Art, design and architecture in Poland have perhaps never undergone transformations as rapid and far-reaching as those that occurred (and are still occurring!) after 1989. We discuss how to characterize the work of the last three decades, the long persistence of artistic attitudes and the image of Polish modernity with the curator of the exhibition "Transformations. Modernity in the Third Republic," Professor Andrzej Szczerski , is interviewed by Przemysław Ciępka.
Andrzej SZCZERSKI - Professor. Critic and art historian, director of the National Museum in Krakow since January 2020. Vice-chairman of the Social Committee for Renovation of Krakow Monuments, lecturer and head of museum curatorial studies (2005-2011) at the Institute of Art History of the Jagiellonian University. He also taught at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main (2003) and the University of St. Andrews in the UK (2004). He has received scholarships from foreign universities and research institutes. He has also received fellowships from the Lanckoroński Foundation and the Foundation for Polish Science, as well as grants from the National Science Center and the National Program for the Development of the Humanities. He is the recipient of the Award of the City of Cracow (1996) and the Awards of the Rector of the Jagiellonian University. In 2018, he received the annual Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in the category of Protection of Cultural Heritage. Curator of the exhibition "Young Poland. An Arts and Crafts Movement" at the William Morris Gallery in London.
Przemyslaw Ciępka: The last exhibition in the series "4 × Modernity" was entitled "Transformations. Modernity in the Third Republic." The first part of this name brings to mind the transformation that took place in Poland after '89. However, you used the term in the plural - what other transformations does this exhibition talk about?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: The exhibition talks about three transformation processes that took place in Poland after 1989. They are the same as the chapters of our exhibition. The first of these, the postmodern transformation, was based on challenging the modernist paradigm inherited from the 20th century. The second model, and the chapter of the exhibition we called neomodernism, is characterized by a renewed appreciation of the modernist heritage, particularly the model developed in Poland. The third transformation, which we associate with recent times - polyphony - consists of many parallel micro-narratives that change our understanding of the history of modernism, individualism and community, the relationship with nature, questions of locality, memory or history.
The exhibition "Transformations. Modernity in the Third Republic"; on the left, a photograph "Student Krakow" by Tomasz Łojewski
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
Przemysław Ciępka: I have this feeling that working on this exhibition may have been the most difficult of all the exhibitions in the "4 × Modernity" series . It tells the story of recent times, of phenomena that are largely still ongoing or have just passed. What method did you choose when organizing this exhibition and selecting exhibits?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: These methods were several. On the one hand, the lack of temporal distance was a burden; on the other hand, it was a kind of asset, since it allowed us to assess our era from the perspective of individual memory, current literature on the subject and observation of the phenomena currently going on in the art and design scene. It is worth remembering that, contrary to appearances, there have been a relatively large number of academic publications, critical texts or other studies on art life after 1989. We did not have the feeling that we were conducting work on completely unexplored material. The second point of reference was the major exhibitions that defined the last three decades. There were not as many of them as publications, but we can recall, among others, the exhibitions "Common Things. Polish Products 1899-1999" at the Center for Japanese Art and Technology "Manggha" in Krakow, "Concrete Heritage. From Le Corbusier to the Blockers" at the Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle or "What can be seen? Polish Art Today" at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. A third noteworthy factor that helped us organize the material was our reminiscences and interpretations that were the aftermath of our own research and curatorial practice, primarily from recent years.
An additional selection criterion that should not be forgotten is the availability of artworks from this period - many of them are in private collections, often abroad. Completing the artifacts we can see in the exhibition was a challenge, as not all private collection owners make their collections available as often as public institutions do. It was a stark reminder of how much public collections in Poland are still lacking to become representative of recent decades. The whole situation also had positive consequences, as the difficulty of acquiring exhibits was an opportunity to work more closely with artists. Lending works of art, architectural and design projects directly from the authors was a great reward and privilege, which is hard to come by in exhibitions presenting works created in the distant past.
