute in Tokyo for their invaluable support; and to everyone who endeavored to make the exhibition a success.