Małgorzata Gołębiewska – Patron of Krakow Culture
Małgorzata Gołębiewska, Artistic Director of the ArtBoom Festival, has been presented by the Mayor of Krakow Jacek Majchrowski the Patron of Krakow Culture 2010 award. "I'm enormously pleased to be receiving the award in the Sponsor category for the most interesting form and effectiveness of the patronage," said the winner.Views of power - after Krakow it is time for Warsaw
“Konrad Pustoła photographed views of people holding political, economic or symbolic power - from the president Komorowski and cardinal Nycz to the singer Doda. The photographs have now been mounted on Warsaw’s billboards,” said Gazeta.pl. The Views of power project was for the first time displayed at the June ArtBoom Festival in Krakow.
Literary mural in Krakow
An unusual, gigantic bookshelf has appeared on the facade of the building at ul. Traugutta 3a, in the viscinity of Pl. Bohaterów Getta. The literary mural crowns four days of work by the participants of the Literary Graffiti // TYPOMURAL workshop, run as part of the Free Reading Zone campaign, which has the Krakow Festival Office as its partner. The mural will be officially unveiled at 11 am on Monday, the 28th of November. The project will be presented by Aleksandra Toborowicz and Artur Wabik, artistic supervisors of the mural.
Katarzyna Kozyra’s exhibition at the National Museum in Krakow
After almost two decades since her debut, Katarzyna Kozyra - one of the most interesting and most famous of Polish artists in recent years - will have a solo exhibition at the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow. This will include such works as Łaźnia i Łaźnia męska, Więzy krwi, Święto Wiosny, Casting and some of the films from the series entitled W sztuce marzenia stają się rzeczywistością. The exhibition will run until the 15th of January 2012.Stasiuk, Bałka and Gretkowska among the most influential Poles according to Wprost
The latest issue of Wprost features a ranking of the 100 most influential Poles. The circle of those with the greatest impact on our life includes Andrzej Stasiuk, Mirosław Bałka and Manuela Gretkowska.
They rule art
ArtReview, an opinion-forming British art magazine, has published its Power 2011 poll presenting the 100 most influential artists in the world. This prestigious group includes writers, philosophers, actors and… Miuccia Prada, the famous fashion designer. There are also two Poles in the ranking: Adam Szymczyk (49th) and Artur Żmijewski (54th).
Artists’ tribute to literature
Closing of the Orange Alternative exhibition
We invite you to come the International Cultural Centre in Kraków and listen to the Alternative? debate that will take place tomorrow (Thursday the 29th of September), at 17:00, which will be closing the Happening Against Communism by the Orange Alternative exhibition. The leader of the Orange Alternative, Waldemar Major Fydrych, will participate in the debate, as well as scholars in the fields of culture and art – Waldemar Baraniewski, Małgorzata Różewicz and Andrzej Szczerski – and the urban artist Sławek ZBK Czajkowski. The meeting will be hosted by Justyna Nowicka, a journalist from Radio Kraków.
Banksy's murals taken out of Bethlehem
A few days ago, news turned around the world that a Bethlehem gallery took down two murals by Banksy, the famous street-art artist, and brought them to New York. The gallery is justifying its action with the necessity to protect works of art against destruction, while experts on the art market talk about theft and stripping the pieces of their original meaning.The main reason for the argument between the gallery and Banksy’s fans are two murals: Stop and Search and Wet Dog, created by the artist in Bethlehem in 2007 in the vicinity of the wall separating Israel from the territory of Palestinian Autonomy.
Zevs’ exhibition in Honk Kong
Tomorrow (the 2nd of September), Honk Kong’s Art Statements gallery opens an exhibition, Renaissance, by Zevs – a French street art artist. Zevs was a guest of the first edition of the ArtBoom Festival, where he presented one of his installations, Original copy – LDV: Lady with an Ermine and a Handbag.
Bibliotekarze w Ziemi Ognistej by Joanna Rajkowska
Anyone who visits the Olsztyn-based BWA gallery over the summer will be able to see the Bibliotekarze w Ziemi Ognistej (Librarians in Tierra del Fuego) exhibition by Joanna Rajkowska, which is an account of the artist’s experiences during her fellowship at Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting in the US in 1997. The exhibition will be open until September 4th, 2011.
It is worth remembering that Joanna Rajkowska participated in the first edition of the ArtBoom festival with her sculpture entitled Wodnik (The Aquarius).
Kuśmirowski, Dziadkiewicz and Surowiec in Solidarność Camp
Robert Kuśmirowski, Roman Dziadkiewicz and Łukasz Surowiec will take part in the Solidarność Camp project prepared by Nowy Teatr in Warsaw and the Wyspa Art Institute/Wyspa Progress Foundation in Gdańsk. It is worth remembering that Kuśmirowski, Dziadkiewicz and Surowiec have all been guests of the ArtBoom Festival.
Jenny declares war - Jenny Holzer in Wysokie Obcasy
“The best place for displaying art is where nobody expects it. I want people to know that whoever directs a message to them, whether ad man or artist, they need to look out for the content,” says Jenny Holzer in the latest issue of Wysokie Obcasy, the Saturday insert to Gazeta Wyborcza.Read the full text.
Obieg on the RUMB project
Regardless of utopian ideas or future fates of the project, RUMB can be thought of as a return to the original ideas of the non-governmental organisations – the development of a platform for a debate on evaluating contemporary culture and art. It has a chance to become a microlab driving independent grass-roots initiatives. After a positive reception during the ArtBoom, it is time for a test in yet another realm – you can read the full text on the RUMB project posted on www.obieg.pl.
