Zbigniew Frączkiewicz, sculptures from the "Iron Men" series, courtesy of Kunst- und Filmbiennale Worpswede 2013
The Polish showcase at the ambitious Festival of Art and Film in Worpswede's first edition rediscovers the artists' colony of Szklarska Poręba (Schreiberhau) in southern Poland. The vibrant history ranges from the cultural activities of brothers Carl and Gerhart Hauptmann's cultural activities to the sculptures of Zbigniew Frączkiewicz
The Biennale presents major achievements in art from the late 19th century to today, with focus this year on European cultural evolution between 1890 and 1918. During this period, the concept of the artists' colony began to crop up across Europe, including territories that would later become part of Poland. Artists settled in areas of natural beauty, inspired by the landscape to create works of art, theatre, literature and music.
The idea that great art could only come about in man's natural environment was the foundation of their practice. Colonies grew from a house to a cluster of houses, then into whole communities and towns - as with the picturesque town of Szklarska Poręba or with Worpswede itself, home to a lively artistic community of over 130 artists and craftsmen since the end of the 19th century.
First Stirrings
The town's cultural development was spurred in great measure by the settlement of Carl and Gerhart Hauptmann in 1891. The reputation of poet Gerhart Hauptmann, who received the Nobel Prize in 1912, soon attracted artists from Prussia and its capital, Berlin - at that time, Polish lands including the town's region were in a country without a state. The Hauptmann property and the house built in 1900 by Gerhart in Agnetendorf, the Wiesenstein House, became legendary venues of spiritual and artistic life. They were linked with Otto and Carla Modersohn, painters who were well known in Worpswede. The area attracted Neo-Romantic painters including Carl Ernst Morgenstern and Adolf Dressler, writer William Bölsche, composer Anna Teichmüller, poet John Henry Mackay and sociologist Werner Sombart, as well as Hermann Hendrich, who created famous paintings in the mythical-legends hall of Schreiberhau.
The St. Luke artists' group was founded in 1922, bringing together over a dozen painters and sculptors. Graduates of academies in Breslau, Berlin and Dresden were part of the community, working on a style that stretched between Romanticism, Art Nouveau and Expressionism. Today the Nowy Młyn (New Mill) artists 'association carries on the tradition of St. Luke's.
The 1950s proved challenging for artists in residence, and cultural activities were discontinued. Artists from the Warsaw Institute of Industrial Design came in search of inspiration by the end of the decade, including Henryk Tomaszewski, creator of unique Polish glass works, Regina and Aleksander Puchała and Jan Owsiewski, graduates of the Faculty of Ceramics and Glass of the Wroclaw State University School of Fine Arts, glasswork designers Henryk Michał Wilkowski and Diament. A full revival came about in the late 1980s, with new life injected into the scene by sculptor Zbigniew Frączkiewicz, creator of the monumental Iron Men, the artist couple Beata and Janusz Konecki, graphic artist Krzysztof Figielski and the actor and mime Henryk Tomaszewski, known as the "next Jerzy Grotowski".
Close relations
The Polish thematic exhibition began with an idea for cooperation between Szklarska Poręba and Worpswede in early 2012. Titled Zwischen den Pol(EN) / Between the Poles, the showcase screens Polish films about the art scene between 1890 and 1918, along with a presentation about Polish artists' colonies of the past century - Zakopane, Bronowice, Kazimierz Dolny. Contemporary elements include Zbigniew Frąckiewicz's monumental sculptures and paintings by Beata Kórnicka-Konecka and Teresa Kępowicz.
The Biennale in Worpswede takes place between the 24th-28th of April 2013. For more information, see: www.biennale-worpswede.de
Author: Dariusz Bochenek, with translation and editing by Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: press information
23.04.2013