Centrala is pleased to present Homeland, an exhibition following an 18-month residency of the photographer and visual artist Paulina Korobkiewicz, alsofeaturing work by Sylwia Ciszewska-Peciak, Yuxi Hou, Ismail Khokon, Marcin Forys and interviews from the Central European Photography Club participants.
Homeland is departing from the research project Post-Socialist Britain?: Memory, Representation and Political Identity amongst German, Polish and Ukrainian Immigrants in the UK, a large-scale research project in collaboration with the University of Birmingham and the Nottingham Trent University exploring how and if memory is linked to political identity, and how this is manifested in a different national context.
Homeland will address themes of political identity, belonging, memory and representation among migrant communities in West Bromwich and Hyson Green, with a specific focus, but not limited to, Polish migrant communities. Throughout the residency, Korobkiewicz familiarised herself with these areas and established relationships with the members of the migrant communities, initiating dialogues and participating in local celebrations and events, researching and creating a contemporary portrait of those communities.
The exhibition will reflect on the visibility of the communities within the focus areas (West Bromwich & Hyson Green) and serve as a platform to share migration experiences from various perspectives. Korobkiewicz’s photographic series explores the visibility of the migrant community within public space and the importance of it.