Krakow ART Session 2011
Art Session is the idea of an original man. His name is just like his surname – Krzysztof Krzysztof, but that's not all, of course. When he erected a statue of Zarathustra in the middle of a street, the artist sparked a debate about artistic freedom within the urban space. The sculpture was put up purposefully, without any permits, illegally. The Krakow Board of Municipal Infrastructure and Transport had two options. It could either consider the act of placing the statue as illegal occupation of the road lane, or establish a dialogue with the artist to see what the reasons were behind his action.The collection of the National Museum in Krakow at the Ministry of Culture
The National Museum in Krakow presents its outstanding collection of contemporary art in Warsaw, in the seat of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The exhibition entitled Polish Contemporary Art from the Collection of the National Museum in Krakow will be open until June 2012. It includes works by such artists as: Rafał Bujnowski, Marcin Maciejowski and Janek Simon – artists whose works were on display during previous editions of the ArtBoom Festival.
Poznan’s show of Jenny Holzer's works
Until the end of August, Poznan's gallery Art Stations Foundation will exhibit works by Jenny Holzer – one of the greatest American artists today. The artist visited Krakow on the occasion of this year's ArtBoom Festival. She presented an installation For Krakow as part of the Milosz Liberated - Czesław Miłosz Year celebration in Kraków project.The Journey to the East exhibition part of the Polish EU Presidency
Today at 5 pm, Białystok's Arsenal Gallery will open the exhibition The Journey to the East (Podróż na Wschód), organised as part of the Cultural Programme of the Polish EU Presidency 2011. The exhibition includes works by several dozen artists from the Eastern Partnership countries, including Sergey Shabohin, who was in Krakow during last year's edition of the ArtBoom Festival.
Polish touches at the New York Ostalgia exhibition
New York’s The New Museum is now showcasing Ostalgia – America’s first presentation of art from the former Soviet block countries on such a big scale. The exhibition brings together works by fifty artists from over twenty Eastern European countries, including pieces by Poles such as Mirosław Bałka, Aneta Grzeszykowska and Edward Krasiński. The collection can be seen until September 25th, curated by the artistic director of The New Museum in New York, Massimiliano Gioni.
Modern and contemporary art from Poland in Brussels
The BOZAR Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels will soon feature the most important Polish contemporary works of art. The exhibition, titled The Power of Fantasy. Modern and contemporary art from Poland, includes almost 200 works by 35 Polish artists, such as Paweł Althamer, Mirosław Bałka and Marcin Maciejowski. It opens on September 18th.
Chopin in the City in the Golden Formats Finale
Chopin in the City - a series of art events held in Krakow as part of the celebrations of the Year of Chopin - is among the five events short-listed for the finale of the Złote Formaty (Golden Formats) competition. It will compete against projects submitted by Gdańsk, Lublin, Łódź and the Marshal's Office of the Warmia-Masuria Region. Winners of this year's edition will be announced during the City and Region Promotion Festival (September 20th-21st).
The Festival claims back the city
“ArtBoom has finally made a turn in the right direction – it has stepped out into the city. Artists and curators have really demonstrated great sensitivity towards Krakow and its problems,” writes Łukasz Gazur in today’s Dziennik Polski daily.
The Views of Power on billboards around the city
What is the view enjoyed most of the day by Wisława Szymborska? What is it Mayor Majchrowski sees outside his window? What views inspire the sermons by Cardinal Dziwisz? Today, billboards with photos presenting the views out of the windows of the people with power were displayed across Krakow. The WUR: Views of Power Krakow project was part of the 3rd ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival.The Incarnation project to kick off this weekend!
You can take part in the game everyday from Saturday, June 18th until the end of the festival (Friday, June 24th) between 11.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. To apply send an e-mail to: wcielenie@artboomfestival.pl.
The Incarnation is a narration-based city game, whose plot is encoded in the physical space of Krakow’s Kazimierz.
A trip following examples of street art in Krakow
As part of this year’s ArtBoom Festival, we would like to invite you to tour the most interesting street art projects to be seen in Krakow.We will travel around the city in a slightly old-school city bus. We will visit well and less-known pieces, guided by Artur Wabik, who will tell you something about each project, and walk you through the history and the potential of Krakow’s street art.
We will set out at noon on the 19th of June from the Siataniści mural by Grupa Twożywo (ul. Barska 63) and end up in the Fabryka club (ul. Zabłocie 23), after a two hour-long trip.
The bus can accommodate around 50 people; please apply by e-mail: krkstreetart@artboomfestival.pl.
4Ps – The Jury Is Out!
The Jury of the 4Ps PENMAN|POETRY|PROSE|PUBLIC SPACE competition went into session at noon. The results will be announced on July 15th.
The Jury is comprised of: Magdalena Sroka, Anna Smolak, Izabela Kaluta, Łukasz Skąpski, Magdalena Ujma.
Viewings of the Szkieletor and Błękitek project by Florian Dombois
We would like to invite you to four viewings of the Szkieletor and Błękitek project by Florian Dombois:- 16-19/06/2011 at 9.00 p.m. and 10.00 p.m. inside the Szkieletor building,
- Apply in the Festival Centre - Wyspiański Pavilion,
- The number of places is limited – 25 people per show, first-come-first-served,
- You need to have your ID with you, as well as a completed safety declaration.
Check out Jenny Holzer's project For Krakow.
Check out Jenny Holzer's project For Krakow.
Text: Pory roku by Czesław Miłosz. Used/reprinted with permission of the publisher.
© 2011 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Tomasz Wiech
Krakow’s First Street Art Auction
The auction is not really an auction but a unique city game, letting you become the owner of very real works of art by very real Polish street artists, without spending a penny. As it turns out, we have the art and you love it, so especially for you we are prepared to break the rules of the art market and pop the art world’s balloons. Fancy coming along?From June the 12th 2011 in the morning, in the area highlighted on the map and in its surroundings, you can look for colourful magnets fastened to metal surfaces. Collect them - it’s the currency in our game!
Download a map.
Official T-shirt of the 3rd ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival
The official T-shirt of the 3rd edition of the ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival featuring the (R)ewolucja: Naród chce ((R)evolution: The nation wants) piece created especially for the festival by Marcin Maciejowski – one of the most renowned Polish artists of his generation – is already available for sale. You can get it at selected Tourist Information Network InfoKraków points, as well as from the Allegro profile of the Krakow Festival Office. T-shirts cost PLN 30.
