Art Residency: In conversation with Rafał Kołacki “Act_In_Out residency is different in nature and is not only about sounds and music”

Artist and curator Rafał Kołacki is one of the initiators of Act_In_Out residency. We met to talk about this international project organised by The Art Factory in Łódź, Slaturhusid (MMF) Center for Art and Culture in Egilsstaðir, Carte Blanche Dance Theatre in Bergen and Visjoner Theatre in Oslo. Rafał shared with me the outcome of this initiative and some exciting details about this unique residency’s multidisciplinary sound, music and art projects.

Sylwia Krasoń: ACT IN_OUT is a three-week residency. During the stay, six artists have created conceptual and audio-visual installations and works. Tell me more about the main concept behind this residency programme and your role as a curator?

RK: ACT IN_OUT is a multidimensional project, but it has two main pillars, namely music and theatre. In the music category we planned concerts and art residencies. The fun fact is that these residencies are different in nature and are not only about sounds and music. Wiola Ujazdowska and myself are responsible for coordinating all related activities in these areas. When it comes to the residency programme, we cooperate with our Icelandic partner, Slaturhusid (MMF) Center for Art and Culture in Egilsstaðir. When Wiola and I were writing the project, we represented the two institutions – Wiola was in Iceland and I was in Łódź. We had many long conversations and numerous meetings, which ended up in us selecting six artists to invite.

SK: How did you select the artists for the residency? What qualities, achievements and skills were you looking for in order to choose them? 

RK: We are both artists ourselves. Apart from that we have been working as curators and coordinators of various events and art projects for over ten years. In Egilsstaðir, Iceland, Wiola organises the Vor / Wiosna Polish Art Festival. I have organised the CoCArt Music Festival in Toruń for over ten years, recently I have been organising the Fab_In_Festival in Łódź. This proves that we have extensive experience of working with artists.

First of all, we wanted the selected artists to be multi talented and diverse (musicians, sound artists, visual artists, performers, etc). We looked for those who discussed crucial and current cultural issues in their works, such as racism, the situation of minorities or attempts at finding one’s own identity. We wanted them to create works inspired by the atmosphere and spirit of the place where they will be staying. The point where all the ideas met were two post-industrial venues which we represented, namely The Art Factory in Łódź, which occupies the building of the former textile factory of Karl Wilhelm Scheibler, and Slaturhusid, which replaced the former slaughterhouse. Their industrial nature and the transformation of the venues, which was possible thanks to the efforts of local communities, were particularly important to us. We emphasised these aspects in every conversation with artists who we invited to participate in our project. There was no open call for the project because there simply was not enough time. Finally, as I already mentioned, we chose six artists who, in our opinion, proposed the best projects at that time.

SK: Why did you start a collaboration with an institution from Iceland? 

RK: Iceland has been, still is and will be a very interesting, artistically and musically inspiring country. Unsurprisingly, I have wanted to work on a project which would revolve around that region and culture for a long time. I had specific ideas for activities that selected people would carry out in this country, surrounded by the Icelandic ‘climate’. An extremely talented singer, Joanna Skowrońska, who has been researching traditional musical culture of Eastern Europe for many years, was an ideal pick. She would have perfectly complemented the cold and wild Iceland with the sound of her voice. I imagined this conglomeration of sadness and nostalgia from Slavic songs and the coldness of Iceland. I also thought about Krzysztof Topolski with his approach to exploring sound landscapes and endless audio fascinations, who would explore the very rich Icelandic nature.

SK: So far, the first three residencies took place in Łódź and in Seyðisfjörður. Tell me more about the projects the artists created during their stay? 

RK: For almost three weeks at the end of July and the beginning of August two artists from Iceland staying in Łódź, Atli Bollason and Guðmundur Úlfarsson, created the work called ‘A Thousand Ragged Ghosts’. It was a visual and sound performance. 

At the same time, the duo of ‘Unfiled’ have been working in Fabryka Sztuki over the last two weeks, weaving visual, auditory and textual materials from Łódź and further afield. At the end of their residency, they present an audio-visual performance in progress.

