Exhibitions in Poland. Fall 2021

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View of MS1 - Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz. Photo by Rafał Tom, czyk_@4wymiar

In 1980s, the years of Solidarity revolution followed by the martial law period, Łódź and Gdańsk became the stage of the most meaningful manifestations of artistic underground and cultural opposition.

The history of artists' solidarity, however, have started much earlier, with the International Collection of Modern Art initiated in the Muzeum Sztuki by the avant-garde group “a.r.” at the turn of the 1920’s and 1930’s and created through generous gifts of the most important European artists of that time.

As for Gdańsk, the time of Solidarność in 1980s was a trigger for various forms of institutive practices. The spirit of artistic freedom was not only the forming force for both institutions, Łódź’s Muzeum Sztuki and Gdańsk’s NOMUS, but is also still present in the cities’ vivid alternative art scene.

ŁÓDŹ

Muzeum Sztuki Łódź

“The Avant-garde Museum”

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The Avant-garde Museum, Sala_neoplastyczna. Photo by Anna_Zagrodzka

This exhibition will present the museum conceived by avant-gardists as a space in which one can experiment with art and its reception, create a field for the exchange of ideas, stimulate critical reflection and explore different ways in which we see the world. It will allow us to see in the idea of such a museum a social initiative that can shape or design the future. It will raise the question of whether we can still draw on the potential of its utopian, avant-garde concept. The exhibition, starting from the historical gesture made by the artists, while talking about the past, will allow us to look into the future - both that concerning the museum institution itself, as well as the one concerning the whole society.

Show is curated by Agnieszka Pindera and Jarosław Suchan.

“Errorism. Agnieszka Kurant”

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Agnieszka Kurant, "A.A.I. (Sztuczna Sztuczna Inteligencja)”, 2015

Agnieszka Kurant’s art explores the invisible: the flows of virtual capital, immaterial labour, concealed forms of exploitation, and fictions impacting reality. The exhibition titled “Errorism” focuses on the simultaneously creative and destructive role of error in the face of present-day automation and algorithmisation. What will happen to creativity once artificial intelligence eliminates our mistakes and we stop erring? How will we acquire new knowledge or create culture? Kurant reflects on the ways in which societies evolve and asks questions about the relationship between individual and collective intelligence. Her work criticises contemporary capitalism, which exploits the labour of entire societies through a global factory, the product of which are digital footprints created through our behaviours and emotions.

Curated by Jakub Gawkowski.

[Located in ms1]

The Earth is Flat Again”

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Superstudio, Supersurface, 1972, 9'28'', kadr 2

The exhibition gathers the works of contemporary artists to reflect on the role of science and communication after the information age – how they are used, interpreted and understood. Flat Earth, considered here as a metaphor, a thought experiment, and a misconception about the by-gone past, is a point of departure to unpack the complexities of knowledge production in the present “age of judgment”, “new dark ages”, or the “age of disturbances”. Invited artists explore the ways in which information circulates, analyse the mythical and conspiracy thinking, as well as discuss and question the limits and construction of the seemingly objective science and progress. The exhibition includes works by artists such as: András Cséfalvay, Suzanne Treister, João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva, Mark Lombardi, Luiza Prado de O. Martins, and Michael Stevenson.

Curated by Jakub Gawkowski.

[Located in ms1]

Leopold Buczkowski: Glimpses of History, Fleeting Images”

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Leopold Buczkowski, “Untitled”, from the cycle: “Abstract paintings”, 1959 – 1971, collage, oil painting, collection of Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź.

The exhibition features the artistic output of Leopold Buczkowski (1905–1989), who is mostly known for his experimental prose. It embraces a selection of Buczkowski’s visual works – drawings and photographs, abstract paintings and figurative sculptures – arranged according to motifs and notions taken from his writings. Buczkowski’s artistic output is permeated with a reflection on history perceived as a domain of uncontrollable destructive forces clashing with each other; as a sequence of processes of unpredictable courses and outcomes. Buczkowski’s diverse body of work reflects the multicultural reality of Podolia in the 1930s – a land of his childhood and youth, inhabited by Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews, which was destroyed during the war.

Curated by Paweł Polit.

[Located in ms2]

Atlas of Modernity. The 20th and 21st Century Art Collection” – new edition

“Atlas of Modernity” is an exhibition that allows us to see the collection of the Muzeum Sztuki differently, but, more importantly, it is also a story of modernity and its meaning from a contemporary perspective constructed with the works included in the collection. It’s not a coincidence that modernity becomes the object of reflection in the Muzeum Sztuki. There is no other museum in Poland whose relationship with modern culture is equally strong.