Rehearsal of the For Krakow installation
The opening night of the For Krakow installation by Jenny Holzer will begin today at 9.00 pm, after yesterday’s official rehearsal.
Everybody’s space and search for treasure
We would like to invite teenagers (13-18 age) to participate in a project entitled: Everybody’s space – nobody’s space. A manifesto of civic liberty, under the watchful eye of Łukasz Surowiec.If you would like to participate in the project, send your application to: przestrzen@artboomfestival.pl – the number of places is limited.
A group of little daredevils (5-12 age) will be taken by Cecylia Malik on a quest in search of hidden treasure on Salwator hill. Send your application to: szukanieskarbu@artboomfestival.pl
Places are booked on a first-come-first-served basis, in the application, please state the name and age of the child.
Jenny Holzer in Wawel Castle only
After a test run carried out yesterday, Jenny Holzer decided not to screen her work on the facade of the National Museum – the second location where poems by Czesław Miłosz were going to be displayed.According to the artist, the heavy traffic, the large amount of light sources around and the structure of the Museum’s facade interfere with the clarity of the project and therefore limit the effect of the installation.
The installation, scheduled for June 21st-24th will be moved to Wawel Castle. It will be on display daily between June the 10th and 24th at 9.00 p.m. on the walls of Wawel Royal Castle. Be there!
How about… volunteer work? A Second recruitment round is now on!
We are looking for volunteers who would like to work during the 3rd ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival! You can count on working on interesting projects, meeting artists from Poland and abroad and accomplishing diverse tasks.It is a great offer for people interested in modern art and in organising cultural events.
Send you application and any questions you might have to: wolontariat@artboomfestival.pl
A sculpture by Bałka in MOCAK
7+1 – a salt sculpture by Mirosław Bałka became part of the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow yesterday (Monday, June 6th). Weight: ca. 4 tonnes; dimensions: 90×299×301 cm, year of creation: 1998. The first work by Bałka located in a public space in Poland was created especially for the first edition of the ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival.
4Ps – Application period extended
Due to a very positive response to the 4P - PEN|POETRY|PROSE|PUBLIC SPACE competition, we are pleased to announce that the application period has been extended until June 10th 2011. The 1st edition of the 4Ps competition is aimed at young artists creating urban space projects inspired on literature and locations with literary connotations.
Master of the background
The latest issue of Sukces magazine features an article, Kultura 2.0 w natarciu (Offensive of the 2.0 Culture), where Anna Gromnicka presents Bogna Świątkowska –journalist, a founder of the Bęc! Zmiana Foundation, as well as an editor of the Notes na 6 tygodni cultural guide.
Art will take control of the city – the 3rd ArtBoom Festival starts on the 10th of June
Artists will take control of streets and squares in Krakow for the third time. For two June weeks (from the 10th – 24th of June) they will surprise passers-by in different parts of the city. The themes of this year’s edition of the ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival are New Technologies in Art, Utopias, and Game.
And how about…volunteer work during the 3rd ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival?
We are looking for volunteers willing to work with us on the 3rd edition of the ArtBoom Visual Arts Festival! Interesting projects, artists from Poland and abroad, different opinions. It is a wonderful opportunity for people interested in contemporary art and organisation of cultural events.Please send your applications (with a CV), and questions to: wolontariat@artboomfestival.pl by the 15th of May 2011.
Results of the Fresh Zone competition
The Fresh Zone competition for young artists and architects was held for the second time as part of the ArtBoom Visual Arts festival.
Kuśmirowski’s Muzeum Sztuki Zdeponowanej (Museum of Deposited Art)
In the last two decades we have been observing growth in the number of modern art museums and galleries. Demand for these kinds of institutions bodes well for the future, because it is an expression of the need to commune with modern art, and not only with works affirming the past and tradition. Robert Kuśmirowski’s project may be a paradoxical phenomenon for any art observer.
Bodzianowski and city dustbins
Łódź performer Cezary Bodzianowski does not stop to amaze us. Through his behaviour and surprising actions, he tries to introduce a new current to art, based on his staging and happenings.
Fresh Zone – Jury deliberations in progress
The Fresh Zone Competition Jury will be deliberating the whole day today. The jury includes Małgorzata Gołębiewska, Tomasz Warchał, Agnieszka Obszańska, Aleksandra Wasilkowska, Michał Bieniek, Cecylia Malik.
Mirosław Bałka’s Site Specific as part of the European Culture Congress
The Site Specific sculpture by one of the most outstanding contemporary sculptors, Mirosław Bałka, will inaugurate the Trickster 2011 project, accompanying the European Culture Congress in Wrocław (08/09/11 – 11/09/11). The sculpture will be put up in the western wing of the Pawilon Czterech Kopuł (pavilion of the four domes), which was built between 1912 and 1913 to a design by German modernist Hans Poelzig.Cecylia on the 200th tree
Cecylia Malik and Christopher B. Gray’s happening will begin today at 3:00 p.m. at the Fort św. Benedykta (St. Benedict Fort) – they will climb the 200th tree together and will plant another one right next to it. The artists, wearing red, will climb a tree in the vicinity of the St. Benedict church. The action is intendedto turn everybody’s attention to public spaces and serves as a pretext for discussion on the subject. It was prepared by Stowarzyszenie Podgórze.Pl, which today is organising a series of events under the banner of Szanuj Miasto (Respect the City)
The first edition of the PEN|POETRY|PROSE|PUBLIC SPACE competition
The first edition of the PEN|POETRY|PROSE|PUBLIC SPACE competition – founded and organised by the Krakow Festival Office – has been launched. The contest is addressed to young artists and concerns urban projects inspired by literature and places with literary connotations. The jury will select 10 best works, and the winners will receive financial awards - PLN 3,000 for the project creation and a PLN 1,000 award. Young artists can submit their entries until the 5th of June 2011.Rzeczpospolita on Jenny Holzer’s Krakow project
‘On the occasion of the Czesław Miłosz Year celebrations, Jenny Holzer has been preparing an original light installation which will appear on the Wawel castle walls facing the Vistula river,’ says today’s issue of the Rzeczpospolita daily.‘Jenny Holzer will come to Krakow for the first time in June,’ announces Magdalena Sroka, the Deputy Mayor of the City responsible for Culture and Promotion. ‘The artist, known for her activity in public spaces, has chosen a fragment of a Miłosz poem. She will use it, in a similar way to her other light communiqués, to ponder the meaning of words. I cannot say which quotation it is yet. I can only reveal that it will show how one sentence can change human life.’
