Preparations are in full swing for a major presentation of Polish culture in the United Kingdom. Its brand is: POLSKA! Year – A Year of Contemporary Everything from Polska! 

Polish cultural seasons have been organized in recent years in several countries, including Spain, Russia and Israel. What is going to be staged in the UK, however, looks like the most impressive presentation of Polish culture ever held abroad. The overall goal is to show Poland as a modern, dynamically-developing country which at the same time has a rich tradition, history and culture.

The marketing strategy of the event has been devised by Wally Olins, one of the world’s top names in corporate identity and branding.  He claims that for many people in the UK, Poland remains a rather unknown country, somewhere in Europe, with a name that sounds very much like Holland. That’s why he came up with the idea of using the Polish word for Poland. Hence: POLSKA! Year. It begins in May 2009 and lasts through May 2010.

In a report by Michal Kubicki you will hear Wally Olins and Pawel Potoroczyn, the director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw, which organizes the event in association with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Click on the audio icon to listen to the report.