Art Article Analyzes Temporal Politics in 1950s Polish Coal Mining Representations
A scholarly article published in ARTMargins on June 25, 2025, investigates how artistic depictions of coal mining in 1950s Upper Silesia, Poland, constructed complex temporal narratives. The analysis draws from socialist-realist artworks, non-professional artistic practices, press reports, popular literature, and documentary films from the period. These cultural expressions engaged with the prehistoric origins of coal and a future driven by its extraction. Visual sources documented miners' labor while shaping ideological narratives of socialist progress. The article examines how aesthetic strategies mediated experiences of time, labor, and the natural environment within political and geological transformations. It bridges art history of socialist Poland with the history of temporality, exploring paradoxes in temporal politics related to fossil-fueled socialist modernity. The piece appears in ARTMargins Volume 14, Issue 2, pages 60-83, with the DOI 10.1162/artm_a_00413. Content is available via MIT Press under a subscription model.
Key facts
- Article published June 25, 2025 in ARTMargins
- Focuses on 1950s Upper Silesian region in Poland
- Analyzes artistic representations of coal mining
- Examines socialist-realist artworks and non-professional art
- Uses press, literature, and documentary film as sources
- Explores narratives linking prehistoric past to envisioned future
- Discusses mediation of time, labor, and environment
- Published in ARTMargins Volume 14, Issue 2, pp. 60-83
Entities
Artists
- Jakub Gawkowski
Institutions
- ARTMargins
- MIT Press
Locations
- Upper Silesia
- Poland