Bałka’s retrospective exhibition
At the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art we can admire works by Mirosław Bałka – a world-famous artist, sculptor, author of installations and a guest of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival and the Conrad Festival.
The pink piano will stay at the Silesian Museum
It’s pink with black pop-art notes all over it, and was made to order for the Krakow Festival Office. The piano could have been seen in Jan Matejko Square in Krakow within the framework of the ‘Chopin in the City’ project till the end of December. It was then lent to the Silesian Museum and will stay there for good.
Fresh Zone Contest is coming up with Jenny Holzer evaluating the projects!
Games, both in a literal as well as metaphorical context, will be the leitmotif of the second edition of the Fresh Zone Contest dedicated to students and graduates of fine arts academies and other universities offering arts subjects. Entries can be submitted until the 17th of April, with the authors of up to 5 of the most interesting works being awarded 6,000 PLN for their projects to be implemented within the framework of the Artboom Tauron Festival.
Cecylia Malik – Artist of the Year in the Kulturalne Odloty poll
Cecylia Malik, a Krakow artist, her projects Smoleńsk Street no. 22/8 and 365 Trees made the newspapers’ headlines gave her enormous popularity – last Saturday she received the Kulturalne Odloty award in the “Artist” category. “Our predecessors came down from trees, while Cecylia proved it was so bad up there” wrote one of readers of the Krakow Gazeta Wyborcza daily, which organized the poll. Congratulations!
Polityka’s Passport for Wojciech Bąkowski
Wojciech Bąkowski, who presented himself to the Krakow audience together with his group KOT at the last year’s ArtBoom Festival, was awarded with the prestigious Polityka’s Passport award in the category of Visual Arts. “The award for art that combines brutality with lyricism. For giving new, interesting meaning to the notion of “multimedia artist”, decided to award a promising new-generation creator for art that is an original combination of brutality with lyricism.” – the justification reads.
Cecylia Malik’s album premiere
On the 4th February, an extraordinary album will reach book-stores across Poland: Cecylia Malik: 365 Trees. The young Krakow artist, starting from 25th September 2009, climbed a tree a day for the following year. It is the origin of the cycle 365 Trees inspired by Italo Calvino’s novel The Baron in the Trees from 1957. - The project lasted exactly a year, i.e. 365 days, when I climbed up 365 trees, different each time. Not only is it my diary, but also my private rebellion, a small protest, the artist writes in the preface.
Cecylia Malik nominated to the Kulturalne Odloty award
“Krakow needs such wackos” was the justification behind the Gazeta Wyborcza daily’s choice to nominate Cecylia Malik for the Kulturalne Odloty award (in the category: Artist). As a reminder, we presented the spectacular finale of Cecylia’s action 365 trees last September as a part of ArtBoom Tauron Festival. For the project inspired by the book The Baron in the Trees, Cecylia has already received the title Culturist of 2010 from the journalists of the Radiowy Dom Kultury programme (Polish Radio 3).Concert in Mr Tramp’s Garden
A painting exhibition by Cecylia Malik titled Concert in Mr Tramp’s Garden opens on the coming Friday (21st January) in Krakow Zderzak Gallery (Florianska Street no 3). The exhibition will be available to see until 16th February and is recommended by the current Przekroj weekly issue. As a reminder, we presented the spectacular finale of Cecylia’s action 365 trees last September as a part of ArtBoom Tauron Festival.
Dziennik Polski evaluates ArtBoom Tauron Festival
According to Łukasz Gazur, the title of WTOPA 2010 (awarded to the biggest failure of the year) should go to the ArtBoom Tauron Visual Arts Festival, which attracted “a large number of artists, some of them recognised as “great stars”, but projects were rather ordinary. Maybe it is time to change its formula? It would be sufficient to invite one great name who will have enough time and space to present something spectacular. Well, the festival was not a flop, because it still accustoms the conservative city to modern art, but just a slip. But I keep my thumbs up for the next edition of the festival”.Joanna Rajkowska's Turkish inspirations
Today (10 November), Joanna Rajkowska, who for the first edition of ArtBoom Tauron Festival prepared the piece Wodnik [Aquarius], will talk about her latest projects at a meeting which is part of celebrations of the first birthday of Common-room of Political Criticism in Tri-City (Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot). The meeting, which will be hosted by Grzegorz Klaman, will be devoted to the presentation of the artist's controversial project Minaret in Poznań and its relationship with Rajkowska's Turkish project Benjamin in Konya. The discussion about religious, political and cultural issues of contemporary identities will begin at 7 p.m.
'The Melancholy Of Resistance' – a bridge between literature and art
On the second day of the Conrad Festival we invite you to a meeting entitled The Melancholy Of Resistance, with the participation of the Hungarian novelist and scriptwriter – László Krasznahorkai and one of the most outstanding and popular Polish contemporary artists – Mirosław Bałka. The latter has already visited Krakow twice during the ArtBoom Tauron Festival (Visual Arts Festival).