The exhibition spaces in the "Postmodernism" section; on the left, the "Now Poland" logotype of Prof. Henryk Chylinski
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
Przemyslaw Ciępka: I also get the impression that of the four exhibitions on modernity held at the National Museum in Krakow, the current one is the least narrative; in the first two sections it even takes the form of a lapidary. Why did you decide to organize the exhibition space in just this way?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: The framework narrative for our exhibition is the assumption that we should read the history of art, design and architecture of the last thirty years precisely from the perspective of the title modernity. Contrary to appearances, the term was for a long time used in a very ambivalent way and not as widely as one might think; terms such as critical art, pop-banalism, ethnodesign, sustainable design were more popular. We wanted to bring all these ideas together under one key concept, which is precisely modernity. As for the individual parts, in the first - postmodernism - we were mainly concerned with non-obvious correspondences between art, architecture and design, which would show the style-forming power of postmodernism. Postmodernism is often treated in a deprecating way, as a joke, contestation or superficial mannerism. We, on the contrary, try to show it as a coherent concept and a response to the phenomena in the 1990s that led to its popularity - a sense of unlimited freedom and the need for experimentation, an escape from the modernist standard associated with the negative aspects of life in the People's Republic of Poland, a desire to express in a new form a historical breakthrough. Importantly, the exhibition shows that postmodernism did not end at all in that decade, but continues to inspire us today. We have proposed unobvious juxtapositions: the design and mock-ups of the Polish Resurrectionist Theological Seminary in Cracow by Dariusz Kozłowski next to a sculpture by Marek Kijewski and Małgorzata Milanowska, with a photo-collage by Zofia Kulik in the background, in front of a chair by Pawel Grunert, accompanied by a Zelmer Alexis slicer designed by the Ergo Design studio. All these exhibits confirm in different ways the same cultural power of postmodernism. Also in the second part, neo-modernism, we managed to avoid pigeonholing objects according to categories - we draw attention to the correspondence between works of art that are not usually exhibited side by side, such as the works of Joanna Rajkowska and Stefan Gierowski, or furniture and sportswear and the design of the Polish Antarctic Station by Kurylowicz & Associates. The last part of the exhibition, which presents the most elusive, because it is closest to our times, "polyphony," is indeed divided into chapters that more clearly direct viewers towards specific interpretations.
Exhibition spaces in the "Neomodernism" section; on the right, the "Masterplan" carpet from Joanna Rajkowska's "Light of the Lodge" series
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
Przemysław Ciępka: The current exhibition at the National Museum, like the three previous ones in the "4 × Modernity" series, deals with Polish modernity. However, I have the impression that - especially in the case of the 1990s - globalization was also an important phenomenon that became significantly inscribed in our identity, if only as a result of strenuous efforts to catch up with the somewhat imaginary "West." Even postmodernism came to us from somewhere, and although I'm going back before 1989 here, Charles Jencks' lectures at the 1981 World Congress of Architecture or his books, translated into Polish in later years, were an important impetus for the development of this trend in our country. Hence the question: was there also room in the exhibition for these "global" themes, which, willy-nilly, also influenced the shape of the art of the time?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: I think the example of postmodernism is a good case study. Yes, Charles Jencks' book was very important, but we know that Polish artists also learned about postmodernism firsthand and were among its most important representatives, carrying out commissions in Middle Eastern countries, such as Wojciech Jarząbek, the creator of Solpol in Wroclaw, who had previously constructed buildings in Kuwait precisely with postmodern forms. Of course, the history of modern art has a global aspect, but this does not mean that we cannot look for those phenomena that were specific to a particular art scene, in a particular geographical location. Such phenomena are quintessentially the opposition of peripheries to provinces. The peripheries are environments where new and original artistic values arise from various inspirations, external and internal. The provinces are only able to imitate the center. In the exhibitions of the "4 × modernity" series , we appreciate the value of modern art in countries like Poland, where international modernization processes meet very specific local conditions. I will admit that as a student of art history in the early 1990s I began to take an interest in the then latest Polish art, also because it was appreciated both domestically and internationally not as a reflection of global patterns, but as a separate phenomenon shaped in the context of our experiences with two totalitarianisms, the struggle for freedom, and after 1989 the opening to the world and European cooperation. The works of Zofia Kulik or Krzysztof Wodiczko are not works that imitate global patterns. On the contrary, they themselves began to co-create global culture, which we wanted to indirectly remind at the exhibition.
