The Polish Poster: A Century of Creativity from the V&A Collections
Explore the extraordinary world of Polish poster design with V&A curator Zorian Clayton.
The Victoria and Albert Museum holds around 400 Polish posters, dating from the late 19th century to the present day. This talk will trace a remarkable graphic design heritage — from Art Deco masterpieces and the internationally celebrated Polish Poster School of the mid-20th century, through the powerful imagery of the Solidarność era, to contemporary designers continuing this extraordinary tradition.
Discover how Polish posters have combined daring typography, striking colour and imaginative symbolism to reflect and shape Poland’s cultural and political life over more than a century.
The talk will include a short introduction by Talking and Exploring and a discussion with the audience.
This event follows the successful ‘Polish Posters Now!’ exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum during London Design Festival 2025, curated by Zorian Clayton.
Image: Warszawa by Ola Jasionowska, 2018, for Warsaw City Council
Victoria and Albert Museum, Object number: E.242-2026
About the speaker:
Zorian Clayton is Curator of Prints (1850–now) at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He curated ‘Polish Posters Now!’ (London Design Festival 2025), co-curated ‘Aubrey Beardsley: A Singular Prodigy’ (Japan, 2024–25) and ‘Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear’ (2022). He recently co-curated the poster exhibition ‘When Walls Talk’ for the House of European History in Brussels.
His publications include The Poster: A Visual History (2020, with Thames & Hudson), with a forthcoming publication on Toulouse-Lautrec (2027). From 2016 to 2026 he was also a programmer for the British Film Institute.
Event details:
Atrium, POSK Polish Social and Cultural Centre
Organised by Talking and Exploring in partnership with POSK.
Supported by PAFT – Polonia Aid Foundation Trust.
Media Patronage: Londynek.net
