SZYMON PIOTR KUBIAK

The General National Exhibition was organized in Poznań in 1929, 10 years after the return of Polish independence. The government and town halls used this forum to showcase their contribution to the development of the prosperity of the state, as also did the "capitalists", using advertising toward their own potential private profit under the guise of patriotic duty. Apart from the design of the exhibition stalls, the external architectural form of the exhibition buildings themselves played a great role in this process, making use of the repetition of older and newer images that were commonly recognized, as stated by Hans Sedlmayr. Amongst the various social groups, exploiting this event to generate their own propaganda, were feminist organizations that created a separate "Pavilion of Women's Labour" (designed by Anatolia Hryniewicka-Piotrowska). The appearance of gender discourse raised questions regarding the manner of its presentation. The analysis of the "extremely simple surfaces and masses", described in the preceding text, points out the analogies with other buildings designed for similar purposes. The image of the household - exploited in most of those architectures - confirms the stereotypical view of a woman's place in the social hierarchy and the perception of female architects' professional tasks at that time.