Beginnings of "Kultura"
The first issues of “Kultura”, the first articles, obtaining funds for the activity ‑ in the memories of the team members. Beginnings in Rome and the first seat of the Literary Institute in Maisons-Laffitte near Paris ‑ in a house on avenue Corneille. The ruined and cluttered house, which had served as a warehouse, was cleaned by everyone together ‑ after a long time, they discovered… a kitchen in it. The photos included in this collection show the effect of time-consuming and laborious cleaning. The authors of the photos also immortalized The Editor among the garden beds ‑ looking after the vegetable garden was also the responsibility of the team members.
“On Corneille” Institute functioned for seven years. It was, as Jerzy Giedroyc puts it, “neither a kibbutz nor a convent”. The aforementioned group of people constituted a well-coordinated team. According to The Editor, they were connected by their common experience in the II Corps. “The army brings people together”, he adds. “We were leaving the army, we didn’t expect to join high society”, adds Józef Czapski in another recording.