Exhibition spaces in the "Postmodernism" section - in the foreground "Queen Midas looking at Bugs" by Marek Kijewski and Malgorzata Malinowska; in the background "All the shells are one shell" by Zofia Kulik
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
Przemyslaw Ciępka: With '89 came a host of phenomena that were unknown under the earlier, communist system. Whether we want it or not, the capitalism in which we function affects all areas of our lives. We see this especially in the field of architecture. Buying an apartment is unattainable for many people, and offers are dominated by small square meters, unfavorable apartment layouts and poor quality of accompanying spaces. I have the impression that the issue of housing at the exhibition is not present in sufficient quantity. Is the lack of housing subject matter a symptom of the failure we have suffered in this field after the transformation?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: The problem of housing is represented in this exhibition on a limited scale, not only because it is synthetic and has to show many issues without focusing on one of them. Above all, however, in this field of architecture in our country there have been relatively few valuable phenomena, some of which are either exceptions or conceptual projects anyway. However, we show good examples of private houses, attempts at successful modernization of single-family houses from the communist era, also the design of the Warsaw Social District, which is an example of contemporary thinking about a residential area [proj.: BBGK Architects - editor's note]. There are also many examples of interior design, or housing culture in its best aspects. The issues you raised go beyond the subject of the exhibition, but on the basis of the exhibition we can say that this is an example of the neglect of the transition period. Effective legal and economic regulations should have been developed, which would have made it possible to build housing on a different scale and to a different standard, appropriate solutions to the issue of ownership or credit for housing. The impact of the free market economy on housing issues is a widely discussed topic today, of which the Warsaw Social District project is a great example. It is clear that without a change in housing policy, we will not be a modern country, where it is possible to live in well-designed apartments that we can afford. On the other hand, let's not forget that market mechanisms since the 1990s, however, have led to the large-scale development of new residential architecture, the quality of which cannot be completely depreciated.
The exhibition spaces in the "Polyphony" section; in the foreground, "Habitat" by Katarzyna Jozefowicz
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
Przemyslaw Ciępka: Moving on to the next section of the exhibition: at first glance, the reinterpretation of modernist design, which dominated the Polish design and art scene at the beginning of the 21st century, appears in a rather abrupt and unexpected way, as if neomodernism was a kind of reaction to the diametrically opposed postmodern art of the 1990s. Was this phenomenon really so abrupt, or was it, however, a gradual process?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: In the exhibition, due to the specificity of its narrative, we wanted to clearly demarcate the different historical phenomena. Certain processes, of course, were going on in parallel, but nevertheless the change at the beginning of the 21st century is clearly visible. An indication can be the quality of design at that time resulting from the development of the country, the affluence of citizens, new investment and design opportunities, higher building standards. The postmodern, often expensive and unique, play with form, context and narrative of architecture was no longer enough. The key buildings from this period are the realizations of Robert Konieczny and Tomasz Konior, which remind us that instead of representation, there was then a turn towards function, design pragmatics, comfort of use or ecological issues. It turns out once again that the modernist form, derived from functionalism, is the most adequate solution. The appearance of such architecture in the first years of the 21st century was a clear sign that Poland had entered a new stage of development.
