At dawn of 9th November 2005 on 4 Jezuicka Street, where the office of “Muzyka Kresów” Foundation is situated, a fire broke out. Books, CD’s, photographs, audio and video cassettes documenting the activity of the Foundation from the early 90ties burnt down. Among the items partly damaged by the fire were the works of Lublin’s eminent photographer, Jan Magierski. We planned to present them at an exhibition accompanying the Festival „The Oldest Songs of Europe”. These photographs were portraits of village musicians, participants of the Festival of Folk Bands and Singers in Kazimierz Dolny in the 70ties. The author of these extraordinary images managed to capture the personality and temperament of the village artists, the dignity and concentration of their performance. Probably most of the musicians from Jan Magierski’s photographs are no longer alive. The world of the old rustic culture has gone away with them. The slightly burnt pictures, taken out of the ashes, have become a moving metaphor for the departing of traditional culture and the emptiness which was left behind after the traditional artists. This led us to present the photographs the way they are…
Jan Bernad
Jan Paweł Magierski – university lecturer, photography instructor, photographer
Born in Lublin (1936), where he works and lives. Retired since 2003. He worked in the photography field since 1961, at first as an amateur. He has achieved qualifications to be an instructor at the CPARA College of Photography in Warsaw. He received the membership of Photographer’s Union in 1995.
Author of several individual exhibitions. Among others – “Concert in Kazimierz” from the Festival of Folk Bands and Singers and a photo documentation of geographic expeditions to Spitsbergen which he was a member of. His works on various topics have been presented at many exhibitions and in publications in Poland and abroad.
Publications: “Portraits and landscapes” – Lublin 1978, “Polish Landscape Photography” – Kielce 1985, “Festival of Folk Bands and Singers in Kazimierz Dolny” – Lublin 1989, “Between the Vistula and the Bug – The treasures of nature and culture” – Lublin 1998, “The Masters of Polish Landscapes” – Kielce 2000.