Allan Sekula's Polonia and Other Fables at The Renaissance Society explores Polish diaspora identity through photography
The exhibition titled Polonia and Other Fables by Allan Sekula was displayed at The Renaissance Society in Chicago from September 20 to December 13, 2009. It comprised forty photographs that delved into Polish identity, focusing on the Polish community in Chicago and various locations in Poland. Sekula's photography, taken between 2007 and 2009, emphasized the city's Polish population of over a million and depicted villages such as Ochojno and Wieckowice. Key themes included immigration, nationalism, and labor, featuring military visuals of F-16s at a Poznan air force base and CIA black sites. The exhibit also showcased Walking on Water from Sekula's Fish Story project and included quotes from politicians and historians, merging artistic and empirical methods.
Key facts
- Exhibition ran September 20–December 13, 2009
- Featured 40 photographs (30 chromogenic prints, 10 archival inkjet prints)
- Sekula photographed Chicago's Polish community from 2007-2009
- Chicago has over one million Poles, largest community outside Warsaw
- Included images from Polish villages Ochojno and Wieckowice
- Showed F-16 Fighting Falcons Poland purchased from US in 2002
- Documented CIA black sites in Poland used for prisoner interrogation
- Included Walking on Water chapter from Sekula's Fish Story project
Entities
Artists
- Allan Sekula
- Stanislaw Batowski
- Charles Sheeler
- Dorothea Lange
Institutions
- The Renaissance Society
- Polish Museum of America
- Republic Windows and Doors
- Smithfield Foods
- NATO
- CIA
- SAGE Publications Ltd.
Locations
- Chicago
- United States
- Poland
- Warsaw
- Ochojno
- Wieckowice
- Poznan
- Sacramento
- California
- Gdansk
- London
- Iraq
- Afghanistan