A Coffee with Photography Graduate Mada Pucilowska - November 2018

Homosexuality isn’t illegal in Poland, Mada Alicja Pucilowska’s birthplace, but persecution from society and the government itself towards the LGBT community isn’t either. The President marching with nationalists and fascists groups in order to ‘’Bring Back White Poland’’, the Prime Minister preferring the term ‘’things like that’’ than ‘’homosexuals’’, members of government refusing any kind of LGBT education to be included in schools to avoid children being taught about ‘’abominations and sodomy’’, are all examples of the climate LGBT people are facing all around Poland in 2018.

‘’There is a big silent acceptance for hate crimes, it’s really hard to fight. It happens anywhere, in schools, on the street, at work…’’ she sighs. The interview is heavy, as the visual activist carries the weight of Polish LGBT awareness in England, a country where Polish immigrants have exceeded Indian born Brits by 10,000 in 2016. ‘’Yet people still don’t know what’s happening back home, that’s why I wanted to show my work here, so people can understand why we move out. I’m not saying everyone moves out because they're gay, but I know that plenty of people who definitely had those issues considered moving to the UK.’’

London is indeed a safe place for Mada, 24, who cherishes Hammersmith and its local charm. ‘’There are even people walking their dogs there!’’ Having graduated from LCC, the Elephant and Castle University was the perfect place to show her work and meet on a rainy day in the packed Typo Café. Mada is an easy person to talk to, she has things to say and she knows how to communicate them, especially through her art. ‘’I'm not the best speaker, writer or politician so that’s the only way I know how to address this issue and it comes from my heart. This approach is very violent, she admits at the sight of a priest performing oral sex on another, with a burning rainbow in the background. It was motivated by anger but it’s going now, now I have time to think about it more and I will do something more subtle next time.’’

Mada rushes back to her schedule in the pouring rain, it’s her show week after all and half an hour was already more than I could have asked for. But remember her name, because her next piece might be what changes your perception on a burning topic forgotten by mainstream media.