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Waiting for the snow

by Katarzyna and Marianne Wasowska

“Waiting for the Snow” is a photographic project presenting the curious phenomenon of Polish migration to the South American countries during the partitions (19th century) and the interwar period. We focus on the Brazilian and Argentinian directions of migration, as these countries were the most popular destinations of migrants, and the number of people of Polish origin living there is currently the highest on that continent (Brazil 1.53 million, Argentina 120-450 thousand). Both these countries were also at that time perceived by migrants as unknown and exotic. We want to shed some light on this little known (and rather untypical) aspect of European presence in that remote part of the world. The colonization pursued by Central European countries took the form of an advertising campaign. Its aim was to occupy large areas of land in order to draw not state, but individual benefits, pretending that this land was not inhabited by native populations. The increased migration to Brazil was also related to the lack of workforce that the country experienced after the abolition of slavery and the implementation of the government project of making Brazil “white”. In Argentina, the plan was mainly based on the idea that only European workers could build a modern dream society. This migration policy strongly influenced the way migrants defined themselves and created relationships with the new land, which is particularly important because most of them were farmers. The Polish descendants of those emigrants are now (after about 100-150 years) still actively cultivating the traditions and language of their ancestors. Using our own photos, archival documents and family albums, we want to create a multi-layered visual story. On the one hand, we gather stories based on the collective memory of the Polish community about the country of origin and the beginnings of settlement in the new homeland. On the other hand, we focus on the creolisation and mixing of cultures, and observe how the Slavic background has interlaced with the South American context, creating a concept of identity based on reconstruction, fiction and fantasy.

katarzynawasowska.com

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  • A way going into the Parana jungle, Brazil
  • Archival photograph from the family archive of Guizelia De Almeida Wronski, Mallet, Brazil. Polish settlers probably cutting down the forest to build a colony. End of XIX century, exact date unknown.
  • One of the first houses of polish settlers in PR, Brazil. Build in the typical Polish architecture style from the village. Sloping roof - so the snow can fall in the winter. Wooden construction typical from the XIX century. Recently moved from the town of Thomaz Coelho, Araucária, PR, Brazil to "Bosque João Paulo II" in Curitiba, Brazil.
  • Pocket for travel documents of one of the transatlantic carriers with the addresses of their offices in Europe and South America. Beginning of the XXth century.
  • From the left: "Virgin forest" from the book Tadeusz Chrostowski "Parana, memories of travel" from 1914 - possible source of knowledge about the nature of destination country of migrants; Member of the association of descendants of Polish immigrants in Brazil - BRASPOL; Detail of the small river in Parana nowadays.
  • Image based on the stories about arrival in the new land. All the immigrants, were traveling with big the wooden cases ("baúl"), where they were keeping their goods. They were also easy target for port thieves, who were steeling their belongings and replacing them with rocks.
  • Mrs. Raczkowska, first generation of immigrants from Poland, Azara, Misiones, Argentina.
  • The ship "S.S Gelria" which was offering emigration voyages from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires from 1913. As there was no passenger port in Poland at this time, lot of emigrants were living among other places through Amsterdam. Original photograph is property of Carola Domańska, Azara, Misiones, Argentina.
  • Image based on the stories about the first years of settlement in the new homeland. Due to the hot climate, immigrants cooled traditional polish pickles in the rivers and waterfalls.
  • Family Kotecki (Maciey on the right side and his grandfather on the left side) trought generations were exchanging letters between the family which emigrated and the one which stayed in Poland. The letters are describing how is daily life, farming and health of the family that stayed. The archival photograph and the letter come from archive of family Kotecky, Santana, Cruz Machado, Brazil.
  • From the left: A plumage detail of a bird,Ara ararauna; Archival photo of Polish immigrants taken by Pedro Tarnowski - one of the two (the other was his brother) of the first Polish photographers in Apostoles, Misiones. Early XXth century,.
  • A settelment of guaraní indians. The question of indigeneous people's presence when first migrants arrived is complex and controversal, since until today not all the migrants recognize they've been living in those lands from long time before their arrival. Now guarani communities still live in this area in a semi nomadic way.
  • Horacio Tarnowski, the second generation of Polish migrants and a group of children from the Guarani tribe, Misiones, Argentina. Photo taken by grandfather Horacio, Pedro Tarnowski.
  • Image based on a memory told by Jana Raczkowski from Apostoles, Misiones, Argentina. When first migrants arrived they didn't know how to fight ants, specially big and strong in this region. Desperate because they were eating up all their plantations, they began to pray them so they stop. Their nests, named tacuru from guarani language, can reach two meters high.
  • Painted photographic portrait "Monidło" of Mr. Raczkowski, who came from Poland in the beginning of XX century. Painted photographs were very famous in Central Europe before era of colour photography.