Objects

The work "Afterimages" refers to Włodzimierz Jan Zakrzewski's large-scale installation "After Image", relating to the history of Jews in Poland between 1264 and 1939, on which he worked between 2003 and 2005. Years later, he revisited the subject, using an essential element of his earlier work – sound that had been played backwards. The installation consists of four minimalist paintings – landscapes. The landscapes, presented in the form of single-colour canvases, are symbolic attempts to capture the atmosphere and character of the Polish landscape as seen through the eyes of the country's pre-war inhabitants. They are 'colour samples' of the places where Polish Jews lived before the Holocaust. The dark green colour symbolises a shady garden on a hot summer day, while the grey symbolises the architecture of shtetls, where the wood has turned silver-grey after many years. The painterly layer is abstract and assumed to be utopian, not subject to objective, classical verification. The installation was originally titled "Polin", but was presented in Israel as "Afterimages" and the artist eventually decided to keep this name. The sound layer, based on well-known klezmer melodies and songs, is quietly played through a sound system hidden under the canvas. These are short, approximately 45-second excerpts from four pieces linked to the paintings: green painting – "Bublichki", performed by Clara and Minnie Bagelman Barry, 1950s; sand painting – "Miasteczko Bełz" (Little Town Belz), performed by Adam Aston, 1935; grey painting – "Der Heyzer Bulgar", performed by Trio Taklamakan, 2012; light blue painting – "Trombonic Tanz", performed by Yale Klezmer Band, c. 2000.

MBK

The photos present the installation on the exhibition „1945. Not the end, not the beginning”, in the POLIN Museum (7.03-15.09.2025).