Twelve artists from Bolesławiec and Kamenz painted several dozen polystyrene boards together with residents of Bolesławiec. The happening took place in the hall of the “Orka” water park. Children were the most active participants. On the white surfaces, they created various compositions: houses, meadows, a city, animals and their own abstract fantasies.
The paintings created by the residents of Bolesławiec were transported to Kamenz, where a similar event took place on Friday (22 July). On the other side of each board, the Germans created their own works. The boards, painted on both sides, are to form an installation.
The “Boundless Fascination with Art Bolesławiec – Kamenz 2011” project, carried out by the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre-International Ceramics Centre, aims to inspire Germans with Polish culture and Poles with German culture. This is to be achieved through joint work by artists from both countries and various artistic events involving residents of the two partner cities.
Neighbourly proximity does not always mean getting to know and exploring one another’s culture. Thanks to artistic projects, people from both cities have an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their neighbours.
The German artists found a wealth of forms and inspiration in Bolesławiec. They drew attention to the town’s lost German history and to the Catholic religiosity characteristic of its residents, expressed through powerful symbols that are now barely noticed by locals. The Millennium Cross, rooted in the local landscape, was a stronger identifying symbol of Bolesławiec for the visitors than the viaduct featured in the brochures promoting the town.
The Polish artists focused more on the form of their works. Most of them decided to create installations. Rafał Tur described his project as a collage of photographs of Bolesławiec and the project participants. He wants to apply the photographs to a glass-and-metal structure.
Edyta Orlińska (a ceramic artist) decided to create a kind of map of the two cities, thereby linking them inseparably. Her clay tiles are drying while waiting to be fired. Agnieszka Bondzior created a series of ceramic sculptures shaped like birds in flight. She also plans to mount them in an installation after firing.
Magdalena Konieczna (a stained-glass artist) will combine glass and ceramics in her work. Her rectangular clay tiles are drying. They are decorated with subtle graphic patterns. The work by Mateusz Grobelny, the symposium curator, is also being prepared for firing. These are breaths: deformed clay spheres.
Mateusz Grobelny organised a happening called “Collecting Breaths”. He made spheres from clay. People inserted a straw inside, then blew air in and drew it out. This shaped the object, which the artist later fixed. Each sculpture created in this way was numbered and marked with the name and occupation of the person who blew into it. Grobelny will create an installation from these spheres for an autumn exhibition.
The two painters, Kamila Michoń and Zbigniew Zieliński, completed their works. Kamila Michoń created six paintings reflecting her fascination with the deliberate or thoughtless destruction of wooden or metal objects. Her work is close to the artistic explorations of Moni West, a German artist participating in the symposium.
Zbigniew Zieliński artistically accompanied his German symposium partner, Tanja Rein, with his abstract work. His colourful and expressive piece is a kind of conversation with, or complement to, her graphic triptych featuring the hippie Jesus from the Millennium Cross.
The artists will present their completed works at autumn exhibitions in Bolesławiec and Kamenz. A documentary film will also be made about the symposium, and the exhibition will have its own catalogue.
The “Boundless Fascination with Art Bolesławiec – Kamenz 2011” project is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund and by state budget funds, with the support of the Nysa Euroregion.
(commissioned information: Grażyna Hanaf)