Have you ever wondered what life was like for Poles in Switzerland over the years? Existing since 1997. The Helveto-Polonicum Foundation, a public interest research institution based in Freiburg, can provide fascinating answers. Explore its collections, including an exceptional collection of works by the underrated artist Jacek Stryjeński (1922-1961) .

About the Helveto-Polonicum Foundation

Established thanks to the commitment and work of Ludwika and Jacek Sygnarski, the foundation is dedicated to collecting, preserving, conserving and developing collections and disseminating knowledge about the presence of Poles in Switzerland. Its extensive collection includes tens of thousands of publications and some 200,000 letters and documents. The Foundation also boasts an impressive audiovisual collection and hundreds of objects related to the activities of Poles in Switzerland since the 19th century.

One of the main magnets attracting visitors to the foundation's headquarters at Grand-Places is its collection of objects related to the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Rifle Division interned in Switzerland during the Second World War, particularly the works of Jacek Stryjeński.

Jacek Stryjeński - the story of an artist torn between art and military service

Jacek Stryjeński was born into the family of the "princess of Polish painting" Zofia Stryjeńska (1891-1976) and the eminent architect Karol Stryjeński (1887-1932). Although no one denies his artistic achievements in the field of sacred and theatrical art, he nevertheless remains in the shadow of his parents' work and his artistic output is still poorly recognised.

After Zofia and Karol Stryjeński separated, the boy was brought up first by his father and, after his death, by his uncle Władysław Stryjeński (1889-1956). In 1939. Jacek moved in with his mother. For a short time, under her supervision, as a free student, he attended the graphics studio at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.

After the start of the war, he was wounded by a shrapnel bomb in the breast and right hand, and underwent two operations. After recovering, he joined the 2nd Infantry Rifle Division in France. On 22 June 1940, he found himself in Switzerland and was interned. While there, he undertook his education at the School of Arts and Crafts in Zurich. In 1944 he made his way to France and then to Italy, where he ended up in an internment camp and contracted jaundice and malaria. After recovering, he rejoined the Anders Army stationed in France. For a while he attended classes at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. Thanks to a Swiss passport obtained by his mother, he moved to Switzerland in 1946. There he started a family with the painter and decorator Danuta Burdecka (1927-2013), and devoted himself to artistic creation.

A unique collection of works by Jacek Stryjeński

In the collection of the Helveto-Polonicum Foundation, one can admire striking scenographic designs and puppets made by the artist in the 1950s. Prominent among them are marionettes depicting knights, oriental horsemen and a princess, as well as a monumental theatre carriage, made in metal for the Marionette Theatre in Geneva (Théâtre de Marionnettes de Genève). A solid sculpting technique, combined with a great deal of imagination, made it possible to create convincing figures and stage sets whose power of influence also works beyond the stage context. In these works, Jacek Stryjeński plays with the convention of medieval street theatre, unsophisticated fair entertainment. At the same time, he also operates with the stereotypical images of the Orient of his time. This kind of imagery provided the artist with a pretext for creating situations with humorous overtones involving figures and forming interesting formal solutions.

The shift in Jacek Stryjeński's interests at the time from painting and graphic art to theatre, which was still considered an inferior genre, may have been an expression of opposition to bourgeois culture. It offered the artist an opportunity to break free from rigorous academic conventions and oppose existing hierarchies in art, enabling him to transcend the division between the popular and the elite. At the same time, Stryjeński's puppets can be read as an expression of protest against the organising principles of a society in which people become puppets manipulated by authority. Knowledge of the biography of the artist, who experienced much suffering due to the war, allows his works to be read as a political voice.

The foundation's collection also includes a design for an iron curtain and a section of a unique ceiling made of aluminium sheets brushed with gold and silver, entitled 'Milky Way' for the Grand Théâtre de Genève (Grand Theatre of Geneva). The expression of the metal and its textures were perfectly exploited by the artist in these compositions. The design won first prize in a competition for the decoration of the theatre in 1960, although it was not finalised by the artist. Jacek Stryjeński worked on it until his last days, which unfortunately strained his health and led to his premature death at the age of 39.

Jacek Stryjeński's works, which are part of the collection of the Helveto-Polonicum Foundation, reflect the wider artistic and socio-political changes of post-war Europe. During this period, artists increasingly combined various art forms with theatre, continuing the traditions of avant-garde artists from the early 20th century who saw puppets and theatrical spaces as powerful tools for creative expression. The artist's collection of metalwork for theatre, reflecting this metamorphosis, is complemented by cardboard boxes with designs for stained glass windows for the church of St Therese in Geneva (1955).