Coal Story: a photographic exhibition by Darek Fortas
The Copper House Gallery will launch Coal Story , a photographic exhibition by Darek Fortas on Wednesday 11th January 2012 from 6pm-8pm. Artist Anthony Haughey will open the exhibition. Coal Story , the first solo exhibition by Darek Fortas, is a result of an extensive photographic engagement with the two largest coal mining companies in the European Union located in Silesia, the most industrialised part of Poland. Coal Story combines contemporary photography and archival research dating back to the 1960s, when Poland experienced significant economic and industrial expansion. In the early 1980s, coal mines were a major site of struggle and resistance against the communist regime. Workers’ protests resulted in the creation of Solidarity - a workers’ and citizens' movement under the leadership of Lech Walesa. The coal miners actions eventually led to the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War. This exhibition is part of the inaugural Fire Propeller Competi...