Life /
The Polish national 'brand' [21]
Personally I believe Poland would do best to focus on its natural wealth and traditions to create a distinct national brand that would set it apart from others. This might include emphasising:
PRISTINE NATURE: Białowieża and bison, (back-bred) tarpans, wolves and bear roaming at liberty in their natural habitat would surely be a feather in the nation's cap. Other nature resources such as the Biebrza and Warta wetlands, the rugged Bieszczady Mts, etc. are also worth promoting. (The downside of this is that too much tourism brings in the cash but also tramples the natural habitat.)
FOLK CULURE: The folklore to some extent that has preserved itself in various Polish enclaves is an alternative to the ubiquitous industrially produced global popculture that surrounds us. Corpus Christi processions in £owicz and elsewhere, Palm Sunday contests in the £omża area, and the highlander lore of the Tatras are but a few examples.
TRADITIONAL FOOD: Traditional food -- breadstuff, sausages and cured meats, pickles, cheeses, cakes -- produced the time-honoured way using natural ingredients is a pleasant change from the pre-packaged, chemically treated fake food that abounds nowadays. (I am fully aware that Polish supermarkets are full of the gorący kubek type crap one finds everywhere these days, so this is just a suggestion as to the components that could go to create an attractive national brand.)
FAMILY AND RELGIOUS VALUES: Strong family and religious values would also be a welcome change to many. Warsaw, Kraków and Poznań could not outdrug and ourdebuach Berlin, Amsterdam and London even if they wanted to so why even try. At best they would be poor imitations.
CULTURE: The Land of the Winged Horseman exhibition (on Poland's Sarmatian Baroque period) that toured the US in the 1990s made a huge impression on those who viewed it, but such events are few and far between. Chopin Year activates are another positive example exploited at the Shanghai Expo and elsewhere. Due to today's prevalence of popular culture, a greater effort should be made to create and export music, videos, films and other art forms enjoying mass appeals that could easily catch on world-wide.
