Speaking of Gniezno...

Beautiful Jędrzejów

and other unpronounceable Polish place names. I came across a great blog devoted to the "welcome signs," or Witacze, that are erected at Polish town, city, or regional (gmina) limits. They range in style and effect from mundane to fanciful to bombastic.

The blog is maintained by Polish artists Alicja Karska and Aleksandra Went. I learned about their project from a small, very interesting show at Columbia University's Wallach Gallery called Cross-Time Stories, which focuses on the work of artists in Eastern Europe, Turkey, and China coming of age around the pivotal year of 1989.

 Puławy: Poland's "The Second Venice"

One great thing about the Karksa & Went piece is that the photos are projected on the wall by an old-fashioned slide projector. You can advance the carousel yourself and enjoy not only the photos but the unmistakeable whirr-whirr-k'chunk sound of the projector's action. Predigital!



I like this humble one from Piotrków Trybunalski below. (Not far from Łódź, in case you're wondering.)

Piotrków Blues