Zbigniew Bajek, "Wszystkie nasze dzienne sprawy", 1987, Kraków, courtesy of Dominican convent, photo: press materials
Generation '80 is an exhibition in the Main Building of the National Museum in Kraków devoted to the underground movement of 1980-1989, known as 'the second circulation', and displaying works by artists who made their debut within the Independent Culture milieu
The exhibition is organised to coincide with the 30th anniversary of two organisations: the Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity and the Independent Students' Union, both of which were founded in 1980. The Independent Cultural Movement was without precedent in Polish history. Its alternative circulation, like a samizdat for the arts, provided a framework within which visual art, literature, music and theatre works were created by artists who manifestly cut themselves off from the official cultural policy of the state and the organisations implementing it. The art presented in the Generation '80 exhibition depicts the process of evolution toward freedom, a process which most frequently began with rebellion, refusal and protest against the reality of Martial Law.
Even though myriad fascinating artistic phenomena emerged during the 1980s, studies to date have tended to focus more on narrow criteria, such as, for example, individual artistic disciplines or a specific group. The purpose of the Generation '80 exhibition is to set forth the multi-threaded and multi-coloured panorama of Independent Culture in its entirety.
The core of the exhibition consists of well nigh two hundred works: paintings, sculptures, posters, graphics and photographs by several dozen artists who were constant participants in the underground, the 'second circulation'. Works by renowned artistic and counter-cultural groups such as
Luxus, Gruppa,
Koło Klipsa or Pomarańczowa Alternatywa (Orange Alternative), will be on display, as will be paintings by Grzegorz Bednarski and Jacek Sroka, posters by Piotr Młodożeniec, and sculptures
Mirosław Bałka and
Grzegorz Klaman.
Alongside the visual works, the nucleus of which is drawn from the National Museum in Krakow collection, the Generation '80 exhibition also presents literary, musical and theatrical works, as well as alternative activities. Films and sound recordings of theatrical productions and street happenings are reproduced, as are recitations and concerts given not only by the 'bards of Solidarity', but also by performers at the Jarocin festivals. In addition, the exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to listen to poetry at a reconstructed gathering of the Na Głos (Out Loud) artists, as well as trying their hand at producing a poster using the screen-printing technique or a stencil and creating a leaflet with a spirit duplicator.
The exhibition is complemented by a comprehensive catalogue, which not only presents the artistic works on display but, at one and the same time, offers a scholarly overview of Independent Culture in its entirety.
Curator: Tadeusz Boruta
Patrons: The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Chair of Krakow City Council.
Opening: November 30, 2010, at 18:00.
Exhibition runs through January 16, 2011.
National Museum in Kraków
al. 3 Maja 1, 30-062 Kraków
director: mgr Zofia Gołubiew
tel. (+48 12) 295 56 00, 295 55 00
fax (+48 12) 295 55 55
www.muzeum.krakow.pl
Source:
www.muzeum.krakow.pl