“I Want to Go Back to Poland”: Toward a History of Polish-South African Art Comradeship

The article provides an overview of the cross-border and cross-continental cultural exchange between Polish and South African artists in the second half of the twentieth century, especially in the field of visual arts and in the period of the Cold War. Having identified several instances of creative dialogue between Polish and South African art (e.g., Teresa Tyszkiewiczowa, Chris Ledochowski), the essay focuses on the work of South African-born writer and playwright Deborah Levy, herself a descendant of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants to South Africa. The article aims to reconstruct and trace the trajectory of Levy’s transnational affinity with Poland. Particular attention is given to the influence of post-WWII Polish visual culture on Levy’s work (e.g., Tadeusz Kantor) and her collaborations with three Polish visual artists: Andrzej Maria Borkowski, Zofia Kalińska, and Andrzej Klimowski. The study also explores the conditions of South African-Polish artistic dialogue during the Cold War, including an analysis of the mediating role of the metropolis and the subject positions of those engaged in the aforementioned dialogue.