Curatorial team: Jarosław Suchan, Maria Franecka, Jakub Gawkowski, Paulina Kurc-Maj, Daniel Muzyczuk, Paweł Polit, Joanna Sokołowska, Katarzyna Słoboda

[Located in ms2]

Centralne Muzeum Włókiennictwa

"Helena Bohle-Szacka. Penetration"

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"Helena Bohle-Szacka. Penetration", Centralne Muzeum Włókiennictwa

“Helena Bohle-Szacka. Penetration” is a multidisciplinary exhibition and research project, of which the starting point is the biography and work of an artist, fashion designer, graphic artist, philanthropist and curator associated with Białystok, Łódź, Warsaw and Berlin. Helena Bohle-Szacka (1928-2011) was a Pole with German-Jewish roots and, during the war, a prisoner of the concentration camps in Ravensbrück and Helmbrechts.

The “Penetration” exhibition will be built on the cornerstones of the archives concerning the life and work of Helena Bohle-Szacka, which are kept at the Sleńdziński Gallery in Białystok. The collections will be interpreted by artists, including: Zuzanna Golińska, whose installation will also be the stage set of the exhibition space, the Romani artist Krzysztof Gil, the creator of avant-garde music videos and fashion films Luke Jascza, the creator of objects and digital art Sebulec, the Belarusian activist and performer Jana Shostak and the fashion designer Kamil Wesołowski. Each and every one of them will base their work on the biography and work of Helena Bohlen-Szacka, which will become an excuse to talk about terror and freedom, as well as national identity, friendship, fashion, and memory.

The exhibition at the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź is being created in cooperation with the Sleńdziński Gallery in Białystok with the support of the Berlin-based Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft foundation.

artists: Krzysztof Gil, Luke Jascz, Zuzanna Golińska, Sebulec, Jana Shostak, Władysław Strzemiński, Kamil Wesołowski

Curated by Marcin Różyc.

GDAŃSK

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Widok wystawy. Photo by Maja Bieńkowska

CIMAM conference attendees will have an opportunity to enter NOMUS New Art Museum, a branch of National Museum in Gdansk, just a few days after its official opening. In the newly renovated industrial school building of NOMUS, the guest will attend the exhibition showcasing works from the collection. Along internationally acclaimed artists such as Hiwa K, Paulina Ołowska, Joanna Rajkowska, Zuzanna Janin or Julita Wójcik, exhibition includes also a very rare largely unknown content from the underground art scene in Gdansk in early 1990s. Titled “Collection in Action”, the exhibition is constructed around notions of performativity and artistic gesture, and puts them on the background of industrial labor, gender roles and the shifting concept of an artist.

The second show “May the Flames Pave the Way for You”, based on the curator’s long-term original research in Iraqi Kurdistan, is an introduction to NOMUS international program interest constructed around Eurasian geography. Exhibition containing of installations, drawings, video and animations works by artists from both Iraq and the diaspora, is a perspective on how the wars in the region affected everyday life in the country and reflects upon the vernacularity as a key to specificity of artistic forms.

Both shows are curated by NOMUS founding head Aneta Szyłak.

Artists spaces:

Portrait of the Province” by Jacenty Dędek is an exhibition held at Galeria Fotografii – the National Museum Photography Department in Gdansk. The collection of a black and white documentary photography cycle gives an insight into Poland’s everyday life in the countryside in 2011–2017. Having visited hundreds of villages and towns, the author documented the world somehow suspended in time, just before it ceased to exist in the unifying process of globalisation. The project reflects on the sense of belonging and happiness against the backdrop of the uncertain future of these communities.

Interested participants can also visit other institutions dedicated to contemporary life in the city (CAA Laznia, Gdansk City Gallery) as well as artists spaces such as Kolektyw Pogoda or WL4 in the proximity of the shipyard.

WARSAW

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A post-conference tour has been organized to Warsaw by Zachęta and the National Gallery of Art (7-9 November). The two-day optional program will include visits to:

Centre for Contemporary Art CSW (Political Art exhibition).

POLIN (Wilhelm Sasnal exhibition: “Such a Landscape” + permanent exhibition).

Museum of Warsaw (exhibition of Sayam Ghosh's works in cooperation with Sputnik Photos).

Private galleries.

Starak Family Foundation | Spectra Art Space.