Lubusz region of western Poland is one of the most neglected and unknown in the country. Being a border area for hundreds of years it moved between Poland and Germany and this complicated history left its marks in many aspects of life. Towns are laid on German architectural plans, people often use Germanised words and a majority from younger generation emigrated to the more prosperous economy next doors. Meanwhile, the culture and visual landscapes stay distinctly Polish - chaotic urban design, decaying social-modernist buildings, countless adverts, figures of Virgin Mary and an unexplainable kind of Slavic melancholy.

After the War a significant part of the population was resettled to Lubusz from nowadays Ukraine. People still seem to struggle to find themselves in a new reality and establish their identity. This could be both because of the resettlement and the fall of communism. Before, the region’s income depended mostly on state agricultural farms, which fell into ruin with the new political system. With no governmental support, industry or large cities the unemployment, alcohol abuse and emigration became parts of life.

Despite socio-economical situation, the atmosphere of Lubusz has a very specific charm of a border area, a forgotten in-between place, where the otherwise gone culture, of what reminds me of Poland from my childhood, is left almost undisrupted. Locals, who although may struggle economically, seem to live slowly and often enjoy their lives more than in the so apparent frantic race for money and career in large Polish cities.

Mateusz on IG