The first edition of the PreFka Photography Review will take place at the Wozownia Art Gallery in Toruń on the 6th of December. The name “PreFka” alludes to the colloquial term “prewki” derived from the English word “preview”, used by photographers to refer to contact sheets. Throughout the history , photographers have used miniature contact sheets or other forms of previews. Replacing the letter W and emphasising the F in the name “PreFka” suggests the particular focus on photography (fotografia in Polish) and the starting point of the explorations of the Review.
PreFka is a new regular event related to photography that has much to offer. The audience will have the chance to see four photography exhibitions – Viktor Kopasz’s Double Tracks, Karolina Tutaj’s Survival of Social Event. Strategy, Alicja Kochanowicz’s Fever, and a group exhibition Photojournalists, in collaboration with the Museum of Photography in Kraków. Accompanying events will also include photography workshops. Jacek Świderski, the director of the Wozownia Art Gallery, talked with me about the birth of the idea for PreFka Photography Review, as well as its concept and future.
Patrycja Głusiec: Wozownia Art Gallery in Toruń has been operating since 1950, with many artists exhibiting their work there. What is the place of photography in the rich history of the gallery?
Jacek Świderski: Photography has always been present in our gallery, but so far, we have not had any regular event devoted to it. For the most part, artists who use the medium of photography have appeared and are still appearing here. However, we did not have any strictly photographic exhibitions which would refer to the substance of this medium. We would like to change that. Next year marks the 75th anniversary of our gallery and on this occasion, we also plan to prepare several photography exhibitions.
Wozownia Art Gallery is a place with a lot going on, as we have a rich offer of regular events. Our schedule includes the International Print Triennial “Colour in Graphic Art”, the Small Form Painting Biennial, the International Student Drawing Competition “Rysować” (“To Draw”), and “Persona” Poster Exhibition, the latter prepared in collaboration with the National Museum in Poznan.
As the need for a larger photography-related event arose, we decided to organize the PreFka Photography Review. Photography will take over all exhibition halls of the gallery, and in the future, we will try to expand beyond the gallery building as well. Perhaps other institutions will also join us. However, I do not plan on organising another photography festival, we just want to act as promoters. We are focused on the photographic venture and committed to exhibiting and promoting the artistic community of our region, that is the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship.
PG: Soon, a new series of photographic events “PreFka” will begin at your gallery. The name of this event alludes to the word “preview”, the term used by photographers to refer to contact sheets. What inspired you to initiate this Review?
JŚ: Last year, we conducted a survey among our gallery’s visitors. When asked what they would most like to see in Wozownia, to my great surprise, they said that they would like to see photography. This medium came in first place and was followed by painting. Therefore, we are responding to the demand, but as a photographer by education, it also resonates with me the most. I was very happy to know that our audience wants to see more photography in our gallery.
Every autumn I follow photography events and find them valuable.
There has not been a similar event focused only on photography in Toruń yet. We connected all these facts and saw the necessity for organising a review which would take place in Toruń.
PG: Referring to the name “PreFka”, deriving from “preview”, I understand that your event will, in some way, be a search for the best shot or showing how to achieve a certain frame. Will it be educational, then?
JŚ: We consider the educational aspect in the context of our four exhibitions. We aimto always refer to the history of photography in our review. We plan to always have a historical exhibition as part of this event as it can provide guidance or inspiration for contemporary photographers. Moreover, the other exhibitions showcasing the work of contemporary artists reflect new directions and trends in photography.
One of our objectives for this event is to introduce the work of artists from the neighbouring countries, which also aligns with the programme of Wozownia Art Gallery. Every edition of our review should feature such artists – this year, it will be Viktor Kopasz, a Czech artist.
PG: During PreFka Photography Review the audience will see works of contemporary, novice, and debuting artists, including Viktor Kopasz, Karolina Tutaj, and Alicja Kochanowicz. The selected artists will present diverse projects. Will they engage in a dialogue or will they present exhibitions as separate, portraying the different faces of contemporary photography?
JŚ: They will be individual exhibitions offering a fresh look at photography. All three exhibitions (Double Tracks by Viktor Kopasz, Fever by Alicja Kochanowicz, and Survival of Social Event. Strategy by Karolina Tutaj) are innovative and completely original projects. Each of them focuses on a different topic.
Czech artist Viktor Kopasz explores the opportunities and restrictions of photography, even in situations when he uses this medium as the only means of representation. However, he introduced other media and visual technologies in Double Tracks to emphasise the fluid nature of reality.
