I just need to do some venting because i have been trying to get more educated lately about various forms of art throughout history and the more i read the more angry i get with the way the entire subject is treated from such a Eurocentric and frankly often outright racist perspective.
And this is not just a problem in the West, throughout the world somehow Europeans have managed to brainwash the entire rest of the world into idolizing their art, their music, their culture and putting it on some kind of pedestal as this sort of gold standard. Why the fuck do parents in Asia for instance so often send their kids to learn to play European classical music instead of the music of their own countries? Why is it that when you read about the “greatest composers of all time” they are all some pasty Euro fuckers, most of them making art primarily for the consumption of wealthy aristocrat patrons?
As if other cultures weren’t also making various forms of art for thousands of years - and many of them were no less sophisticated. (And mind you even in Europe the representation exludes the art of the lower classes, who certainly had their own music and culture that was distinct from that of the upper classes.) For once i’d like to see an African, Middle Eastern or Asian painter, writer, or composer of music traditional to their own regions get praised and elevated to the same level of respect, admiration and universal recognition as the European “classics”. Why do we constantly have to put up with this big circlejerk about how “great” some toffs in wigs were for writing music that in large part only the rich could afford to have played for them because it required an entire orchestra with an absurd amount of performers?
Of course i know the answer to these rhetorical questions, it’s because the dominant culture in any society tends to be the culture of the ruling class. I understand this but it still pisses me off how inescapable European upper class culture is. One of the tasks ahead of us when the revolution comes will have to be the dismantling of the centuries of accumulated cultural hegemony of the Euro bourgeoisie. The Soviets were right to encourage socialist realism as a radical departure with the bourgeois culture of the capitalist system. We need a global cultural revolution.
All of the brown nosing for western european culture drives me nuts, I hate it and if you were living in Poland you would completely understand.
We try to equate our artists, poets, writers, composers and painters who were either great on their own, or mediocre mimics of western artists, with those same western artists themselves.
We like to think of ourselves as “part of the gang” but really we’re just that “extra friend” that wasn’t invited, gets constantly bullied and for some fucking reason still sticks around.
Give me a name of Polish artist and one of their works from the 19th or 20th century. Before PRL of course. Please do.
No one outside of Poland knows or cares to know them.
And nowadays Socialist Realism gets demonized to hell and back, called a “state mandated totalitarianism” or “russification”.
Yeah and no one bats an eye or cries for Americanization the racist fucks. Recently I’ve heard on the radio of a system called “Child Alert”, and I’m not translating anything here. That’s what it was called, not “Alarm dziecięcy”. “Child alert”.
If that was written in russian they would be flinging shit, pissing their pants and crying about the death of Polish culture and language.
I hate this shithole, it’s culture of being a western brownnoser must be bulldozed and ruthlessly suppresed. Sociailist Poland must be it’s own thing, seperate from this bullshit, and for that to happen…
America must fall.
EDIT: Okay. So maybe I was a bit wrong. As the comments replying to me seem to be contradictory to the statement that no one knows Polish artists lmao
I should have [he/him/debil] pronouns to be honest xD
Do writers count?
Yeah, go ahead. If you have one good for you, makes me happy anyone gets recognized outside of here.
Stanisław Lem Is a more contemporary author, but his work with Sci-Fi and futurism has been legendary and has influenced the entire genre significantly.
He anticipated things such as of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and created ideas such as human autoevolution, and the creation of artificial worlds.
Absolutely incredible writer. Solaris is especially fantastic, but the invincible is also good.
He’s legendary. I’m reading Summa Technologiae atm, wholeheartedly recommend it. Here’s a cool quote:
Another…
Sinkevich. Author of “With fire and sword”, “Deluge” and the third one whose name escapes me at the moment
Huh, didn’t know someone would care for Sienkiewicz, but it’s expected. He is the more popular one. Honestly I never read his books because I was instead forced to read Mickiewicz in highschool lmao
But now that I’m no longer coerced into reading these books I might give them a proper read and admire them for what they are and not be required to care the for unnecessary details.
Just to add, my favorite school book was Aleksander Fredro’s Zemsta (Revenge), and also please check out the amazing movie adaptation by Andrzej Wajda. Shit’s fucking amazing.
Jan Matejko?
His painting “Stańczyk” is very famous among western art circles. He is commonly listed alongside Rembrandt as both being masters of shadows and emotional oil scenes.
Ah fuck I’m getting disproven by more comments. Okay, yeah I forgot about Matejko and the Stańczyk. His paintings are beatiful and his imaginings of our Kings have been the bases for how they are portrayed on currency.
And yes, the stańczyk is quite the meme nowadays. We should turn it into an emote.
I actually didn’t know/forgot the name of the fellow, but instantly recognized some of the paintings upon looking up
Henryk Górecki, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
Krzysztof Penderecki, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
Chopin, various
ANO KURWA JEGO MAĆ, JA NAWET ICH NIE ZNAM XDDDDDDDD
Except for Chopin of course xdd
DOES THE WITCHERINO COUNT?
Zdzislaw Beksinski would count? His work is intoxicating, it places me into a trance whenever I look at it. I would love to go to Poland and see his works in person!
Wow! I’d never come across his work before, but it’s great.
Poland does have the greatest piano composer of all-time: Chopin.
edit: oops I see he was mentioned below.