Cette étude est consacrée au parcours créatif du Théâtre d'Art Polonais. Il m'a paru utile de faire des recherches sur l'origine de ce théâtre, sur les sources de son inspiration et son activité. J'appuierai mes constatations sur des citations de théoriciens, ainsi que sur des écrits des créateurs et autres interprètes de Reduta. J'aimerai présenter les créateurs du Théâtre d'Art en Pologne, leur parcours créatif dans le contexte socioculturel de l'époque, leurs réalisations en collaboration avec les auteurs des pièces présentées et leurs relations avec tous les participants à la création scénique. Un point important de mon travail consiste à retrouver et à classifier les éléments caractéristiques des représentations scéniques. On peut constater que les conditions et les circonstances assez spécifiques du travail créatif de Reduta ont donné une existence autonome et unique aux oeuvres présentées. Un examen approfondi de documents et d'articles, conjointement à l'étude de l'iconographie permettra de dégager les caractéristiques principales des ouvrages analysés et présentés et de définir leur structure. Mon objectif est d‟arriver à faire une synthèse permettant de définir l'esthétique et la spécificité des créations théâtrales du Théâtre d'Art Polonais. Je ferai donc la description des quatre périodes caractéristiques de l'activité de Reduta : la Première Reduta Varsovienne (1919-1925), Reduta à Vilnius (1925-1930) et la Deuxième Reduta Varsovienne (1930-1939), la Quatrième Reduta (1939-1946). Enfin, je situerai ce théâtre dans un courant européen de renouveau artistique en précisant les voies de son évolution à travers une multitude d'évènements artistiques, en montrant ses aspects innovateurs et ses transformations au cours de la longue période de son existence. / I devote my studies to the creative activities of the Polish Art Theatre, called Reduta, against the background of general European culture. I would like to focus on searching for the sources of this theatre, on all aspects which provided its inspiration and paved the way for creative action. I will base many of my reflections on the theories and quotations of the theorists of this theatre, as well as on the thoughts of its creators expressed in many works, as for example in memoirs or letters addressed to their closest associates. I would like to present the creators of the Polish Art Theatre such as Juliusz Osterwa and Mieczysław Limanowski, in order to indicate certain aspects of their private lives, their artistic ambitions, their memoirs, their theoretical work, their road and their aspirations for excellence in the theatrical domain, most fully expressed in the innovative directing and acting aspects of the artistic creations presented, based on naturalness and direct contact with the spectator. Therefore, one very important element of my study will be to determine the character of the work for this theatre and the participation of the entire theatrical team, both acting and technical, in the creation of a given show. The methodology of acting work introduced by Mieczysław Limanowski and Juliusz Osterwa was very significant in the artistic development of an actor, his means of presentation, the shaping of his creative personality. I would like to analyze and indicate three major periods in the existence of the Polish Art Theatre.

In this thesis I consider the unique position that Polish artist Zofia Stryjeńska (1891-1974) occupied during the interwar period. Lauded during her time as the most popular artist in Poland, the acceptance of Stryjeńska's female voice in representing a national vocabulary was unprecedented and deserves closer examination. I assert that Poland's history of oppression created a unique environment where women as archetypal figures often took on masculine roles. These 'transgressive types' were visible in the literature and art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Stryjeńska's art, as well as her behavior, capitalized on these transgressive traditions. Women played an important role as visual and ideological figures within the national mythologies of Poland, and while these mythologies situated women as authorities in protecting, cultivating, and renewing the land, and by extension the nation, few women actually achieved the status of shaping them. Zofia Stryjeńska was an example of one who did. At the age of twenty-one Zofia cut her hair, dressed as her brother, and, as a boy, enrolled in the academy of fine art in Munich. This act found precedence in the years of Polish imagery and it ultimately allowed her to create a space for herself and her art. This thesis pays particular attention to Stryjeńska's part in the 1928 renovation of the Warsaw town square. Like many other artists at this time, she worked in many mediums and employed folk-art motifs and styles in the quest to create a truly "Polish" style. Stryjeńska's art drew on national images of Polish women as the Virgin Mary, the good Polish Mother, and Pagan Goddess. Idealized tropes, such as these, often represented a disconnect between everyday social norms and the greater ideals of a national identity. Zofia Stryjeńska embodied this juxtaposition. Her art drew on national images of Polish women filled with blurred gender boundaries. These images, prominent for centuries, at once empowered Polish women while also being relegated safely to the abstract realm of legend and myth. These female ideals, therefore, served as less of a threat to the rigid gender expectations that were a part of everyday Polish life. Zofia Stryjeńska was an example of a woman who laid claim to the female ideals of Polish culture. She used myth to define her behavior; her studies in Munich, and by doing so launched her life into the realm of myth, creating a sensationalized image more legend than reality.

