Romek Marber at the Minories

This was written at Orna Frommer-Dawson request for inclusion in the website she was designing for Romek in 2020.

John Ellis, a dear colleague in the graphic design department at the Colchester Institute had persuaded Abram Games to come and give a lecture on his work. We had a packed lecture hall and Abram’s talk was a huge success. At lunchtime, we walked to a local pub. It wasn’t until we were sitting down that I realised that John, Abram and myself had been joined by someone else. He was, apparently, a friend of Abram’s, short but strongly built. He seemed shy and unwilling to get involved in the conversation. Not a designer I assumed!

I asked Abram if he would come back and do another lecture the following year and he agreed. Twelve months later we were once again, having lunch together and the same quiet chap was with us. This time I made of point of asking his name and he said, Romek Marber. He spoke softly, and rather hesitantly, so I asked him to repeat it. Hearing his name was a shock. I was leaning quite close to catch what he said and must of shot backwards to take in the figure sitting in front of me – and who suddenly now seemed much larger. I could hardly believe it and now it was my turn to appear reluctant to speak. As a student (many years previous) I had bought Romek’s green and black Penguin book covers from second-hand bookshops, not to read but as a permanent reference to exquisite design. Now it was Romek who had to get the conversation started. 

At this point I have to explain that Colchester School of Art (under Alan Smith’s brilliant leadership) had recently arranged to take over the running of the Minories Gallery; a beautiful Grade II-listed building in the centre of the town and, for an all too brief period (about five years) we had an exceptional programme of fantastic exhibitions including ‘Graphic Art and the Art of the Illustrator’; ‘Underground Maps Unravelled’; ‘Book Arts’; and an Abram Games retrospective as well as exhibitions by painters, sculptors, photographers, as well as the work of our own MA students whose studios were above the gallery. 

I knew that Romek had been unwilling to go back to Poland since he had had to flee for his life during the Second World War. But I had recently worked at art colleges in Wadowice and Kraków to give lectures and workshops and whenever I mentioned Romek’s name everyone knew of his work in the UK and considered him a cultural hero for Poland. I wondered if Romek was aware of this. 

He came to give a talk at our college, and once more the hall was packed to the rafters but he gave a wonderful performance, full of grace and charm but also with a sense of steely determination. Afterwards, I told him about the positive reaction I had received when mentioning his name in Poland to which he gave  a quizzical look. I then asked him if there was a chance for us to mount an exhibition of his work at the Minories, and his face lit up. We arranged to meet at his cottage and I  that was the first time we really had the chance to talk about graphic design and typography. I mentioned that, if he was willing, the Minories exhibition could possibly transfer to Poland but Romek appeared sceptical. 

It was great fun talking to Romek and we met many times after that, usually in Colchester. (I remember meeting him several years later at the brand-new Firstsite Gallery in Colchester. He told me he had just put his car in for a service and then walked the two miles, mostly up-hill, to meet me. This was his way of celebrating his 90th birthday!) Dates for the exhibition were set, and, perhaps best of all, everything was going to be organised; mounting, framing, captioning, even the design of the catalogue, was all going to be done by his partner Orna Frommer-Dawson (He knew that I knew Orna – a highly respected and rather dashing exhibition designer – and he could not resist giving me a mischievous smile on mentioning her name.) 

I wrote to my friends in Poland to ask if there was the possibility of our exhibition travelling to Krakov or Warsaw and their response was that they would do everything they could to make it happen. Before those plans could be finalised Bruce Brown offered to take the exhibition to the School of Art, Brighton University, straight from the Minories. Orna did a magnificent job, and the Minories private view was perfect, lots of famous faces, several speeches and lots of plaudits, and a poignant speech by Romek in which finally, he said, how much he had always wanted to have an exhibition in the iconic Minories Gallery.

 Bruce did a great job at Brighton for Romek and I think he helped to oil wheels in getting the exhibition transferred to Poland. I couldn’t be there and I know Romek had feelings of trepidation, but was thrilled and clearly touched by the enthusiastic welcome he received. So was I when he told me.