Instytuty Polskie > Instytut Polski w Londynie > Events > History > Touching 1989
8.11.2019 History, News

Touching 1989

Celebrating 30 years of freedom through memories of Poles in the UK.
https://youtu.be/hWjshlAS0Cw
Peter Fudakowski – Film Producer/Director/Writer. His production, Tsotsi, won the Oskar in 2006 for Best Foreign Film. He studied economics at the University of Cambridge, and gained his MBA at INSEAD.
https://youtu.be/1Kucm-kMiP0
Jan Chodakowski – Publisher, publicist and architect. Managing editor of London based Polish language book publishers: POLONIA Book Fund and PULS Publications Ltd.
https://youtu.be/tjzSnXfnlgU
Barbara Kaczmarowska-Hamilton – an internationally renowned portrait artist. Her subjects have included Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Buzz Aldrin. She was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by Lech Walesa.
https://youtu.be/ZaVnXy2Lp-Y
Basia Korzeniowska – British born of Polish parents; educator, teacher, translator, chair of Polish Citizens? Committee Housing Association Ltd., fundraiser and organiser.
https://youtu.be/20TeDrcBAR0
Jan Ledóchowski – an investment banker of Polish origin who helped Solidarity under communism and advised the Polish government on privatisation afterwards.
https://youtu.be/7AEOuj2CfAg
Dr Stanisław Jan Librowski – Member of Polish National Council in Exile in 1989. Chair of Polish Centre in Leamington Spa.
https://youtu.be/uNzUMsq-tvg
Princess Renata Sapieha – a philanthropist. She is the founder of a children?s charity Friends of Lisiecki Homes in Poland (FLHIP). In 2001 she received the Order of the Smile in Warsaw. She supports young Polish artists living in the UK.
https://youtu.be/N1KlhnwQBRU
Ewa Urszula Stepan – lives in London. She has a strong background in public relations, marketing, project management, fundraising and journalism.
https://youtu.be/awsTmJ82B_4
Kazimierz Stepan – Retired, teaching in London and active in the Polish scouting movement with extensive contacts among former Polish human rights activists.
https://youtu.be/f8RHyxgi0VY
Elzbieta Smolenska – a journalist and a photographer living in London. For many years she worked for BBC World Service in London covering political and cultural events.

30 years ago, the events of 1989 redrew the political map of Europe, affecting the lives of millions.

Looking at those historical moments and their aftermath from today’s perspective the TOUCHING 1989 project combines videoed personal stories of Czech, Slovak, Polish and British people of all backgrounds and of all ages currently living in the UK into one strong voice, testifying to the changes we have experienced within the last 30 years.

Watch the most inspiring stories from Poles living in the UK above or visit Touching1989 website to watch all video contributions HERE.

Scheduled History News
OGNISKO_DINNER_BROCHURE_POSTER_DIGITAL

Free Discussion: Remembering the Warsaw Uprising organised

Join historians and academics to mark the closure of the Warsaw Calling Exhibition, which tells the story of this heroic and tragic event.
02 12.2025 Events, History
Instytut Kultury Polskiej w Londynie ogłasza nabór na stanowisko KIEROWCA – INTENDENT-2

Instytut Kultury Polskiej w Londynie ogłasza nabór

Instytut Kultury Polskiej w Londynie ogłasza nabór na stanowisko KIEROWCA – INTENDENT
28 11.2025 News
Nubia-Poster-A0-SOAS-18-11-25[38296]

DRESS TO IMPRESS. Reconstructions of Medieval Robes

A unique transdisciplinary project which will showcase a live presentation of re-created costumes based on wall paintings from the cathedral of Faras in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw and the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum
09 12.2025 Events, History, Visual arts