The exhibition was first shown over February and March in Gdańsk, presenting the work of five renowned Polish photographers who enter this distant world. Through the language of contemporary photography, it presents a multi-faceted society - set against the backdrop of a breathtaking landscape, charming traditions and inevitable industrial progress. Each photograph is accompanied by the prose of five writers from the island.
"The work on the project began in autumn 2009," says the coordinator of IS (not) project Marzena Michałek, going on to explain the background behind the project:
We wanted to combine our vision of foreigners coming to Iceland with the perspective of someone who has lived there all his or her life. We also decided to combine two types of media - image and word, so we invited Icelandic writers. Each of the five Polish photographers traveled for a month with one of the Icelandic authors. The essays which resulted from their experiences deal with the popular Icelandic cliches, like the belief in elves, beautiful landscapes, water, pastoral life and tourism. Photos and text co-exist by complementing each other rather than illustrating one another.
For the photographer Adam Pańczuk and writer Sindri Freysson the starting point for their travel were the pagan traditions of the island - the myths, legends and stories passed on through generations and still strongly present in the lives of Icelanders.
In the case of Michał Łuczak and Hermann Stefánsson the road to understanding Iceland took them from mythical logic of the supernatural world to the often ruthless laws of nature. The photos of Jan Brykczyński show a vision of a family life, in which the animal is equally important as a man. The life cycle captured in these images was then described by writer Kristín Heida Kristinsdóttir.
After exhibitions in Gdańsk and Bielsko-Biała, IS (not) - Icelandic Tales will travel to Kraków for the Month of Photography Festival (May 2011), and Warsaw where it will be on view at Skwer - Artistic Centre from June 20 through July 10, 2011.
For more information on the project and the participating artists, see: IS(not) - Tales of Iceland
Curator: Andrzej Kramarz
Opening of the exhibition: April 8, 2011, at 18:00.
The exhibition runs through May 11, 2011.
B&B Photography Gallery
ul. 1 Maja 12
Bielsko-Biała
Source: press release, www.muzykaislandzka.pl