The '80s Look at Us

Poland’s 1980s told by women: photojournalists, artists and the women interviewed by the Women’s Archive research team. The show opens at the History Meeting House gallery on 8 October 2026, runs until 21 February 2027, and admission is free.

The History Meeting House on the exhibition:

The exhibition tells a story about women’s lives in Poland in the 1980s. This decade began with an economic and socio-political crisis, and ended with the political system transition. This unpeaceful period, until now, was mostly described from a man’s perspective - the main force behind political changes. Meanwhile, women’s social life experiences are testimonies to intersections between great history and private everyday life, and their influence on the state of the country after 1989 is undeniable.

As the curators (all female) highlight: ‘Everyday life, creative work and political events formed a dynamic flow, in which women sought to make decisions and influence the stream of occurrences, both in personal and public spheres. A shared experience of despondency and resistance to the deteriorating living conditions at the start of the decade gave way to demands for systemic change and joy at the birth of Solidarity and free trade unions. Martial law brought fear, mixed with anger and hatred towards the authority. The free elections of 1989 sparked enthusiasm, but also disappointment in the new political and economic order. The year 1993 proved to be particularly significant for women’s health and lives, as it was then that the anti-abortion law was passed, the effects of which are still being felt today.’

The presence of women in the 1980s made its mark in many areas, ranging from the public spaces and political activity, through social activism and professional life, to the arts, science, counterculture, and everyday life. The exhibition focuses on four dimensions of the female experience, presented in the sections: ‘Family’, ‘Church’, ‘State’ and ‘Brave New World’ (covering the years 1989-1993).

What to expect

This is above all a photography show, which is what the History Meeting House (DSH) does best. The core is the work of four women photojournalists, alongside reproductions of works by nine women artists and excerpts from films, newsreels and interviews recorded by the Women’s Archive project. The women in the pictures range from the famous to the anonymous: intellectuals, athletes, opposition activists, scientists, doctors, teachers and artists. The museum gives no number of photographs and no floor area.

What to look out for, going by the museum’s description:

• Four photojournalists - Marzena Hmielewicz, Anna Michalak-Pawłowska, Anna Musiałówna and Agnieszka Sadowska. The decade as framed by women who photographed it for a living.
• Reproductions of works by women artists, among them Natalia LL, Ewa Partum, Izabella Gustowska and Urszula Broll. The curators say these artists “pioneered a challenge to cultural gender constructs and the state’s reproductive policies”.
• The ‘Brave New World’ section, covering 1989-1993. It closes the decade not with the 1989 elections but with 1993.
• Film and interview excerpts from the research team’s archive - women’s voices, not just their images.

A second show about women in the 1980s opens the same day in the same DSH gallery: “Melusines from the Blocks. Fashion and Music in the 1980s”, about six pop singers from Kora to Izabela Trojanowska. The two share exact dates, so plan one visit for both. The museum has published a catalogue (ISBN 978-83-66068-65-0) and a family guide to go with the show.

Context

DSH prepared the show together with the Women’s Archive (Archiwum Kobiet), a research team at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, working since 2013 under Professor Monika Rudaś-Grodzka. The interviews on display were recorded as part of the Women’s Archive project; since 2024 the team has been documenting Polish women’s movements from the founding of Solidarity to Poland’s accession to the European Union.

The time frame has its own logic. The decade opens with economic crisis and the birth of Solidarity, the independent trade union, passes through martial law and the 1989 elections, and ends with the act of 7 January 1993 that still sets the narrow conditions under which abortion is legal in Poland. The curators write that its effects “are still being felt today”.

Natalia LL is an intermedia and conceptual artist. Ewa Partum works in concrete poetry, performance, mail art and film, and has lived and worked in Berlin since 1983.

Tickets and time

• Dates: Thursday 8 October 2026 to Sunday 21 February 2027.
• Where: DSH gallery, ul. Karowa 20, in the city centre just below the Royal Route (Krakowskie Przedmieście). From Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet station on metro line M2 it is about a 7-minute walk.
• Admission: free, as the museum states on the exhibition page. No ticket or booking needed.
• DSH opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10:00-20:00, Thursday 10:00-21:00, Saturday and Sunday 12:00-20:00. Closed on Mondays.
• How long: the museum does not say. For a show made mostly of photographs with some film and interview excerpts, allow about an hour; with “Melusines” as well, 90 minutes to two hours.
• Dogs: welcome on a lead; the Karowa café keeps a water bowl.
• Best time: a Thursday, when DSH stays open until 21:00, or during the Heroines Festival (8-18 October) if you want to combine the visit with events.
• English on site: DSH states that its exhibitions carry English texts, and the show’s credits list a translator and an English proofreader. No audio guide or English tours are announced.

Who it is for: visitors who remember the 1980s and want to see them from an angle other than strikes and the Round Table talks, anyone interested in women’s history and feminist art, and families, thanks to the family guide. If you want original objects, note that the artists’ works are shown as reproductions.

Events

• 13 October 2026, 18:00 - launch of the book “Cztery pory wojny. Opowieści z Ukrainy” (“Four Seasons of War. Stories from Ukraine”) with Vira Baldyniuk, Lia Dostlieva and Agnieszka Lichnerowicz, part of the Heroines Festival; the museum does not give the venue.
• 11 October 2026, 14:00 - curator’s tour of the neighbouring show “Melusines from the Blocks” with Karolina Sulej.
• 11 October 2026, 13:00 - curators’ tour of “The ’80s Look at Us” with Monika Rudaś-Grodzka, Łucja Iwanczewska and Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz. The “Melusines” tour starts an hour later, so you can see both shows with their curators in one afternoon.
• 10 October 2026, 20:00 - Majka Jeżowska concert at DSH.

All four come from the programme of the Heroines Festival 2026 (Festiwal Bohaterek, 8-18 October, slogan “Wolność to my!”, “Freedom is us!”), which the museum says starts from this show and “Melusines”. The festival page gives no prices or booking terms: festival programme (Polish).

See also

• The Workers’ Defence Committee. Strength in Unity - DSH’s outdoor show on Krakowskie Przedmieście at the corner of Karowa, until 14 October 2026. For the first week both shows stand a few steps apart.
• What Is This Queue For? The Polish People’s Republic in a Musical Mirror - Polish History Museum, until 6 December 2026: communist Poland told through its pop music, a natural follow-on if “Melusines” gets you curious about the songs of the era.
• History Meeting House - the Oral History Archive, a bookshop and a café at the same address.

Museum profile: History Meeting House.