Dr Kasia Jezowska

I am a cultural historian and at the centre of my research is design history of Eastern Europe. In particular, I am interested in the role of design in constructing the national identities of socialist states, with Poland being the main focus, through the prism of industrial exhibitions and trade fairs. This was the subject of my doctoral research (University of Oxford, 2019) that I am currently turning into a book. Tentatively titled Exhibiting the socialist state. Polish design and national identity during the Cold War, the manuscript argues that in the balancing act of defining what was socialist and what was national and specifically Polish, the political authorities resorted to design. 

My doctoral research formed a backbone of a thematic exhibition 'Back to front. Polish exhibitions on show', which I curated for the Triennale Design Museum in Milan in April 2018.

My new project continues this investigation into industrial exhibitions' political potential, placing coal at the forefront of this inquiry. By examining the complex relationship between natural resources, industrial products and national identity, the project seeks to explain Poland’s and Australia's longstanding reliance on this increasingly problematic material resource.

I am a Lecturer in Design History and Theory, and since 2019 I have been developing together with Dr Lazzaro Rezende a comprehensive programme in history and theory of design. Before joining UNSW, I worked as an Associate Lecturer at the University of the Arts, London across Central Saint Martins, London College of Communication and Chelsea College of Art and as a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art.