Let’s visit Miłosz’s tailor, let’s listen to the Nobel Prize winner’s texts read by his neighbours through intercoms, and let’s peep through windows adorned with curtains with Miłosz’s poems on them. Everyday at 5.00 pm until the 10th of October, you can attend a special walk in the footsteps of the artists awarded in this year’s 4P competition – and all of this within the block of streets adjacent to ul. Bogusławskiego in Krakow – building No. 6 is where Czesław Miłosz once lived. Join us! Those wishing to participate in the event should write to: 4p@biurofestiwalowe.pl.

The theme of this year’s instalment of the 4P - PEN|POETRY|PROSE|PUBLIC SPACE – a contest addressed to young artists – was literary reference of choice. And so, as part of the Milosz Year celebrations, the venue of the project’s first edition was the block of streets in the area of the last apartment of the Nobel Prize winner at ul. Bogusławskiego 6 (bordered by ul. J. Sarego, ul. Gerturdy, ul. Sebastiana and ul. Bogusławskiego). The outcome is a unique literary and artistic walking route marked out by the winners’ projects – 8 awarded and 3 others.

What can participants of the walk expect? Read the project descriptions and see...

1. Wzorowo design group (Agnieszka Bar, Agnieszka Kajper and Karina Marusińska) puts excerpts of poems on panels, which interfere with the iconosphere of the urban space, referring directly to the senses imposed by it. Contexts is a reflection on the word used in a mercenary fashion and quest for new clues for interpreting classical literature. ul. Gertrudy 16, ul. św. Sebastiana 1, ul. W. Bogusławskiego 4).
2. Natalia Nowacka examines the impact of physical space on the formation of interpersonal relationships. Aporia of closeness. Seemingly dependent speech is a project of a book/comic book in an open space that engages its audience into a relationship full of ambiguities. The symbolically treated large-scale ‘comic balloons’ become activated when passers-by come within range (ul. św. Sebastiana 6, 9, 13, ul. J. Sarego 7, 14).
3. At ul. Bogusławskiego 6/5a, Anna Maraj installed an intercom that symbolically opens the door to the poet’s house. Poems read by Czesław Miłosz intertwine with everyday sounds of the street, making the boundary between the public space and the writer’s private space difficult to grasp, (ul. W. Bogusławskiego 6).

4. Reflections at the public/private border are also undertaken by the Wzorowo group, who puts curtains with excerpts from Miłosz’s poems woven onto them in a window of the tenement house. The Semi-views project dis-covers the secrets of houses, set out an intimacy limit, constitute openwork buffers between dwelling and public spaces, (ul. J. Sarego 10).
5. Matusz Okoński’s Pouring water. Pegasus as a source of all inspiration is intended as a subtle and perverse intervention which, under the influence of the resistance of the local community, evolves and gains a new, ephemeral form, revealing its own critical potential. Is art ready for any response from the audience? Can and should art fight for its physical ideological space, irrespective of existing limitations? (ul. J. Sarego).
6. Justyna Gruszczyk touches upon the issue of the physical nature of books and traditional forms of book promotion. The process of disembodying the books, being witnessed in the era of new technologies, has provoked the artist to reflect upon the book’s value added made up of the matter and time, and the relationships occurring between them. The Bodies of Books project fills the volumes amassed in the library (by means of bookmarks, for instance) with odour to remind us of their material value, (Śródmieście Public Library, ul. Dietla 80/82).
7. Drawing on Romantic traditions of Polish literature, Strupek Group destabilises life of the quarter, introducing an element of the Unknown into its sphere. 40 i [p] is a perverse artistic performance with a complex structure drawing on mysticism and rituals, which will identify local motifs of multicultural history, engaging residents of the block of streets in its activities, (ul. J. Sarego 13).
8. INNIWINNI (lit. OTHERSAREGUILTY) is Agnieszka Popek and Kamil Banach’s mural examining words in terms of their visual message. Drawing on wordplay traditions, the artists create a bitter comment on human nature. The form of INNIWINNI refers to the Concrete Poetry current, bringing together elements of the poem and visual arts (ul. J. Sarego 8).


Miłosz Neighbours:

9. Miłosz’s Tailor
Many eminent personalities use the services of J. Turbas’ Artistic Tailor’s Shop, and the company’s archive continues to store envelopes containing individual clients’ patterns. The window at ul. Gertrudy 15 displays Czesław Miłosz’s original patterns, and miniature patterns are handed out to those visiting the studio (Artystyczna Pracownia Krawiecka J Turbasa, ul. św. Gertrudy 15)..
10. Lyrical Intercoms – an ephemeral monument to the Poet
This idea originated from Piotr Bikont and involves Czesław Miłosz’s neighbours reading works of their own choosing for a week, every day at 6.00 pm. In this way, an ephemeral monument to the poet is made up of sounds, cut-off phrases and overlapping words. The unusual means of communication – a building intercom – will bring the private and public space together and become a kind of “poetry distribution machine”. The unusual action is accompanied by conversations, meetings and recollections (ul. Gertrudy 16, ul. św. Sebastiana 1, ul. W. Bogusławskiego 4).

Side-events:

11.Camera Obscura
At the foot of Wawel, multimedia artist Aleksander Janicki is installing Europe’s largest model of the Camera Obscura, referring with it to Miłosz’s metaphysical interests. The inverted image of reality obtained with the camera obscura has specific features: softness, mild contrasts and blur, which are common to both worlds - those of words and of images.


Pictures: Paweł Ulatowski



4P contest is a part of Liberated Miłosz – Czesław Miłosz Year celebration in Kraków, which is operated by Instytut Książki. Projcet subsidised with funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.