REPORT FORM RESEARCH NETWORK WORKSHOPS Tel: 020 7679 8802 Fax: 020 7679 8755 email: ceelbas@ssees.ucl.ac.uk 1. Grant Recipient Details Name Ewa Ochman Home Institution The University of Manchester Present appointment Lecturer in East European Studies Contact details Phone: 0161 275 3291 Email:ewa.ochman@manchester.ac.uk 2. Activity details Title and summary of the workshop or activity carried out Title: Archiving the History of Polish Exile in Great Britain: Community Repositories, Collection Strategies and Records Preservation Summary: The workshop focused on the cultural promotion and preservation of the history of Polish exile in Great Britain. It specifically addressed the issue of the collection, preservation and dissemination of archival records. The workshop included presentations by scholars working in the field of memory studies and leading practitioners from the Polish community repositories in the UK and from British organisations supporting and promoting community archives. The workshop was divided into three thematic sessions: archival management, digital repositories and oral history collections. The first session was dedicated to identifying the current infrastructure of community archives, the strategies undertaken to collect records and on cataloguing software. The second session dealt with digital preservation and discussed the effectiveness and impact of online exhibitions, virtual museums and photo archives. The third session focused on oral history projects and, more specifically, on methodologies developed for conducting biographical interviews. The Round Table concluding the workshop considered how research in memory studies, and particularly in life histories and narratives, can contribute to the preservation and cultural promotion of the history of Polish exile. The exchange of views during the Round Table was particularly thought provoking and exposed differing positions, especially among academics and archivists, on the validity and reliability of interviews as historical sources. Critics of oral history projects argued that oral evidence is distorted by physical deterioration and nostalgia in old age, by personal bias of both interviewer and interviewee and by the influence of collective and retrospective versions of the past. Supporters of biographical interviews, on the other hand, suggested that the primary aim of oral history projects is the empowerment of local communities through the process of remembering, with the emphasis on the value of the process as much as the factual reconstruction of the past. The workshop was conducted in both English and Polish.
Location Date(s) The University of Manchester 22 February 2013 Details of participants (attach as separate document or copy into the table below). Please list delegates job titles and organisations where known Speakers (please give titles of presentations were possible): 1) Community Archives reports: Dobrosława Platt (Polish Library POSK, London) Jadwiga Kowalska (Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London) Wojciech Tobiasiewicz (Polish Catholic Mission, and The Grabowski Fund, London) Joanna Pyłat (Polish University Abroad PUNO, London) Aleksandra Podhorodecka (Polish Educational Society, London) 2) Online Exhibitions, Virtual Museums and Audiovisual Archives Matilda Mroz (University of Greenwich & MAW University of Cambridge) Traces and Copies in Audiovisual Archives: The Case of General Sikorski George Neisser (University of Manchester) Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum Piotr Bienkowski (Paul Hamlyn Foundation) Communities and Museums as Active Partners 3) Oral History Projects Marta Kurkowska-Budzan (Jagiellonian University) Przeszłość w teraźniejszości: oral history i teoria ugruntowana Joanna Komperda (PRL Museum, Kraków) Londyńczycy. Oczekiwanie na wolną Polskę. Losy polskiej emigracji w Londynie w latach 1945 1989 Monica Janowski (SOAS, University of London) Food in Traumatic Times: Women, Foodways and 'Polishness' during a Wartime Odyssey Delegates: Jan Czerski (Polish Saturday School, Manchester) Jan Gryta (PhD candidate, The University of Manchester) Anna Kucman (Polish Consulate-General, Manchester) Waclaw Mańkowski (Polish Scouting Association) Janusz Neisser (The Kresy-Siberia Foundation, UK) Frank Pleszak, (The Kresy-Siberia Foundation, UK) Andrzej Różycki (Chairman, The Polish Ex-Combatants Association, Manchester) Rafał Siemianowski (Counsellor, Embassy of The Republic of Poland, London) Joanna Tobiasiewicz (The Polish émigré community, London)
3. Achievement of stated aims and objectives Please summarise how the aims and objectives of the activities, as stated in the application, have been achieved and how these have helped to further the aims and objectives of CEELBAS The workshop facilitated a wide-ranging debate among scholars and practitioners about the current state of archival collections that contain published and unpublished materials related to the history of Polish exile in Great Britain. The debate took place in the context of the closure of many Polish cultural centres, particularly outside London, which occurred in the earlier 2000s, and the dispersal of records, including artefacts and artwork. Practitioners from the main institutions dealing with collections of archival records in the UK, and practitioners from Kraków, discussed successful past projects concerned with the collection and preservation of records; they also exchanged views on the development of effective strategies for the promotion of the history of Polish exile. The workshop facilitated future collaboration between scholars, PhD students and practitioners who work in the field of the cultural memory of Polish exile, heritage protection and community archives. The organisation of the workshop enabled the identification of the key academics and institutions that may be interested in future collaboration to establish a Polish Community Archives Development Group. 