What We Can Learn From Poland

FOR DECADES, POLAND HAS BEEN A HUB FOR HIGH-END FURNITURE MANUFACTURING. NOW IT IS EMERGING AS A HOTBED FOR CREATIVE TALENT. HERE’S WHY

Amid political upheaval, Europe’s fourth largest furniture manufacturer is rebranding itself as a creative hotbed

LAST WINTER, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (IAM) invited a group of international journalists to Poland. The organization, which is supported by the country’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, arranged a flurry of activity – studio visits, walking tours, foodie experiences – all centred around a pinnacle event: the opening of the Gallery of Polish Design at the National Museum of Warsaw. At the ribbon cutting, the guests of honour were so many that their chaotic attempt at a group photo bottlenecked the central stair. The museum was brimming with local cultural figures and designers, from the legendary social realists to the millennial internationalists, whose works were finally being given a permanent spotlight. The exhibition in the first-floor gallery spanned from the folk-heavy, turn-ofthe-century Zakopane era to the modernist present. The trip was an eye-opener. Poland is taking an active role in broadcasting its design culture, or rather its design culture, to the world. While the country has many advantages – namely its manufacturing base,

geographical location and (now precarious) E.U. status – it has also made decisive moves that could be instructive for any country (or city) with a perpetually emerging design scene. In 2013, the IAM officially brought design under its auspices and promoted it along with Polish cinema and art. The institute has since published design books and spearheaded such programs as Let’s Exhibit!, which supports solo designer shows at international fairs. It also runs the vibrant web portal culture.pl. Government granting programs have further incentivized the industry, and the combined influence of these factors has led to made-in-poland brands gaining recognition around the globe. It’s an impressive synergy of government and industry. Just as a comparison, in Canada, it’s only been since 2017 that the federal Creative Canada strategy has mentioned design alongside other creative industries. In Ontario, there are no policies focused on design, even though Toronto alone boasts 17,300 industrial designers, the third highest tally in North America after New York and Boston. Poland’s recent government-led push has helped increase awareness globally. But the design community has also stepped up to the plate. Just a decade ago, Oskar Zieta and Tomek Rygalik were the only big names on the international stage. Today, they’re joined by dozens of talents showing at prestigious fairs. Malafor’s inflated-cushion seating has appeared at Fuorisalone; Bartek Mejor’s digitally sculpted porcelain lighting for Fabbian at Euroluce; and Tartaruga’s pop-arty kilims at the London Design Festival. Expats are also representing: London-based Marcin Rusak won the Rising Talent Award at Maison et Objet in Paris last year for his baroque Flora collection, while Aleksandra Gaca is the go-to for futuristic 3D textiles. Inside Poland, the Łódź, Gdynia and Kraków design festivals are showcases for reimagining the future of food and cities in experiential exhibits. And design education has been galvanized. The Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and the School of Form in Poznań (the latter having opened in 2011 under the direction of leading trend forecaster Li Edelkoort) give students real-world experience working directly with industrial partners. Warsaw even has a city architect, Marlena Happach, who is mandated to create a strategic plan for the next 20 years. Her office has already launched an international competition for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge through the Vistula River. “Good design is the citizens’ right,” she told me. Design and designers are thriving more than in the past. A 2015 report by the Institute of Industrial Design found that 40 per cent of the designers interviewed were able to successfully sustain a living. “That percentage is high,” says IAM director Krzysztof Olendzki. Referring to the