Polish art conquers London Design Festival 2025
The participation of Polish artists in the London Design Festival is part of the ongoing UK/Poland Season 2025 , co-organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the British Council and the Polish Cultural Institute in London with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
The London Design Festival , one of the most important events in the world of design, has been held annually in London for 22 years, attracting an international audience and designers: practitioners, retailers, and educators. The festival plays a key role in the development of the design industry as one of the most important design events in the world.
Alicja Patanowska / IAM press materials, photo by Kuba CelejAlicja Patanowska, whose recent installation , "We are the Weather," was presented in the atrium of the Justus Lipsius Building in Brussels as part of the international cultural program of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, returns with a new project, "The Ripple Effect," for the V&A . In it, the artist questions the consequences of everyday consumption and the long-term impact of natural resource exploitation on the environment and social relations.
Alicja Patanowska The Ripple Effect / IAM press materials, photo by Kuba CelejThe seating installation, which Patanowska designed for the V&A Museum garden, will be situated on the edge of a pond and equipped with a fountain. The work brings visitors closer to the element of water and encourages reflection on our controversial relationship with natural resources. The materials used to create the installation come from one of the largest mining waste deposits in Europe, in Żelazny Most in southwestern Poland.
2,000 handmade ceramic tiles , eight of which are copper-plated, visualize the complex relationship between mined waste and material suitable for mining.
The project was initiated by V&A Museum curator Carrie Chan, who leads the contemporary art programme and artistic projects aimed at revitalising the museum space.
The Ripple Effect installation will be open to V&A Museum visitors in the John Madejski Garden from 13 September 2025 to 19 October 2025.
The partner of the presentation of Alicja Patanowska's project at the V&A Museum is the Polish Cultural Institute in London.
Alicja Patanowska The Ripple Effect / IAM press materials, photo by Kuba CelejThe exhibition "Polish Posters Now! Polish Posters Today!" will present to London Design Festival participants some of the most interesting works of contemporary Polish poster art by Ola Jasionowska, Patrycja Longawa, Kaja Renkas and Maja Wolna.
Kaja Renkas Circus / IAM press materialsThe Victoria and Albert Museum will feature 16 works by female artists, selected by Zorian Clayton, curator of graphic works at the Victoria and Albert Museum, specializing in prints, posters and paper ephemera from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The exhibition will not only familiarise the London audience with the latest trends in the development of Polish poster art, but will also demonstrate the important place it occupies on the European art scene, continuing the tradition of the Polish School of Posters, known for its concise style, economy of form and powerful message.
The graphic designers' works will represent a wide range of trends and currents in contemporary poster art. Ola Jasionowska's four posters were selected from dozens she created as Artistic Director of the Capital City of Warsaw. The artist's work explores a variety of themes, from pressing social issues to advertising parks, festivals, and locations in Poland, and her style is reminiscent of the so-called "golden age" of Art Deco travel posters. Her most recognizable work is the red lightning bolt symbol accompanying the visual campaign of the Women's Strike.
Patrycja Longawa Poland / Dydo Poster GalleryPatrycja Longawa , a winner of over 120 awards at international poster biennials, is also a professor of graphic design in Rzeszów. The artist works primarily digitally and has created numerous posters promoting Polish poster shops and exhibitions. Her designs are influenced by Hubert Hilscher (1924–1999) and his imaginative circus posters from the early 1970s, such as the balancing lion graphic for the Dydo Poster Gallery.
Kaja Renkas continues the Surrealist trends strongly present in the 20th-century Polish School of Posters, and also draws on Max Ernst, combining anatomical, zoological, and mechanical images from antiquarian books. However, the artist claims that she is not directly inspired by any artist or movement, but rather by the industrial landscapes of Silesia, where she was born and currently teaches at the University of Silesia in the Department of Virtual Space and Video Game Design.
Ola Jasionowska Warsaw 2018 / IAM press materials