4. Outcomes and Impacts (1): academic benefits Please summarise the academic impacts of the supported activity, including an indication of how the activity has facilitated scholarly exchange and/or helped to take forward the CEELBAS strategic research agenda (www.ceelbas.ac.uk/research/#themes) The workshop enabled the exploration of future collaboration between scholars from the CEELBAS partner institutions and from the history department of the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, working in the field of memory studies and specialising in the methodology of oral history. The discussion on opportunities for this collaboration was continued during the annual BASEES conference in Cambridge, April 2013. In spring 2014, Russian and East European Studies at Manchester will organise a workshop addressing, among other things, the question of the authenticity of biographical interviews and the validity and reliability of interviews as historical sources the main issue to emerge in the course of the workshop s Round Table discussion. 5. Outcomes and Impacts (2): knowledge exchange and user engagement Please outline the level of participation from non-academic sectors. Please summarise any direct or indirect benefits in terms of the activity s policy relevance, its promotion of knowledge exchange, and/or its potential for wider economic, societal or cultural impacts The workshop brought together researchers, practitioners and members of the Polish community. It provided opportunities for sharing expertise and resources between scholars from the UK and Poland and Polish community institutions and societies such as the Polish Institute and the Sikorski Museum, the Polish Library at POSK, the Polish Catholic Mission, the Grabowski Fund, the Polish University Abroad PUNO - and the Polish Educational Society and the Kresy Siberia Foundation. Piotr Bienkowski (Paul Hamlyn Foundation), who has extensive expertise in the development of partnerships between local museums and heritage organisations, shared with workshop participants knowledge and effective practice in developing community archive projects in the UK.
The workshop also facilitated discussion on how to use opportunities presented by the development of internet capabilities and evolving technologies to preserve the heritage of Polish exile and to effectively support research on the history of the Polish community in Great Britain (George Neissner). The workshop, which primarily intended to investigate the possibilities for sustainable partnerships between academic and non-academic communities, was particularly successful in establishing linkages between practitioners and academics and in increasing opportunities for the exchange of skills and the sharing of resources. The networking facilitated by the workshop has already resulted in several promising collaborations. For example, following the workshop, The Grabowski Foundation funded the Jagiellonian University postgraduate student s research trip to the UK to interview members of the Polish émigré community in London. George Neisser, a postgraduate student at the University of Manchester, was invited to do archival research on The Polish Ex-Combatants Association (SPK) at the Polish Institute and the Sikorski Museum in London. Joanna Komperda provided Ochman and Gryta with educational packs on oral history projects recently developed by a team of scholars from Krakow. The Polish Institute and the Sikorski Museum and the Polish Catholic Mission (PMK) began discussions on collaborating on cataloguing and preserving the PMK s archive. 6. Workshop materials Please give details of any materials from the workshop that may be added to (or linked from) the CEELBAS website (e.g. photos, presentations, slides, audio/video recordings, posters) PowerPoint presentation on Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum 7. Dissemination and Outputs or Further Research How will the workshop and its outcomes be disseminated? Are there any related publications or other outputs planned or forthcoming? Please also give details of any plans for follow-on activities, funding applications, or other projects and collaboration related to the workshop A talk (Jan Gryta) on oral history interviews was presented during the annual Polish language and culture conference organised by the University of Manchester in March 2013. Talks promoting the cultural memory of local communities, heritage protection and community archives (Ewa Ochman and George Neissner) will be presented at a workshop coorganised with Aleksandra Kruk (proling: Translation and Interpreting Company) at the University of Manchester in autumn 2013. A talk discussing opportunities for Year 12 and Year 13 students from Polish Saturday Schools to undertake biographical interviews with members of the Polish community will be presented at a conference for head-teachers of Polish supplementary schools organised by the Polish Consulate in Manchester (spring 2014). The Polish Library at POSK, London, is planning to organise a conference dedicated to the preservation of archival records, which will continue the debate started at the workshop at Manchester. Practitioners working specifically on record preservation will be invited. It is intended that a second workshop will be organised to continue the debate among scholars and practitioners about the current state of archival collections. This will enable them to share information about specific projects that follow on from the first workshop and
to explore effective strategies for ensuring accessibility of records to variety of users including British and international researchers, heritage groups and individuals. The workshop will further investigate the possibility of establishing a Polish Community Archives Development Group. Collaboration with the Manchester Central Library is planned for this workshop, to increase opportunities for the exchange of skills and the sharing of resources between Manchester University academics and the newly established Archives and Local History Unit based at the Manchester Central Library.