During their stay, the artists studied the history of the Scheibler’s factory, acquiring old drawings and prints which they used later on during the event. What came out was an extremely fascinating, mysterious audiovisual performance. The industrial scenery in Łódź was filled with massive rhythmic sounds and visitors could see pictures created especially for this occasion. 

At the end of April Stefan Kornacki created an installation ‘STOCK FOR FUTURE’ in Herðubreið, which is a local cultural centre in Seyðisfjörður. The entire piece was a unique form of a documentary.

SK: ACT IN_OUT is not just a residency but a rich programme of events: concerts of independent groups, musical shows and spectacles, seminars and so on taking place both in Poland and Iceland. What are the biggest challenges in organising such multicultural music events?

RK: Indeed, ACT IN_OUT is a complex project which is composed of many segments. In my view, what guarantees the success of this endeavour is the extraordinary knowledge and experience of those involved in it. Each person involved is highly qualified and able to work around the issues he/she is responsible for with confidence. Since the moment we started discussing, making arrangements, creating and carrying out the whole project we always felt that we understood each other well, we talked a lot, were always eager to cooperate, were open and reacted to things with a sense of humour. We obviously work in the field of culture, which is why trust, responsibility, expertise and the ability to work in a large team are necessary attributes and only they can guarantee a successful project delivery. Unfortunately, as I can tell you from my experience, in many institutions there is not a single of these attributes present while working on projects. If this is the case, work really becomes an ordeal.  

SK: In your opinion, what makes ACT IN_OUT different from other residency programmes? 

RK: I think that ACT IN_OUT is the project where we emphasise dialogue between curators and artists. The artists who participate in residencies are in constant contact with their mentors before, during and after their stay. Curators in charge of the residency programme in a given country are responsible for arranging comfortable working conditions for resident artists. This is the priority for all of us working on ACT IN_OUT. What we also perceive as particularly important is the final presentation of created works. We want it to be an event where we report on the period when artists were creating their installations, performances, etc. 

SK: What is your approach or plan to document and record the outcome of the residency programme?

RK: As an artist I feel that documenting and recording of what was created during residency stays is extremely important. It was crucial for me to prepare a publication that would sum up all residencies. This publication will be very interesting from the visual point of view. Its design and publication were placed in the hands of ‘Trzydziewięć na trzy dwa’ studio, namely Radek Staniec and Maria Szczodrowska. This is why I am sure that our publication will be truly unique. The catalogue will be accompanied by a CD with all events involving sounds that took place during the residencies (concerts, sound installations, summaries of workshops, etc.) What is more, we try to invite a photographer to where artists work, who documents the creative efforts on the spot. Of course, we try to show our presence in different media.

At the end of the project, we are going to organise a seminar to serve as a platform for evaluation and a project summary. Participating artists, experts and curators will be invited to take part. We will discuss any pros and cons. 

SK: You are not only a curator but also a very busy artist working on multiple projects at the same time. What are you working on right now?

RK: At the moment, apart from playing concerts and teaching at workshops related to sounds, I am particularly engrossed in making installations. In August I created an audio installation entitled :refer:. This audio installation discusses a complex and personal issue, namely memories. The word in the title is one of the palindromes (palindromeo – running backwards), which means that we can read it the same backward as forward. Memories help us define our position on the world around us and understand our identity, but at the same time we are constantly floating between what is known and understandable, and what is unfamiliar.

In my PhD thesis, which I am currently working on at the Academy of Fine Arts in Szczecin, I discuss memories which follow after we lose a close person. As part of this work, I am planning to create a sound installation and present it in the Centre of Contemporary Art in Toruń. Apart from that, I participate in Robert Knuth’s Head Down project. It combines an installation made of resonating images (135 glasses) and an audio performance of KK00 Knuth/Kołacki duo entitled ‘Circular Breathing Sound’. The venue for the project is Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre. It was carried out in August 2022. I also prepared two albums – “Huma. The language of birds”, which contains recordings from Uzbekistan (Wydawnictwo Szara Reneta), and “1001 Nights”, which contains recordings from Tangier (Wydawnictwo Noisen Records).