Robert Kuśmirowski’s project at Galeria Biała of Lublin voivodeship
Robert Kuśmirowski, who was a guest this year at ArtBoom Tauron Festival, will present his most recent project: Muzeum Sztuki Zdeponowanej (MSZ), that is the Museum of Deposited Art (MODA) at Galeria Biała in Lublin. The exhibition will last until 10 November.
6 senses expanded with two festivals
The Czesław Miłosz International Literary Festival and Unsound Festival will be a part of the “6 senses” project from the next year. Letters of intent in this matter were signed today by: Jacek Majchrowski – Mayor of Krakow and Małgorzata Płysa – Manager of the Tone Foundation organising the Unsound Festival and Grzegorz Gauden – Director of the Book Institute organising the Czesław Miłosz Festival.AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA Sculpture by Mirosław Bałka is already at Zabłocie
AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA – the first in Poland fixed work in public space realised by the world famous artist Mirosław Bałka – in accordance with Magdalena Sroka’s announcement, director of the Krakow Festival Office, has been moved from Plac Niepodległości to near the PKP tunnel at Zabłocie. Thereby, as planned, Mirosław Bałka’s sculpture has been erected next to the Museum of Modern Art and Schindler’s Factory Museum being established.
ArtBoom and children
It turn out that ArtBoom Tauron Festival does not only attract adult viewers. We were also able to see how the youngest react to modern art.
The colourful installation, Hypnos (Situationist Space Program), mirrors embedded in a labyrinth, Kerim Seiler at Maria Magdalena Square, Aleksander Janicki’s Satellite Sphere and Adin, dwa, tri – Maciek Kurak’s gigantic television at Matejko Square, were treated by children like big surprises inviting to interact.
Spectacular final of the 2nd ArtBoom Tauron Festival
Today, before noon, above the Main Market in Krakow, an aeroplane appeared – an old-school biplane. It flew exceptionally low, at a height of about 100-200 metres. The heads of pedestrians, inhabitants and tourists turned in its direction. After one circle around the Market, a cloud of white pieces of paper fell out of the plane, which looked like a flock of white birds. Slowly falling to the ground, in full sunlight, the pieces of paper shimmered like pure silver.
Kerim Seiler at Wyspiański Pavilion
On Sunday evening at Wyspiański Pavilion, the last event of this year’s edition ArtBoom Tauron Festival took place. The guest of the meeting was Kerim Seiler, a Swiss artist, author of the sculpture Hypnos (Situationist Space Program) found on Maria Magdalena Square.
Kerim Seiler presented his earlier achievements such as Pneuma’s cycle, somnambul, deepening the context of his works. We particularly recommend the artist’s website, where all of his works can be seen.
Negative/Positive – meeting with Kuśmirowski
On Friday, at Wyspiański Pavilion, a meeting with Robert Kuśmirowski took place, the author of the Model of the demolition project prepared for ArtBoom Tauron Festival.
This meeting was one of the favourites of the festival in turnout. Nobody was surprised, because Robert Kuśmirowski is an extraordinarily open person, constantly encouraging discussion and effectively breaking the frequently existing barrier between the viewer and the artist.
ATTENTION! Letters to My Brother will fall on Krakow on Sunday
It will be an outstanding final to the 2nd ArtBoom Tauron Festival: this coming Sunday (27 June), Grzegorz Drozd’s project, Letters to My Brother, will be realised.We remind you that initially the project was to take place yesterday, however, due to the rain hindering the start of the plane, we were forced to postpone its realisation.
We hope the weather does not ruin our plans this time.
The plane will take off from the airport at 11 a.m. and should appear over Krakow’s Main Market around 11:30 a.m.
This will be a historical event. Group KOT at Fabryka.
This will be a historical event – wrote Art Bazaar a few days before the concert of Group KOT, which took place on Thursday evening, with a full house in the Krakow club Fabryka.
Who was not able to come to the concert in Krakow will be able to listen to it on their own CD, soon available for sale at the Internet store ArtBazzar Records. In the meantime, we recommend the band’s profile at MySpace, where you can get to know their music.
ATTENTION! Due to the bad weather, the project Letters to My Brother – postponed
Due to the atmospheric conditions disabling the start of the plane (rain), we are forced to postpone the project Letters to My Brother by Grzegorz Drozd, originally planned today within the domain of the 2nd ArtBoom Tauron Festival.We will make every effort for the event to take place within the upcoming three days that are left until the end of the Festival.
We will inform you of the new date as soon as we receive essential permits and confirmations from the institutes and offices cooperating with us in this project.
Mock-up of the project of the demolition at Kazimierz in Krakow
At 32 Szeroka Street, there is a simple tenement, which is to be demolished. However, before this happens, it has become the exit point for Robert Kuśmirowski's work prepared especially for ArtBoom Tauron Festival.
We invite you to 32 Szeroka Street, but also to a meeting with Robert Kuśmirowski, which will take place on Friday, 25 June at 5 p.m. in Wyspianski Pavilion.
For the last time – movies on the Market!
The end of the week is the last opportunity to see Joan Jonas’ films and Gustav Metzger’s work at the City Hall Tower, on the screen of the Information Point of ArtBoom Tauron Festival.
Joan Jonas’s films can be seen at 9.00 p.m. on Tuesday (22.06) and Friday (24.06).
In order to see a short, but significant for the history of art film documenting Gustav Metzger’s work Project Stockholm, June, (Phase 1), you must come to the Market punctually at 9.00 p.m. on Wednesday (23.06) or Friday (25.06).
Tomorrow’s your last chance – come for a walk in the steps of Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg – an icon: American poet and writer, actor and screenwriter, from a Jewish family, Buddhist by choice, homosexual, known as the voice of the beat generation and the leading figure of the beat stream – a group of artists and playboys who propagated liberation from the bourgeois norms of the American middle class. However, in the reality of the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) he was known to few.
You can walk in Allen Ginsberg’s footsteps in Krakow for the last time tomorrow. It starts at 4 p.m. at the STU Theatre (16 Krasińskiego Avenue).
