Loons and Quines o’ Seaton and Old Aberdeen: New outdoor exhibition to celebrate Polish life in the north-east

The event will run until the end of June at the Cruickshank Botanic Garden.

By Denny Andonova

April 12 2023, 10:57 am

Loons and Quines o' Seaton and Old Aberdeen will celebrate the contribution of the Polish community to life in the city. Image: Aberdeen University/Supplied.

A new outdoor exhibition will share the stories of the Polish “Loons and Quines” who have made Aberdeen their home over the decades.

Aberdeen University has teamed up with Polish Association Aberdeen to celebrate diversity and highlight the community’s contribution to the Granite City.

Titled Loons and Quines o’ Seaton and Old Aberdeen, the exhibition will present Polish life in the north-east through photographs by graduate Dorota Puszkiewicz.

It is the last event of a six-part Polish-Scottish mini festival, which took place earlier this year to promote the strong links between the two communities.

Get to know the Polish community in Aberdeen

Marta Surowiec, who moved to Scotland after graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland, came up with the idea to show how special the city is to Poles.

She said: “The exhibition represents Polish society in Aberdeen and is focused on developing the image of Poles and on promoting their integration in the community.

“We use the outdoor exposition and the personal narratives to share the stories of how we’ve built connections with this city we now call home.

“To this end, each of the project’s participants chose a location that is special to them and explained why they felt a bond with this particular place.

“We’ve created our own map of Loons and Quines o’ Old Aberdeen and Seaton giving you the opportunity to get to know us better.”

Aberdeen University’s Cruickshank Botanic Garden will host the festival. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

The exhibition will take place at the Cruickshank Botanic Gardens from April 16 until the end of June.

Polish Association Aberdeen: ‘A festival that celebrates Aberdeen as our city’

Professor George Boyne, principal and vice-chancellor of Aberdeen University, was delighted to host the festival at the gardens as a place of “continual growth and change”.

Mateusz Łagoda, president of the Polish Association Aberdeen, added: “We want to bring out a festival that celebrates Aberdeen as our city of choice so that our friends, neighbours and work colleagues can understand a different culture.

“Many Poles have made Aberdeen their homes, we feel proud of our contribution to our granite city and proud of our identity.”