LUX A Night for the Themersons, British Library/ Wednesday 9 January 6.30pm

[luxweekly at lux.org.uk]

A NIGHT FOR THE THEMERSONS

This Wednesday, 9 January 2008 6.30 – 9.00 p.m
The British Library, Conference Centre, London NW1 2DB (tel (0)20  
7412 7332) www.bl.uk
Tickets £6 concs £4

A celebration of the eclectic genius of Stefan and Franciszka  
Themerson, including film, readings and talks to mark the launch of a  
new DVD of their films published by LUX. The DVD will be on sale  
during the evening at a special discounted price of £10 (usual price  
£15) along with other books by the Themersons.



  'Nature gave us vocal chords but neglected to give us a light- 
producing organ. We had to build it ourselves: The projective  
luminiferous eye.' Stefan Themerson, The Urge to Create Visions

The Themersons had a significant influence on the art and philosophy  
of the avant-garde of Eastern Europe during the 1930s. Their work  
reflected something of the Dada and Constructivist forms and ideas of  
the time, but what most distinguished them throughout their lives,  
was their remarkable invention and technical experiment. This was  
true of every field they became involved in: photography, literature,  
art, design and publishing, as well as film. They were the most  
important makers of avant-garde film in pre-war Poland.  After they  
settled in London in the early 1940s, they made two films under the  
auspices of the Polish Government in Exile including their first  
British film, Calling Mr Smith (1943), a rallying call to open the  
eyes and minds of the British public to Nazi atrocities in Europe.   
In London they became key figures in the post-war cultural scene,  
founding Gaberbocchus Press, a major small press publishing first  
English editions of Jarry, Adler, Apollinaire, Schwitters, Queneau  
amongst others as well as writing novels, poems, philosophical  
treaties, operas, painting and theatre design. They died in London in  
1988.

A Night for the Themersons is presented as part of the British  
Library exhibition Breaking the Rules: The Printed Face of the  
European Avant Garde 1900 – 1937, 9 November 2007 – 30 March 2008  
and is supported by the Polish Cultural Institute.

---

Full schedule of the evening
AN EVENING FOR THE THEMERSONS
WORDS & IMAGES, STILL & MOVING

An evening celebrating the lives and work of Franciszka and Stefan  
Themerson, and the Anglo-Polish publication of a DVD of their  
surviving films (1937-1945) introduced by Nick Wadley.

featuring:

The Adventures of a Good Citizen. Warsaw, 1937
the only surviving film from their years in Poland.

Jasia Reichardt, Making ends meet in the 1930s
a talk about their films and books for children.

Calling Mr Smith, London, 1942-3
a film exposing the destruction of Polish culture by the Nazis
made for the Polish government-in-exile

Malgosia Sady, Always and never in exile
a view of the Themersons from Poland

The Eye and the Ear, London 1944-5
an experimental film sponsored by the Polish Film Unit in London

The Adventures of Peddy Bottom, Gaberbocchus Press, 1954
a story for children by Stefan Themerson, illustrated by Franciszka
  readings from the book by Jan Potworowski and Jill Fell

Victoria Szymanska, pilot for a documentary film

DVD The Films of Stefan and Franciszka Themerson is published by LUX  
and the Centre for Contemporary Art Warsaw in January 2008. The DVD  
contains the three remaining Themerson films subtitled in English and  
Polish and is accompanied by unpublished notes and correspondence by  
Stefan Themerson. Retail price is £15 and is available from LUX and  
selected outlets in the UK. www.lux.org.uk


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