IBCH PAS and PCSS’ Representatives at the Opening of an Exhibition in the Polish Parliament

— Organic work turned out to be a great power, because it prepared our nation, which was remaining at the time under the invaders’ rule, to be able to rebuild the state — the Poland of their dreams. Through work they preserved tradition and values. They laid the foundation for building a modern state. Without organic work, learning self-reliance, wisdom, cooperation, as well as caring for culture and finances one could not think about the future. Greater Poland showed it! — said Małgorzata Kidawa‑Błońska, the Marshal of the Senate.

The exhibition was prepared by the General Dąbrowski’s Palace in Winna Góra, which lies on the Organic Work Trail. Another interesting place on this trail is the Palace in Turew (formerly known as Turwia), which for the last three years has been under the care of IBCH PAS. Thanks to obtained funds, its grounds serve now as a scene of some exciting events, including a series of lectures called “Science on the trail”.

The Turew Palace is also being gradually renovated with the aim of restoring its former glory — a legacy of the innovative and socially engaged activities once carried out there by Dezydery Chłapowski, a great advocate of organic work. Interestingly, he is also featured in the Parliament exhibition, where visitors can find a display case filled with soil from Turew next to some items from the time General Chłapowski was modernizing the Greater Poland economy. The exhibition brings also back other famous figures involved in the organic work – people like Karol Marcinkowski, Karol Libelt or Hipolit Cegielski, whose names became iconic in Poland over time.

— The concept of organic work emerged actually in the early 19th century, but matured only after our defeat during the November Uprising. Poznań organic workers supported education, founded agricultural societies, cooperatives, cooperative banks, built a market – even the Polish theatre. They drew the conclusion that if someone wants to win an uprising, first they must build national consciousness, a society — what we call these days “a civil society”. They said that in the 1930s and the Greater Poland Uprising succeeded — recalled by the Senate Deputy Marshal, Rafał Grupiński.

The IBCH PAS and PCSS delegation featured: Agnieszka Konrad — Deputy Director for Cooperation at IBCH PAS, prof. dr hab. Marek Figlerowicz — Coordinator of CIES IBCH PAS; Sylwia Sobczyk — Head of the Turew Team; and dr Magdalena Baranowska‑Szczepańska from PCSS.

Photographs by Grzegorz Dudek (Dudex)