10.11.2010
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 project Minaret is about transforming the factory chimney into a minaret, which is intended to draw attention to the slightly chaotic construction near the old factory, similar to the Middle East, and give this part of Poznań an exotic character. While Benjamin in Konya is an artistic project implemented with the support of the British Council in Turkey: the artist wove in a text by Walter Benjamin The Task of the Translator, translated into various languages into the space of the fountain in centre of the Anatolian city. Both projects are to stimulate reflection about relationships of religion and art, identity, history, Islam, difficulties in communication of meaning between cultures.
Benjamin in Konya is part of the project My City, in which five European artists – aside from Rajkowska, Andreas Fogarasi, Minna Henriksson, Mark Wallinger and Clemens von Wedemeyer – created their works in October in Turkish cities. Their goal was to stimulate artistic dialogue between Europe and Turkey.
Joanna Rajkowska intervenes in public space, treating her projects as a tool of communication evoking emotions, provoking reflection and discussion. For her work she receives the most prestigious awards: after receiving the Passport of Polityka in 2007, it was time for next successes. The artist is the winner of this year's Great Cultural Foundation Award, presented for artistic works – installations in public space.
The project Minaret is about transforming the factory chimney into a minaret, which is intended to draw attention to the slightly chaotic construction near the old factory, similar to the Middle East, and give this part of Poznań an exotic character. While Benjamin in Konya is an artistic project implemented with the support of the British Council in Turkey: the artist wove in a text by Walter Benjamin The Task of the Translator, translated into various languages into the space of the fountain in centre of the Anatolian city. Both projects are to stimulate reflection about relationships of religion and art, identity, history, Islam, difficulties in communication of meaning between cultures.
Benjamin in Konya is part of the project My City, in which five European artists – aside from Rajkowska, Andreas Fogarasi, Minna Henriksson, Mark Wallinger and Clemens von Wedemeyer – created their works in October in Turkish cities. Their goal was to stimulate artistic dialogue between Europe and Turkey.
Joanna Rajkowska intervenes in public space, treating her projects as a tool of communication evoking emotions, provoking reflection and discussion. For her work she receives the most prestigious awards: after receiving the Passport of Polityka in 2007, it was time for next successes. The artist is the winner of this year's Great Cultural Foundation Award, presented for artistic works – installations in public space.
