​New exhibition chronicles Warsaw’s club scene post-1989, EUFORIA!

A new exhibition has opened up in Warsaw spotlighting the Polish capital’s “transformative” club scene from 1989 to the modern day, EUFORIA!.

The exhibition looks at Warsaw’s club culture in a “broader cultural and social context”, thinking about the transformative but “short-lived nature” of the city’s early club scene.

EUFORIA! celebrated its grand opening at Warsaw’s Muzeum Woli last Wednesday (May 8) and will remain on display until December 15.

The exhibition chronicles the political context around Warsaw’s early club culture, looking at the “Polish reality between the fall of communism and accession to the European Union”.

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It also documents the closure of clubs soon after they were first opened post-1989, with venues disappearing “as quickly as they appeared”.

“[EUFORIA!] is a subjective presentation of selected club venues in the capital, which appeared in the urban fabric at the time of the transformation frenzy and defined the character of Warsaw’s club scene for many years,” says exhibition curator Konrad Schiller.

“The exhibition is not only an insight into Warsaw’s clubbing during the period of change, but also an attempt to look at an aspect of Warsaw’s cultural heritage that has so far played out in memories,” he says.

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EUFORIA! features photos from private collections, videos, prints, posters, tickets, zines, and plenty more memorabilia - most of which has “never been presented to the public before”.

Clubs documented throughout the exhibition include Fugazi, Filtry, CDQ, and Piekarnia, all of which were “pioneering” independent venues that appeared during the early years.

Venues including Le Madame and Chłodna 25 are also highlighted as “non-governmental organisations and social movements” giving space for political activism, marginalised clubbers, and Warsaw’s queer community.

Find out more about EUFORIA! here, and check out some photos below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter