Polska in Between, an exhibition organized as part of the Istanbul Design Biennial’s 2nd edition, will be the main event presenting Polish design in Turkey and showing the results of Polish and Turkish designers’ cooperation. The entire Polish presentation at the biennial is curated by Magda Kochanowska, an independent consultant, lecturer and curator of numerous exhibition projects promoting design. Polska in Between is a wide presentation of Polish contemporary design including products, graphic design, services (design thinking), public space, food design, children’s design and conceptual actions. The exhibition consists of four parts, three of which present the outcome of workshops for Polish and Turkish designers.
Craft: Old for New
During the Polish-Turkish Meetings with Crafts, the participants had an opportunity to learn selected craft techniques based on materials popular in both countries, such as wood, glass and wool. Polish designers (Paweł Jasiewicz, Agnieszka Bar, Beza Project) met with Turkish craftsmen, and their Turkish counterparts (Sule Koc, Erdem Akan, Tamer Nakisci) met with Polish craftsmen in order to learn from the masters and look from a different perspective at the rich traditions of both countries, as well as to show the power of design that draws from these traditions. New objects were created as a result of those meetings and dozens of hours of joint work. These objects have a special value – a unique combination of diverse experiences, temperaments and cultures.
Word: Feast of Words
Carpet is an important element of Turkish (and Islamic) culture. It has several facets, one of which is the creation of specially composed collections of poems in the old days, beautifully ornamented and adorned with calligraphy. Such poetic carpets were therefore a feast for the mind and the eye. However, a feast is always associated with a richly laid table and beautiful porcelain. The idea was to combine all this together and subject it to a number of interpretative treatments, thus creating a homogeneous artistic installation.
On the basis of the rich tradition of the written word in both Poland and Turkey, as well as its ornamental properties, works were created out of porcelain. This will be the table's décor, the forms and ornamental motifs of which will mix together to create the installation of a multicultural table. The tableware will consist of decorated and properly positioned porcelain vessels made in the Ćmielów factory.
The calligraphers invited to the project (Barbara Bodziony, Ewa Landowska and Radosław Nowakowski) – under the supervision of Marek Cecuła and in cooperation with Dagmara Rogers and Edyta Cieloch – created a concept of integrated graphic material, which, adjusted for use as ceramic decoration, will constitute a joint visual statement on the background of the separate traditions.
The carpet will be the main, central part of the Word Feast installation. The second part will be a vertical arrangement of plates hanging on the wall, referring to the form of an old map of Europe, and containing traces of the old trails connecting Poland and Turkey, traversed by emissaries, merchants, pilgrims, adventurers, scholars and artists. The third part of the installation is a chronicle of the project in the form of a unique artistic book registering the process of the installation’s formation and which is in fact another “journey to the East”.
The project was carried out in cooperation with the Ćmielów Porcelain Factory.
Food: Cook for Book
The aim of all the culinary workshops – led by Polish and Turkish chefs from Lokanta Maya, Gastronomika Project, Neolokal and Concordia Taste, among others – was to exchange experiences and knowledge of the flavours typical of Polish and Turkish cuisine. The meetings and cooperation resulted in the development of recipes combining the flavours of both cultures. All of them will be collected in a special cookbook which is to be published in November at the Istanbul Design Festival.
The Connecting exhibition
The Connecting exhibition, curated by Czesława Frejlich and Magda Kochanowska, is the fourth part of the Polish presentation at the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial.
The exhibition of contemporary Polish design is to present different fields of manufacture, such as furniture, ceramics, fabrics, and typography. It will feature both mass-produced objects and ones made in limited numbers, as well as experiments which result from applying strategies such as critical or participatory design. The authors of the objects collected at the exhibition represent both the younger and older generations. So what links all the elements of this puzzle together? The key word for this exhibition is “connecting”. All the objects are focused around that idea, which is understood as connecting cultures, people, materials, technologies or styles.
We can see works by Helena Czernek, Agata Kulik-Pomorska, Paweł Pomorski (Studio Malafor) and Karina Marusińska – all of them showing diversity of Polish design (furniture, ceramics, materials and typography). The event will take place at Antrepo 7.
POLSKA IN BETWEEN
Part of the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial parallel event program
Main Curator: Magda Kochanowska
Exhibition Design: Małgorzata Pieniak, Jakub Marzoch
Graphic Design: Emilia Pyza / Poziomka Studio
CONNECTING
Exhibition
Curator: Czesława Frejlich
Co-curator: Magda Kochanowska
WORD: FEAST OF WORDS
Project leader: Marek Cecuła / Modus Design
Coordination: Dagmara Rogers, Edyta Cieloch
Participants: Barbara Bodziorny, Ewa Landowska, Radosław Nowakowski
FOOD: COOK FOR BOOK
Project leader: Ewa Voelkel Krokowicz / Concordia Design
Coordination: Justyna Lach, Leszek, Józefowski
Participants: Maksut Aşkar, Semi Hakim, Didem Şenol, Tomasz Trąbski
CRAFT: OLD FOR NEW
Project leader: Ewa Gołębiowska / Cieszyn Castle
Coordination: Ania Kaleta, Tomasz Majorek
Participants: Agnieszka Bar, Mehmet Kömürcü / Cam Ocaği (Glass Furnace), Erdem
Akan, The Julia Crystal
Glass Factory, Zofia Strumiłło-Sukiennik, Anna Łoskieiwcz-Zakrzewska,
DOBAG, Tamer Nakışçı, Skoczów Hat Factory Polkap, Paweł Jasiewicz, Mehmet
Emin Yildiz ve İbrahim Yildiz / Hamle Kündekari, Şule Koç, Szymon Sławiec
Consultant on the Project: Zuzanna Skalska
Partners of the Polish presentation at the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennale:
Concordia Design
Modus Design
Zamek Cieszyn
IKSV
POLSKA IN BETWEEN. The Polish Design Presentation is part of the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial parallel event program. The project is organized as part of the cultural programme marking the 600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations.
Edited: szm. 22/10/2014