“Between life” – new different life in Poland after 1989.
Exhibition of Photography Institute proFotografia.
Five stories by five authors:
“The age of innocence” by Tomasz REISS,
“Pictures from Poland” by Maciej PISUK,
“Male strip-tease” by Agnieszka RAYSS,
“Greetings from Chorzow” by Andrzej MARCZUK,
“Close” by Staszek HEYDA.
“Where do we come from, who are we, where are we going to?” – the title of a painting by Gauguin, as well as the painting itself turned out to be the testament of the artist who took his life away.
Since 1989 we have hoped for a life by western standards, and some of us even believed that we had reached those standards. Now, the world crisis we are struggling with only proves that whatever we have achieved has been on credit that is each time more and more difficult to pay back.
(Perhaps) We are not (yet) up for a suicide wave but it is worth reconsidering essential questions posed by artists and philosophers. We might get closer to answering them than Gauguin. What are we to hold on to? Has the new philosophy of searching constant changes and excitements taken us further than the old philosophy of being?
The exhibition by 5 Polish documentary photographers is called “Between life”, because although it shows pictures of life, it portrays attempts, beginnings, and torn fragments - fragments of life that Staszek Heyda´s grandfather ultimately faces when looking at the mirror in the collection “Close” which concludes the exhibition. The beginning is marked by cheerful impressions from “The age of innocence” which capture the charm of childhood, a short period filled with confidence in life and the feeling of safety.
The first doubt arises with Maciej Pisuk´s “Pictures from Poland”. We can see ordinary people from village festivals and Warsaw´s neighbourhood Praga. Despite their “appealing” strong physical build they are part of the world that is being pushed aside and disappearing.
Agnieszka Rayss shows a “better” world, a “small America”, but although she gives a touch of colour to bold male shows, she mercilessly reveals the banality of the dancers´ physical strength as well as the banality of the women who try to break free from their ordinary lives by throwing themselves into the arms of the “splendid” strippers who even ask them to be called angels for women.
Was that what democracy was all about? About a world full of inverted commas?
The life of an adult inevitably falls into pieces at some point. The jigsaw puzzle is then put together one way or another. People from Slask still manage to keep some order by holding on to rituals and customs, as it can be seen in photos from Chorzow Park (“Greetings from Chorzow”). Yet another generation goes there to have a date, to walk the dog, to lie down on a blanket, to sit on a deckchair, and to play chess or cards. Then it feels good for a while. Cosy and safe.
Staszek Heyda shows the most painful crack in this rhythm when a person slowly goes away and feels that they lose touch with the present and the past. It is the moment when the nearest feel they must be close by as little time is left. Ultimately there is death between life.
Monika Piotrowska, curator
/Translation: Violetta Lont/
