Visual arts
From the Middle Ages many fine examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, both secular and religious, have been preserved, together with outstanding sculptures, among which the wooden altar of Wit Stwosz (Veit Stoss), in the Church of St. Mary (Mariacki) in Kraków, is the most famous. The vast red-brick castle of Malbork (Marienburg), once the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights, is among the most impressive in Europe. The architecture and sculpture of the Renaissance and Baroque periods were formed under Italian influence but nevertheless developed individual Polish forms, as in the town hall of Poznan or the decorated granaries at Kazimierz Dolny. Zamosc, a model Renaissance city built in the 1580s, has survived virtually intact. The best-preserved urban architecture of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance is that of the Old Town and the Wawel castle in Kraków. The classicism of the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th left its most valuable monuments in some of the great palaces, like that of the Radziwills at Nieborów or at Lazienki in Warsaw. There are many examples of imperial German and Russian architecture from the 19th century, among them Lublin Castle.
Painting attained its greatest development in the second half of the 19th century, encompassing styles developing at that time in western Europe, but again with specific national characteristics. The greatest fame was achieved by Jan Matejko, creator of monumental, romantic historical canvases; by Henryk Siemiradzki; and by a number of landscape and genre painters. The greatest sensitivity was shown in portraits by Stanislaw Wyspianski, an artist active also in drama and design.
Theatre and motion pictures
The Polish national theatre, as distinct from earlier religious, court, and foreign plays that had circulated since the Middle Ages, dates from the end of the 18th century. The great pioneer was Wojciech Boguslawski, an actor, director, and playwright. Political conditions during the period of partition (1772-1914) inhibited theatrical development, however, and most of the Romantic masterworks of Mickiewicz or Slowacki were never staged during their lifetimes. The comedian and satirist Aleksander Fredro earned a less exalted but no less lasting reputation. Kraków, in Austrian Galicia, became a centre of lively theatre at the turn of the century. Between World Wars I and II, Juliusz Osterwa in Warsaw and Leon Schiller in Lódz launched the experimental tradition. After 1956, once the era of Socialist Realism had passed, the avant-garde came into its own. The Theatre of the Absurd was explored alongside the revival of the classical repertoire. During the 1960s the Laboratory Theatre of Jerzy Grotowski (whose theories and methods emphasizing the nonverbal aspects of theatre had a broad impact, especially in the United States) gained international acclaim. Henryk Tomaszewski's Pantomime Theatre experienced parallel success. Tadeusz Kantor, a painter and designer, has been an important influence.
The origins of Polish cinema date to 1909, but it was only in the late 1950s that its products began to attract worldwide attention. Just as the State Film School at Lódz earned high standing in the filmmaking profession, so the work of individual directors who broke free of official preferences achieved great success both at home and abroad. Undoubtedly, the leading name is that of Andrzej Wajda, whose films and theatre productions set precedents for independence and excellence in exploring the conflicts in Polish society. Among other distinguished directors are Andrzej Munk, Roman Polanski, Aleksander Ford, Tadeusz Konwicki, Krzysztof Zanussi, Agnieszka Holland, and Krzysztof Kieslowski. Historical epics have enjoyed great popularity. The communist government supported war films and themes connected with the Nazi occupation.
Museums
In part because of colossal wartime destruction and in part also because historiography in Poland has long been subject to official controls, the need to preserve and cherish the records and artifacts of the past is felt with special urgency. Archives and museums of art, ethnography, archaeology, and natural history can be found in many Polish cities. The Czartoryski Museum in Kraków dates to the beginning of the 19th century, the Archaeology Museum in Poznan to 1857, and the National Museum in Warsaw to 1862. After World War II, official policy concentrated on the creation of new regional museums in cities recovered from German occupation, on museums connected with the history of the communist movement, on former private palaces and collections acquired by the state, and on sites connected with Nazi war crimes, such as Oswiecim (Auschwitz) or Majdanek. The Roman Catholic church is active in preserving and exhibiting the art treasures and records connected with Poland's religious heritage.
Sports and recreation
Team sports and spectator sports are encouraged in Poland. Professional association football (soccer) teams attract large crowds in the towns, while local authorities provide facilities for athletics and swimming. Skiing and mountaineering in the Tatras and sailing on the Baltic or the Masurian Lakes are well developed. Sports such as golf are less available.
Media
With very few exceptions, during the period of communist rule, the mass media, including all television and radio stations, were either owned or controlled by the state or the party. The Polish press included the official organs of the party and state, such as Trybuna ludu ("People's Tribune"), the organ of the PUWP; a wide band of less closely controlled semi-party newspapers and journals, such as Zycie Warszawy ("Warsaw Life"), Polityka ("Politics"; a lively weekly), and Twórczosc ("Creativity"; an intellectual monthly); the independent sector, headed by the respected Kraków Tygodnik powszechny ("Universal Weekly") and by the Roman Catholic journals Znak ("The Sign") and Wiez ("The Link"); and the underground "free sector," in which local newssheets circulated. Restrictions on the media were eased in 1989, and Solidarity supporters began publishing numerous journals and newspapers, including the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza ("Voters Daily"; Eng. ed. Gazeta International).
Censorship
Under the communist government the Main Office for the Control of Presentations and Public Performances (GUKPIW), with its headquarters in Warsaw, controlled the media, publishing, films, theatres, exhibitions, advertising, and related activities. The bureau maintained an office in all television and radio stations, press and publishing houses, film and theatre studios, and printing works throughout the country. Authorization was required even for such printed items as wedding invitations, obituary notices, or stationery. Access to photocopiers and printing machines was closely controlled, and all purchases of paper in bulk required a permit. Censorship of the foreign mail was routine. No sphere of information was immune, however distant from immediate political concerns; censors attempted not only to suppress material but also to mold all information at its source.
Despite the official controls, speech was not generally suppressed in Poland, and the highly literate Poles became masters at writing and reading "between the lines." Also, unofficial information was available from the foreign media, from within the Roman Catholic church, and in the vast realm of underground publishing. State censorship of the press was abandoned in 1990, leading to the appearance of a wide range of publications.
Bibliography
Poland: A Handbook (1977; originally published in Polish, 2nd ed., 1977), is a comprehensive reference source written by Polish authors and published in Poland for readership outside the country. Glenn E. Curtis (ed.), Poland: A Country Study, 3rd ed. (1994), provides a balanced treatment. R.H. Osborne, East-Central Europe (1967), on geography, includes a chapter on Poland. Grzegorz Weclawowicz, Contemporary Poland: Space and Society (1996), discusses the changes since 1989. Zbigniew Landau and Jerzy Tomaszewski, The Polish Economy in the Twentieth Century, trans. from Polish (1985), offers an uncritical treatment. David Lane and George Kolankiewicz (eds.), Social Groups in Polish Society (1973), covers postwar ideological developments. Aspects of cultural life are dealt with in Boleslaw Klimaszewski (ed.), An Outline History of Polish Culture, trans. from Polish (1983), covering the main cultural trends from medieval times to 1982; and Stanislaw Lorentz, Guide to Museums and Collections in Poland (1974; originally published in Polish, 1971). The Polish Review (quarterly), focuses on current cultural events.