Art and Politics During the Cold War

Drawing on thousands of historical documents from Polish and Dutch archives, this book explores Cold War cultural exchange between so-called 'smaller powers' of this global conflict, which thus far has been predominately explored from the perspective of the two superpowers or more pivotal countries. By looking at how cultural, artistic and scholarly relations were developed between Poland and the Netherlands, Michal Wenderski sheds new light on the history of the Cultural Cold War that was not always orchestrated solely by its main players. Less pivotal states - for example, Poland and the Netherlands - likewise intentionally created their international cultural policies and shaped their cultural exchange with countries from the other side of the Iron Curtain. This study reconstructs these policies and identifies the varying factors that influenced them - both official and less formal. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, history of the Cold War, post-war European history, international cultural relations, Dutch studies and Polish studies.

Michal Wenderski, PhD, is an architect and scholar of modern Dutch and Flemish art and literature specialising in the history of cultural relations between Poland and the Low Countries. He currently works at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland.

List of Figures Acknowledgements Acronyms and Abbreviations List of Archives and Archival Collections Introduction Chapter 1: Uneasy Beginnings (1947-1956) "Nederland-Polen" as a Front Organisation of the Communist Authorities in Poland First attempts at exhibition exchange between Poland and the Netherlands Exhibiting Polish Folk Art in the Netherlands Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place Commemorating Mickiewicz in the Netherlands and Rembrandt in Poland Informal diplomacy through personal mobility Other Forms of International Cultural Exchange and Policy Chapter 2: Towards the Cultural Agreement (1956-1967) A gradual shift in the Dutch international cultural policy towards Poland Is it sheer incompetence, or is he maybe a Communist agent? Polish artistic invasion in the Netherlands Between Rembrandt and Van Gogh - exhibiting Dutch art in Poland Other forms of cultural exchange between Poland and the Netherlands Towards the Cultural Agreement Chapter 3: Détente, but first the Year of Revolt (1968-1979) 1968 in Poland The Impact of the 1968 Events on Cultural Relations Polish Counter Measures The Delayed Implementation of the Cultural Agreement Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and its impact on Polish-Dutch cultural relations Chapter 4: The Last Decade (1979-1989) Bilateral relations before 13 December 1981 The World and The Hague react to the Polish Crisis Towards Normalisation Conclusions References Annex: Cultural Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of The Netherlands Index