Przemyslaw Ciępka: I have the impression that along with the pure, austere neo-modernist aesthetics, the exhibition spaces contained significantly fewer examples closer to this down-to-earth, not necessarily "exclusive" everyday life of ours. The postmodern section features extravagant chairs by Pawel Grunert, but right next to them on display are POP starters or a Zelmer slicer that I and many people I know once had in their homes. In the neomodernist section, on the other hand, we see the tailor-made Aatrial House from the KWK Promes studio, the shiny facades of Varso Tower [design: Foster + Partners, HRA Architects - editor's note] or audiophile headphone amplifiers. Doesn't this create for us an image of neomodernism as a trend lined with a kind of elitism?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: Certainly not, we have shown, for example, the "blik" service, which is used by millions of people in Poland. The exhibition also includes mass-produced furniture that is available on the market at various prices, including more affordable ones, or the designs of typefaces that we use commonly and on a daily basis. Works by Pawel Althamer or Julita Wójcik's sculpture "Waveguide" also refer to everyday life. This part of the exhibition also includes many products, including expensive ones, to make us aware of the advancement of Polish design. This is an opportunity to boast projects of global quality, which are not inferior to what is created in the world's most developed countries.
Exhibition spaces in the "Polyphony" section; in the foreground "Mars" by Jaroslaw Kozakiewicz
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
Przemyslaw Ciępka: The last part of the exhibition - "polyphony" - was divided into several smaller sections. Do you think that when the "design" paradigm shift comes, we will just be talking about the "polyphony of the third decade of the 21st century", or maybe we still need time to look at these phenomena in a more synthetic way?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: A distance is certainly needed, although from today's perspective I think the word "polyphony" is adequate. I also do not rule out that it will stay with us longer, as our cultural life is becoming more and more dispersed, specialized and focused on the specific needs and peculiarities of an increasingly diverse art scene. This multiplicity is a sign of the times showing the benefits that the transformation has brought - for example, production or architectural capabilities are incomparably greater, we have a more educated society, more and more channels for communication. Despite also negative consequences, such as over-stimulation or avoidance of valuation, polyphony is an achievement of our time.
The interactive installation "Game of Letters" by Karolina Wiktor in the "Polyphony" section.
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
Przemyslaw Ciępka: The issues raised in the sections of the last part of the exhibition, i.e. environmental issues, praise of individualism or dialogue with the past, among others, are also reflected in earlier works. There is a beautiful garden growing on the roof of the University of Warsaw Library, postmodern architecture is in many of its manifestations a dialogue with the past, and in the mirror mosaics of Joanna Rajkowska any of us can look through. In the "polyphony" of recent years, is there one particular voice that really stands out in our times?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: For me, such a voice is the issue of social solidarity. In recent years we have begun to create architecture, design and art on a larger scale that strive to build a sense of community. Aleksandra Wasilkowska's Błonie market or Jakub Szczęsny and Tomasz Dubiel's installation "Synchronicity," which illuminates the passage under the Lazienkowska Route, create inclusive spaces where everyone can feel at home. Universally accessible design or thinking about people with special needs is also important. For the first time in decades, we have seen extraordinary gestures of solidarity towards refugees from Ukraine. This is worth appreciating, especially in the context of previous decades of transition dominated by thinking about the economization of life and about development, often at any cost.
Przemyslaw Ciępka: This is the last exhibition under the "4 × modernity" banner. What picture of Polish modernity emerges after summarizing not this one, but all four exhibitions held in this series?
Prof. Andrzej Szczerski: This is a very difficult question and certainly a topic for more than one conversation. However, if I had to limit myself to one thought, I would say that modernity is an element of the canon of Polish culture. It is impossible to understand Polish identity by talking only about historical phenomena that we traditionally think defined us, those of the early Middle Ages, modern times or the 19th century. Until now, our modernity has been written about as a kind of unfulfilled hope. There was a belief that Poland, culturally, not only had never been modern, but in a sense had not even grown up to be such a country. I hope that the exhibitions we have organized at the National Museum in Cracow effectively undermine this stereotype.
Przemysław Ciępka: Thank you for the interview!
interviewed: Przemysław Ciępka
Photo: Kacper Trzmiel © MNK
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