This thesis constitutes the first comparative study of the phenomenon of alternative art galleries functioning during the 1970s in two neighbouring state socialist regimes, namely, the German Democratic Republic and the People's Republic of Poland. Firmly contextualised in the cultural-political climate of Honecker's and Gierek's quasi-liberalisation, it examines the socio-cultural function of non-conformist exhibition spaces and focuses, specifically, on two case studies: Galerie Arkade in East Berlin and Galeria/Repassage in Warsaw. By looking at a wide variety of practices produced in those spaces, this thesis investigates the commonalities and differences in how the galleries operated and how they related to the divergent post-Stalinist conditions. For instance, due to more repressive cultural-politics in the GDR, it proved more difficult to accommodate experimental practices in Arkade, since even exhibiting abstract art was problematic for the East German officials. Conversely, in Poland Gierek's liberalisation resulted in the state's limited acceptance of radical artistic practices such as performance and conceptual art but only in the marginal spaces of artist-run galleries. Despite their alternative status, the galleries were, to a certain degree, dependent administratively and financially on these socialist institutions and were at the same time exposed to surveillance by the state security services. These aspects of galleries' activities are often neglected and so to remedy this lack this thesis offers new perspectives on and insights into various aspects of the functioning of alternative culture in this region. The originality of this research lies also in its references to new archival material which has not been published, nor interpreted before. The interpretation of these rich primary sources makes use of a new theoretical framework that combines Michel Foucault's theory of heterotopia in a macro-level analysis and Henri Lefebvre's ideas on the social production of space in a micro-level analysis. In particular, the galleries' histories are seen in this thesis as intertwined with the advancing process of disintegration of state socialism in the Eastern Bloc as this was perceptible to varying degree in different socialist states. Accordingly, it argues that the galleries were symptomatic of and, simultaneously, contributed through various practices to the 'post-socialist condition'.

This study examines the ideological shift towards right-wing conservatism within specific segments of the Polish contemporary art scene following the Law and Justice Party (PiS) rise in 2015. The party's cultural policies, aligned with nationalist and right-wing ideologies, brought significant changes to institutions like Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art (CSW), reflecting a broader trend seen in Poland for many years. Through the exhibition Sztuka Polityczna (2021) at Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, this study investigates the conservative discourse shaping Polish art. The study employs Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to map the actors, networks, and power dynamics influencing the exhibition's discourse. Utilizing political scientist Andrew Heywood's pillars of conservatism, the study analyzes the interplay between conservatism and contemporary art, focusing on CSW's director Piotr Bernatowicz’s trajectory toward a conservative outlook on contemporary art. The analysis of Sztuka Polityczna reveals the influence of "avant-garde conservatism," a theory formulated by philosopher Paweł Rojek, that merges populism, culture war rhetoric, conservatism, and national identity to redefine conservatism in modern Poland. Bernatowicz's role in promoting issues like cancel culture underscores the exhibition's unconventional discourse. While the study acknowledges the limitations of a single exhibition's scope, the systemic influence of conservative tendencies on Polish contemporary art suggests a broader trend with potential future ramifications for the European art scene. The findings underscore the possible instrumentalization of contemporary art to conform to political ideologies.