BWA Wrocław hosts an exhibition that is highly topical in the context of recent events in Poland and the current crisis in the relationship between man and nature. The space of fairy tales and their contemporary interpretations has been open to visitors from 11 October.
“Temple of Tales”, the collective exhibition curated by Joanna Kobyłt, reflects on how contemporary spirituality is intertwined with our relationship with nature. Primal stories and beliefs become the starting point of re-interpretation and re-imagination of our future. “In the face of crises, telling alternative scenarios of the future and looking to the past for positive role models can prove essential to survival”, says the curator. The exhibition will include retrospective works created in the 20th century, along with contemporary works made especially for this exhibition.
The concept of the “Temple of Tales” was based on the Sagenhalle, which was also known as the Hall of Tales. Initially built as a small ‘museum’, it was dedicated to the Mountain Spirit – the personification of the forces of nature. Sagenhalle was opened in 1903 in Szklarska Poręba from the initiative of Hermann Hendrich, a German painter whose work explored subjects of spirituality and symbolism. In one of the texts, Brunon Wille referred to the hall as ‘an artistic monument of affection for nature’. The Sagenhalle presented large-scale expressive landscapes of mountains, highlighting the power and unpredictability of nature.
The exhibition’s narrative guides the visitors through contemporary ‘chrams’, each evoking different stories and themes. In the Slavs religion, ‘chrams’ served as sacred buildings and places for prayers and meetings and were dedicated to the cult of trees and forces of nature. Regarding this, each exhibition room is dedicated to a different tale.
The mediums of the works on display range from drawings and paintings to installations and videos. “The artworks, created in various media, emphasise the role of imagination in the face of crises in the modern world, where we need rewritten fairy tales”. Within this diversity, the works created for this exhibition range across three time dimensions: past, present, and future.
Along with contemporary works, “Temple of Tales” will present some unique pieces from the 20th century. One of them is a tapestry created by Wanda Bibrowicz, a Polish artist whose primary medium and focus was textile. In 1911, she established a weaving workshop with an exhibition gallery in Szklarska Poreba and works created there are considered the most significant in her practice. The other are drawings of temples made by Stanisław Szukalski, a sculptor and painter, mainly active in the USA. In addition to his practice, Szukalski was an active art theorist. In 1929, he initiated an art group that focused on nationalism and the culture of the early Slavs.
The exhibition, with such a wide range of works and references to the early days of culture as well as future concepts, can provoke valuable reflections on current times. Speculations might open our imagination to possible solutions or new life scenarios that may not occur at first glance. “Today, we look for hope in technology and evolutionary theory, believing that science will find a remedy for ecological catastrophe, or we console ourselves with the thought that after our disappearance, we will be replaced by other, unknown life”, says Joanna Kobyłt.
“Temple of Tales” is open to the public till February 2025.
