EPHEMERA, IN PRINT. Polish School of Poster Art in the Special Collections of UG Library

“Ephemera, in Print. Polish School of Poster Art in the Special Collections of the University of Gdańsk Library” is an attempt to present a fragment of the sizable collection of posters that have been acquired by the library since the mid-1980s. Because the subject matter of the posters is remarkably diverse, we decided to single out one aspect of the collection. We focused on presenting works by renowned representatives of the “Polish school of poster art” – a movement that originated in Poland in the 1950s and lasted until the mid-1960s.

The exhibition presents works by Henryk Tomaszewski, Jan Lenica, Jan Młodożeniec, Józef Mroszczak, Maciej Hibner, Franciszek Starowieyski, and Waldemar Świerzy. The themes of the posters on display are varied - they include film, theater, and advertising content. Leading Polish poster artists of that period also created commercial illustration art, which is why the exhibition will feature two large-scale collages featuring book illustrations created by those artists. These come from the book collection of the UG Library, too. The exhibition also presents animated films by Jan Lenica.

The exhibition will be available for viewing in the exhibition hall on the ground floor (Gallery) from January 12 to February 12, 2026.

We look forward to welcoming you. 

Idea and execution of the exhibition: Special Collections Department of the University of Gdańsk Library, Marta Borkowska and Katarzyna Migawa, graphic design and translation by Dominika Skutnik.