Leszek A. Moczulski, 1937

This poet and lyricist wrote key lyrics for Polish Rock bands of the 1960’s and 70’s.  His poems formed the lyrics for “Exodus,” a play that was representative of the 1968 Generation in Poland.  “Exodus” was a production of the STU Theatre of Krakow, by then the most political and influential theatrical ensemble of Polish counter-culture (1974).  (Jan Sawka’s poster for this play is a part of design history).
Similarly to the book collaboration with Helmut Kajzar,  Jan Sawka used the motifs from his then-current “fine art” repertory. The book’s title is “Tools and Instruments” and contains some very dramatic and somber poetry by Moczulski. To create a sense of almost theatrical drama and continuum, the disassembled book forms an uninterrupted “fence.”  To add to the sense of despair present in many of the poems, Sawka decided to print the entire volume on the cheapest paper usually applied in packaging.

Troubles started from the outset of the project. First, the censors changed the original title of the book – the simple “Songs,” to “Tools and Instruments.” Moczulski’s songs were extremely popular with the young generation. The censors were attempting to downplay potential attention that the book could gain under the title “Songs.”  The book was ready for printing in 1975, by one of the most prestigious publishing houses, Wydawnictwo Literackie in Krakow. By then, Moczulski was already formally banned by the censors from publishing, so book was shelved.  Sawka was exiled soon after, so the book appeared to have been killed.  The International PEN Club learned about the situation, however, and Susan Sonntag and Kurt Vonnegut strongly protested.  The Polish regime budged (a little) in response to this bad press and, in 1977, “Tools and Instruments” was published in the astonishing number of 300 copies, none of which ever reached any bookstore.