Genesis stems from the Greek word meaning ‘origin’, ‘birth’, ‘creation’. The organisers of the festival explain: on the one hand Genesis is the biblical beginning of the world, tightly connected with the creation of the world, separating it from darkness and separating good from bad; but on the other hand, Genesis can also relate to the Age of Enlightenment and its combat between reason and spirituality, its attempt to separate truth from lies.
In the beginning
The curators of the main exhibition called In the Beginning are Delfina Piekarska and Monika Kozioł from the Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej MOCAK in Kraków. They interpret the festival slogan in the light of biblical, biological-evolutionary themes and those relating to the broad subject of the beginning of the world.
The exhibition includes works of many artists, representing various notions in modern and contemporary art – from those typical of Polish conceptual art of the 70s to contemporary painters. The curators point out that apart from traditional forms of art such as painting, drawing, photography, other forms of art are also presented, e.g. videos, installations, objects and performances.
The main exhibition of the festival features artists such as: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Basia Bańda, Boulion Group, Critical Art Ensemble, Marek Chlania, Oskar Dawicki, Andrzej Dłużniewski, Stanisław Dróżdż, Justyna Górowska, Adam Gruba, Ivan Grubanov, Katarzyna Kukuła, Oleg Kulik, Róża Litwa, Roman Opałka, Jacek Piotrowicz, Jerzy Rosołowicz, Robert Rumas, Andrzej Szewczyk, Mariusz Tarkawian, Witkacy, Jakub Julian Ziółkowski.
Gifnesis
The curator of the Gifnesis exhibition is Zbigniew Tomaszczuk. The term Genesis is interpreted in terms of ‘digital reality’ and Internet revolution.
The curator writes:
I displayed a photomontage at my individual exhibition called Paintings in Mała Galeria Związku Polskich Artystów Fotografików in 1999, using Albrecht Dürer’s engraving from 1504. I replaced the apple, which Eve had handed to Adam, with the Macintosh logo The message was clear and it expressed the notion of my exhibition, which was supposed to forecast a transformation in digitalisation of visual communication.
Tomaszczuk believes that human existence takes place on the boundary of the real world and the world of illusions, that it is a virtual environment created by mass media (the role of which is significant in shaping our outlook on life).
Apart from Tokarczuk’s works, we can also see other artists: Monika Skierś, Wojciech Sternak, Michał Mazur, Izabela Maciusowicz, Katarzyna Kwaśniewska, Katarzyna Ferworn Howay, Barbara Dębiec, Agata Budny-Ciszewska.
Ouroboros
Kamil Kuskowski is the curator of the Ouroboros exhibition; in this case Genesis is understood in the perverted way.Additionally, a socio-artistic campaign is going to be introduced during the festival. It was prepared by Joanna Rajkowska, Anna Bedyńska and Fundacja Las Sztuki. The main topic of their project is a child and maternity. For instance, the film Born in Berlin will be shown (Marta Rajkowska ‘guides’ her unborn child across historic places in Berlin and makes it familiar with the wounds of the past).
He explains:
In the title-symbol (depicting a serpent eating its own tail), the beginning becomes the end and the end becomes the beginning. The artists who were invited to take part in the exhibition tried to work on themes linked with existence and the passing of time – everything existing between life and death. In a certain way, this exhibition is also an attempt to answer the existential questions that befall many of us."
Ouroboros features artists such as: Piotr Bosacki, Natalia Janus, Szymon Kobularz, Agata Michowska, Bartłomiej Otocki, Joanna Szumacher, Aleksandra Ska, Andrzej Wasilewski and Monika Zawadzka.
I'm Sorry! I'm Creating Myself!
Additionally, a socio-artistic campaign is going to be introduced during the festival. It was prepared by Joanna Rajkowska, Anna Bedyńska and Fundacja Las Sztuki. The main topic of their project is a child and maternity. For instance, the film Born in Berlin will be shown (Marta Rajkowska ‘guides’ her unborn child across historic places in Berlin and makes it familiar with the wounds of the past).
It is a city which cannot handle its own history, a city which tries to seize a day at any price, basking in itself, enjoying an incomparable Berlin air and style – notices Rajkowska – Berlin doesn’t want to be naked, Berlin doesn’t want to show its wounds after years of war and doesn’t want to show post-war trauma, it doesn’t want to exhibit its sorrow side. Berlin wants to be a significant, cold, elegant and modern cultural capital."
The artists want to bond children with art by means of creative workshops and events in the city space, but also by means of meetings and exhibitions.
The history of inSPIRACJE festival began in 2005 – back then it was called Festiwal Fotografii Kreacyjnej. With the passage of time, it formed into an interdisciplinary event, gathering together contemporary artists from all around the world called Festiwal Sztuki Wizualnej. The character of each edition is conditioned by its main theme; it used to be Memory, Sacrum Profanum, Space, Glamour, Paradise, and Apocalypse previously.
Over 300 widely-acknowledged artists from Poland have participated in the festival so far (e.g. Zbigniew Rybczyński, Lech Majewski, Łódź Kaliska, Zbigniew Libera, Katarzyna Kozyra) and international artists such as: Peter Greenaway, Eva & Adele, Karim Rashin, David Cerny.
More information on the festival: www.inspiracje.art.pl
Translation: GS 26/07/2013