Is the key period in modern Polish history of 1944–1949 equally important in the field of art? How were the first years of the new, dynamically changing socio-political reality and atmosphere, on the one hand the “euphoria of rebuilding” and on the other the “Great Fear” interpreted by artists? The exhibition is an attempt to answer the question as to how the complicated social moods and political tensions in post-war Poland found their expression in the visual arts, photographs, film and also architecture and design.

The preparation of the exhibition of works by Katarzyna Kobro (1898–1951) and Władysław Strzemiński (1893–1952) was a complicated affair with a number of surprising turns of events. As a result of the efforts undertaken by the organisers, it eventually took place in December 1956 at the Bureau of Art Exhibitions in Łódź. Even in September 1956, moving the exhibition to Warsaw was all but impossible.