Opening hours in Krakow’s Szkieletor (Skeletor)
The building of the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations, known to the residents of Krakow as the skeletor, was one of the most innovative construction enterprises in Communist Poland. The vision of a modern building, geared with conference rooms, audiovisual equipment, office-administrative rooms, restaurants and viewing terraces, never came true. The work of the constructors ended in raising an enormous cement and steel frame, which for over thirty years has towered over Mogilskie Roundabout like a ghost of the past endeavour.
Antagonisms in public space
The ArtBoom Tauron Festival introduces contemporary art into Krakow’s historical tissue. The artists’ installations amidst the city’s historical buildings often lead to antagonisms – the antiques of Renaissance or Baroque, considered architectural pearls, clash with new creativity, which is so very different from classical architecture or sculpture.
This Thursday Letters to a brother will flood Krakow!
Grzegorz Drozd’s Letters to Brother is one of the key projects at Krakow’s 2nd ArtBoom Tauron Visual Arts Festival. The artist sent a letter to penal institutes all over Poland inviting inmates to write letters – letters addressed to us, an anonymous crowd. This stimulus given by Drozd turned out to be an opportunity to communicate private, painful and sometimes very intimate contents. Contact with family is made difficult, and is sometimes unwanted due to the sentence being served, which becomes a huge tragedy for these isolated people. This unusual correspondence, which has been taking place for months as part of the Letters to Brother project, will also be sent out in an unusual way: an airplane will appear over the city centre of Krakow on Thursday afternoon (24 June, between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.). In one moment a million spinning letters will shoot out of it. A white cloud will rise above the city and slowly fall to the ground.Kerim Seiler’s Hypnos on Maria Magdalena Square
Kerim Seiler’s Hypnos (Situationist Space Program) can be found on Maria Magdalena Square. It has taken on the form of a chemical compound structure, in other words molecules – in this case morphine molecules. The artist weaves ancient, chemical and natural motifs, as well as the theory and practice of 20th Century art.
We invite everyone who is interested in this piece and in Kerim Seiler’s works to a meeting with the artist which will take place on Sunday, 27 June at 7 p.m. at Wyspiański Pavilion.
A sound and visual feast. Barney at Uciecha Cinema-Theatre
Today at 7 p.m. at Uciecha Cinema-Theatre, Matthew Barney’s Drawing Restraint 9 will be shown for the last time. The soundtrack was composed by Björk, the artist’s life partner.Drawing Restraint 9 is a sound and visual feast, which must not be missed! The film is full of paradoxes, contrasts, contradictions and tension which the director creates between nature and tradition, pain and pleasure, water and land. All of this finds justification towards the end of the film, revealing a meticulously woven net of narrations.
The spectator brings himself
The meeting with Mirosław Bałka hosted by Dorota Jarecka at Gazeta Cafe attracted crowds of people who could barely fit in the cafe. The artist told us about his recent foreign exhibitions. He started from his most recent project Wir sehen Dich, which he realized in Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe. The introduction to his story about the exhibition was a video posted on YouTube – a peculiar comment and a sort of visual documentation of the exhibition.
Damnation of Imagination in the Bunker
In the Gallery of Contemporary Art, Bunker of Art, you can now see an exhibition called Przekleństwa Wyobraźni [Curses of the Imagination], which was realized as part of the events accompanying the ArtBoom Tauron Festival.
Przekleństwa Wyobraźni is open to visitors at Krakow’s Bunker of Art until 22 August.
Podgórze's payback
11 June, in other words the official opening of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival, was also the beginning of a series of projects realised as part of Fresh Zone. One of these projects is Porachunki [Payback]. Because the receipt rolls especially created by the Łuhuu! group have been used in the shops for a few days, we decided to check out how the initiative was going.
Dobry Investor (Good Investor) has shaken Krakow!
It’s scandolous! It must be stopped! They are taking away our fountain. If it’s not a joke then you’re stuffed – today’s Gazeta Wyborcza quotes phone calls from readers who were appalled by what they found in the morning on Krakow’s Wolnica Square. During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday part of the square was closed off and an advertisement for Dobry Inwestor was hung on the tin fence, offering apartments for sale at an attractive price. Apartments which, according to the property developer, will soon arise right on Wolnica Square. The readers of Dziennik Polski did not hide their outrage, as written in today’s issue: People, it’s outrageous. I have been living in Kazimierz for 70 years and have never seen such stupidity – said Krystyna as she read the advertisement and rubbed her eyes in astonishment. The project that has shaken the residents of Krakow is the work of Ewelina Woźniak-Szpakiewicz, awarded during the Fresh Zone Competition which was organized as part of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival. It’s my manifesto, a spatial provocation which is supposed to turn people’s attention to the public space management policy in the city – says the author.Get the Fever!
Tomorrow, for the last time at the National Museum it will be possible to see Janek Simon’s multimedia show, Bzik Tropikalny (Tropical Fever). According to the artist, this piece refers back to topic of Poland’s subdued colonialism and is inspired by Witkacy’s drama titled, Metafizyka dwuglowego cielecia (The Metaphysics of the Two-headed Calf). It is a complicated visual-sound installation where movement, immediateness and the manipulation of video communication are important.
Beginning at 3 p.m. Presence is mandatory!
On Friday (18 June) at 5 p.m. we invite you to Gazeta Cafe for a meeting with Mirosław Bałka
On Friday (18 June) at 5 p.m. we invite you to Gazeta Cafe (Krakow, 14 Bracka Street) for the one and only meeting during the whole ArtBoom Tauron Festival with Mirosław Bałka – one of the most important artists of his generation.
Mirosław Bałka’s works have received the acclaim of critics. As a confirmation of this, the London Tate Modern put forward a proposal to realise a piece in the Turbine Hall The Unilever Series.
Kurak heals Krakow
Maciej Kurak, who is known for his distanced and ironic approach to life, has realized a humoristic project called Adin, dwa, tri for the ArtBoom Tauron Festival.
Does the countdown remind you of anything? Not really? Let us give you a clue – the key words are: a TV programme and unconventional medicine. A glass screen with the face of the most famous Russian hypnotist comes to mind. Yes, yes, that’s right, we are talking about the TV star Anatolij Kaszpirowski.
We invite you to a presentation of Joan Jonas’ films at 9 p.m
The presentation of Joan Jonas’ films will start at 9 p.m. at the Festival Information Point on the Main Market next to the City Hall tower. It will be a presentation of the artist’s works from the 80s. Volcano Saga is a film based on a 13th Century Icelandic saga by Laxdeal. Double Lunar Dogs is a video inspired by the science fiction story Universe written by Robert Heinlein, whilst Upside-down and Backwards presents two fairy-tales, The Frog Prince and The Boy Who Want to Learn Fear, narrated simultaneously. The films will also be shown in an approximately 1.5-hour block and whoever didn’t make it today will still get the chance to see them on 18, 20, 22 and 24 June.ATTENTION! Metzger and Ramocki in one film block
A film which documents Gustaw Metzger’s initiative of 2008, when Project Stockholm, June (Phase 1) was realised during Sharjah Biennale in the United Arab Emirates. It can be seen every other day from 11 to 25 June at the Festival Information Point on the Main Market next to the City Hall tower. The screening lasts under 5 minutes and begins at 9 p.m. So, please, be on time. Afterwards you can watch Marcin Ramocki’s 50-minute project entitled Made in Internet. Both screenings – Metzger’s (5 minutes) and Ramocki’s (50 minutes) are intertwined and shown as a continuum.A futuristic vision of the city
This morning, on Benedyktyńska Street, near Wawel, the construction of LEM Monument, that is the work of the German artist collective Raumlaborberlin.
The starting point for Raumlaborberlin was the analysis of Krakow’s identity today and also in the near and distant future. In the age of alternative tourism, which looks for new and fresh points of view and places on city and regional maps, the classic tourist attractions, Krakow’s architectural pearls, may become obsolete in only a few decades.
Gustav Metzger inspires artists
A few days ago we wrote about Gustav Metzger’s film Project Stockholm, June, (Phase 1) which is being shown as part of the Festival every other day from 11 to 25 June, at 9 p.m. at the ArtBoom Tauron Festival Information Point on the Main Market next to the City Hall tower.One can notice references to Project Stockholm, June (Phase 1) in such recent works as Simon Starling’s Kartenhaus project in 2002, which was created for the Frankfurt gallery, Portikus, or in Santiago Sierry’s work, entitled 245m³, in Stommeln, Germany in 2006. There you can find a synagogue – one of the few remaining buildings which was not damaged during the massacres of 1938 and not destroyed during the post-war wave of reconstruction and urban revitalization in Germany. In connection with this, the artistic project entitled Synagogue Stommeln was initiated in 1990. Its aim was to create a dialogue referring to the history and significance of that place. Every year one artist is invited to realize a project which interacts with the space and redefines the architecture of that place, which is subject to many historical contexts and references.
Robert Kuśmirowski will change the tenement building at Szeroka Street
As you know, some of the installations prepared for the ArtBoom Tauron Festival have already been completed. Over the past few days you have been able to admire Karim Seiler’s colourful Hypnos (Situationist Space Program) on Maria Magdalena Square, or the glass show-case on the Main Market – Sergey Shabohin’s Store. Other pieces will arise during the festival, which gives the audience the opportunity to become a part of the project, to experience it from the very beginning and to observe the artists’ work.
Home sweet home – doormats at Krakow’s Planty Park
Doormats – the symbol of home and safety – with the words Welcome home, There’s no place like home, Welcome have been placed in Krakow’s Planty Park by the benches which are often inhabited by the homeless. The Home sweet home project by Agnieszka Popek-Banach and Kamil Banach, the winners of this year’s edition of the Fresh Zone competition, which is organized as part of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival, was supposed to draw attention to the problem of homelessness in Krakow.
Film Monday
Today, as part of the festival’s film programme, we would like to invite you to see two manifestations. The first one, Just Night, will take place at Pod Baranami Cinema (Kino Pod Baranami) at 7 p.m. This will be a review of the films by Dutch artist, Jesper Just.
Joan Jonas’ films will also be shown in approximately 1.5 hour blocks, at 9 p.m every two days from 12 June to 24 June 2010
Mitoraj has competition
For many Krakow’s visitors, one of the main attractions to photograph is Igor Mitoraj’s monument on the Main Square at the foot of the Town Hall Tower. But, for the last few days, the tourists standing before the impressive antique head have encountered a surprise.
Near the sculpture stands a smallish glass case contenting some unusual items. All around it there are candles burning and arrangements of flowers. Is this some new memorial site?
Gustav Metzger, Project Stockholm, June, (Phase 1)
As a part of the main programme of the second edition of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival, Gustav Metzger has been invited – stateless person, anti-capitalist, and activist, born in an Orthodox Jewish family from Poland. He was one of the most prolific and independent artists of the twentieth century, and his work remains an important source of inspiration to this day.The Sound of Horns Conquers Krakow
On a scorching, humid Saturday evening on Krakow’s Main Square, at the entrances to Grodzka and Floriańska Street, a concert by the German artist Christof Schläger from Herne took place. The artist performed a composition which was played on a mega-instrument of his own construction. On each of two separate stages set up facing one other (one near the Church of St. Mary, and the other near St. Adalbert’s) were 4-metre-high armatures with wind instruments — horns — mounted on them, 48 all together.
The phenomenal Matthew Barney
On Saturday, Pod Baranami Cinema held its first screening of the Matthew Barney’s remarkable film, Drawing Restraint 9, with a soundtrack composed by Björk. A large festival audience attended.
For those unfortunate enough to have missed this one, it would be wise to reserve time for the second and last screening of the film, which will take place on Thursday, 19 June at 7 PM at the Cinema-Theatre Uciecha!
See the a brief film from the screening of Guy Ben-Ner’s Drop the Monkey
We wish to remind you that Drop the Monkey by Guy Ben-Ner can be seen every day until 25 June at the Wyspiański Pavilion.Janek Simon’s Bzik Tropikalny [Tropical Madness]Staring on Saturday, Janek Simon’s multimedia spectacle and installation Bzik Tropikalny [Tropical Madness] will be on display at the National Museum. The work refers to the question of repressed Polish colo
Staring on Saturday, Janek Simon’s multimedia spectacle and installation Bzik Tropikalny [Tropical Madness] will be on display at the National Museum. The work refers to the question of repressed Polish colonialism and is based on Witkacy’s 1921 drama, Metafizyka dwugłowego cielęcia [the Metaphysics of the Two-Headed Calf].
Each of us is the curator of his or her own life
Each of us is the curator of his or her own life — said Barbara London, addressing the audience gathered at Saturday’s lecture at the National Museum. “When we opened the new media department, I worked there basically alone”, said the curator describing the atmosphere of the 1970s. “ I’m from New York and I remember my terrified parents telling me not to go downtown, because it wasn’t safe there. But it was there, down by Canal Street that all the best stuff was going on.”
Guy Ben-Ner talks about his films
Braving the sweltering heat at the Wyspiański Pavilion, the first guests of the festival came to see Guy Ben-Ner and to view his earlier artistic films, hear him tell stories and answer their questions.
“I work in video, because I like to be economical”, said Ben-Ner “Besides which, film tape is too fetishist.”
LikeKonik frolics on the Main Square
Today, for the first time, just after the official opening of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival, Kobas Laksa’s LikeKonik. The legendary, colourful, Tatar folk hero on his decorative wooden horse has been replaced by a threatening rider dressed in a black leather costume reminiscent of sado-masochistic practices.
ArtBoom Tauron Festival begins!
It’s begun! The second edition of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival started today right on time at noon at club ONE on the Krakow Main Square. Television, radio, and print journalists amassed at the crowded press conference. – “The ArtBoom Tauron Festival surprises and shall continue to surprise”, predicted Magdalena Sroka, director of the Krakow Festival Office.
Free admission to screenings of the films of and city walk In the Footsteps of Allen Ginsberg in Krakow.
At two infoKrakow information points (at 2 Św. Jana Street and the Wyspiański Pavilion, 2 Wszystkich Świętych Square) free admission tickets are available for film screenings organised as a part of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival at the Pod Baranami Cinema and Cinema-Theatre Uciecha.Just a reminder that on 12 June (at Pod Baranami Cinema) and 19 June (Cinema-Theatre Uciecha) Matthew Barney’s film Drawing Restraint 9, will be presented and that on 14 June, (Pod Baranami Cinema) Just Night – an evening with the films of Jasper Just awaits us.
Starting on Saturday (12 June) at the Wyspiański Pavilion, free admission to walks In the Footsteps of Allen Ginsberg through Krakow.
The ArtBoom Tauron Festival campaign has begun
Starting today, the city lights and billboards of the largest Polish cities began to shine with the campaign promoting the second edition of the ArtBoom Tauron Visual Arts Festival. The outdoor advertising presence of he festival will be on display until mid-June.
Have your own input in the creation of an art event – open your doors to art!
The Berlin art group Raumlabor, with many successful projects to their name, is looking for your doors to crack ajar the gates of consciousness. If you don’t know what to do with an old, unwanted door, give them to us so that they can become works of art at the end of their existence.We welcome your doors from the past.
ArtBoom Film
Barbara London will be visiting Krakow – the curator of new media and creator of the video collection at New York’s Museum of Fine Art (MoMA) London has followed the development of media art from its humble beginnings in the 1960s and 70s, and she continues to diligently trace the development of artistic practices, discovering artists and new fields of artwork, and examines the effect of interdisciplinary co-operation and analyses breakthrough moments in the development of new art media. She has organised over 120 exhibitions including solo shows and presenting such early individualists and experimentalists as Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, Stein Vasulka, Joan Jonas, Gary Hill, Mako Idemitsu, Vaile Export, and Laurie Anderson. During the second edition of the ArtBoom Tauron Festival, Barbara London will give a guest lecture connected with a presentation of the works of such forerunners as Nam June Paik – known as the father of video art, and Joan Jonas – one of the most important female figures of the breakthrough years of the 1960s and 1970s, who combined gender discourse, performance, and the emerging form of video art in her work.Fresh Zone Contest
The second edition of the ArtBoom Tauron Visual Arts Festival, thanks to the Fresh Zone contest, will be expanded with a presentation of the works of some of the youngest artists now making their debut in the art world. The contest, announced in the autumn of last year, was judged by an interdisciplinary jury consisting of Sebastian Cichocki, Robert Rumas, Anna Komorowska, Piotr Winskowski and Paweł Kubicki, and they selected the nine most interesting works. Each of the artists made direct reference in their works to the location of the project, commenting on the specific character of the place and making use of broad social participation.ArtBoom Tauron Festival Programme Unveiled
On Friday 7 May, the programme of this year’s ArtBoom Tauron Festival was announced at a press conference. The line-up of artists and projects especially prepared for this year’s festival were outlined by Magdalena Sroka (Director of the Krakow Festival Office) and Małgorzata Gołębiewska (Artistic Director of the Festival). Izabela Helbin (Assistant Director of the KFO for Marketing) presented the titular sponsor of the Festival – Grupa Tauron.
Expedition Art Festival at Amazonas
Tomorrow (Thursday 29 April) at 5 PM at 2 Wszystkich Świętych Square we invite you to see the material for the show of the AB Expedition Festival in the Amazon rain forest and to meet with Aldo Vargas-Tetmajer – lecturer of the Jagiellonian University, project curator and organiser.