80 years of British Council, 100 years of Polish independence and 88 pages of good reading.
Polish-British relations, common history and values, today's important European ideas, democracy, the new shape of Europe, emigration of the 2000s and art and culture – are amongst the subjects which we can read about in the latest publication issued by the British Council Poland in cooperation with The Polish-British Belvedere Forum.
"The British Council was founded in 1934 with the express purpose of countering the fascist narrative that was gaining momentum across Europe at that time. The idea was to create Institutes that would operate as centres for cultural dialogue, representing Britain’s national culture and traditions of open society, tolerance and freedom of speech. Our first strapline was "Truth will win" – these words of Simon Gammell, Director of the British Council in Poland, begin the collection of essays and the jubilee year.
The British Council in Poland was established two years later, opening one of the first European offices in Warsaw in 1938. At present, opportunities in the field of culture and education are created in the British Council by providing a professional methodology for teaching English, linguistic certification and partnerships with other institutions in the fields of culture, art and science.
The aim of the British Council was always to create a space for knowledge exchange, exchange of ideas, free discussion on various topics and discussing various views. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the presence in Poland, we return to our roots and presents a collection of texts that address important European issues related to culture, education and society in the context of Polish-British relations.
The authors of the publication are: Joanna Bagniewska, Stanley Bill, Michael Brooke, Robert Frost, Marta Gibińska, Jakub Krupa, Jacek Kucharczyk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Zbigniew A. Pełczyński, Malcolm Rifkind and Martin Smith.
The cover of the collection was designed by Dawid Ryski.
Essays "Crossing Points: UK-Poland Common interests, shared concerns" were prepared in partnership with the British Embassy in Warsaw and The Polish-British Belvedere Forum.