Polish Thief

curator: Dy Tagowska

The stereotype image of the Polish Thief is looking at us from screens mounted in a way that resembles cell door openings. The captured thief becomes a helpless, naive figure deprived of the ability to think in terms of cause and effect. The two-word title sounds like a name of a species, and could as well be written in Latin. The multiplied Disney depictions impact on us like a propagated virus although they are a product of the Western film industry. The work questions the statement “You are what others perceive you to be.” What is interesting is the extent to which the cliches we use influence our perception of the Other. Is the Polish Thief species a parasite, a pest, or maybe a symbiont?