In her project Fever, Alicja Kochanowicz raises the subject of climate change. The eponymous “fever” is a reference to the expansion of mistletoe as one of the symptoms of the illness our planet suffers from. Global warming, along with the consequent permanent drought that has been occurring in our country since 2015, has favoured the spreading of this plant parasite The Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of the most drought-stricken areas in Poland.
Karolina Tutaj, is the voice of the young generation which is not afraid to talk about their emotions and inner life. Through her photographs and their accompanying descriptions, the artist creates a guide for introverts. She does it hilariously.
In the construction of our Photo Review, we focus on the relationship between photography’s past and present. The space of the Wozownia Art Gallery helps us here. We will be presenting a historical exhibition on the ground floor, and the space upstairs will be devoted to a fresh perspective on photography. We wonder what happened in photography during the transition g to digital, where we are now and where we are going. This is the dialogue between all three authors. Viktor Kopasz began his work as an artist with film photography, and now his expression is solely digital. The two younger artists received their education in digital photography. Through the exhibitions, we wonder what will come next and to what extent can modernity correspond with the past which will be represented in the gallery’s lower hall. Every visitor of Wozownia will embark on a journey from past to present.
PG: Another exhibition, Photojournalists of the Polish People’s Republic will add a retrospective and sentimental character to the event. What is the role of this exhibition when juxtaposed with modern photography?
JŚ: This exhibition was proposed by our partner, the Museum of Photography in Kraków. When the subject of photojournalism was proposed to us, we wondered whether it was a topic we would be able to adapt to our gallery. I think that the content of the exhibition itself is fascinating, and also offers a wide overview. The reportages are from various places. The exhibited artists include Andrzej Baturo, Sławek Biegański, Stanisław Ciok, Anna Musiałówna, Maciej Osiecki, Krzysztof Pawela, Włodzimierz Pniewski, Andrzej Polec and Maciej Musiał.
This exhibition represents what was so important for me – the core and the previous face of photography. It is an introduction to a dialogue between the past and the modern. We have analog photography, the standard process of the 1970s. This theme will be interesting for all age groups, and sometimes even humorous. That is why there is also a reference to Karolina Tutaj, a contemporary artist whose project radiates a sense of humour.
It should be noted that the aim of this exhibition is not to represent heavily engaged reportage, for instance, there is no war reportage there. The exhibition focuses on social reportage depicting Poland in the times of the Polish People’s Republic. It is a diverse, visually pleasing, and, most importantly, multipronged account of this era.
PG: PreFka Photography Review will be accompanied by other events. One of them will be your photography workshops. Could you tell me what subjects will you cover and for whom the workshops are intended?
JŚ: Photography workshops have been taking place at Wozownia for some time now. This is an action we take in response to the demand we investigated thanks to the Gallery Youth Council. Following the model of museum councils, we formed this group of young people. We want to know their opinion on the exhibitions, and also to get their advice on what they would like to see in the gallery. We want to know the direction they are taking. However, we also want to support them in their actions. The Gallery Youth Council was established this March and very quickly a creative collective “Odruch” was formed. Currently, we are already presenting their second exhibition. The group also publishes its own zine. It was these young people who decided that there was a need for photography workshops and that is why they are primarily intended for them. However, note that they are open to everyone.
The very first such workshop was “From Analog to Digital.” We started with taking pictures with an analog camera, developed the film, and then scanned it and obtained digital pictures, taken with an analog camera. The first edition of the workshops has already taken place, but we will most probably hold them during PreFka as well. I encourage following our social media channels where we will post more details.We also host an open workshop “Basics of Photography.” Additionally, around the finissage of PreFka in January, Alicja Kochanowicz, one of the exhibited artists, will hold her own workshops.
PG: Does the programme of PreFka Photography Review also include a portfolio review?
JŚ: Currently we do not have it on our agenda, but I have to mention that we occasionally organise an event of this kind called Portfolio Show. We always ask the artists exhibited at Wozownia Art Gallery to meet the audience. We facilitate conversations with the artists. During this year’s edition, we will also hold a lecture and a meeting with Marta Miskowiec, the curator of the Museum of Photography in Kraków. Moreover, we will organise a meeting with Karolina Tutaj and Alicja Kochanowicz.
PG: PreFka Photography Review is also a photography competition with the theme of self-portrait. Could you tell me how to participate in the competition and what kind of submissions will you be looking for?
JŚ: We want to inspire and activate the local community. It was my idea to locate it right here and that is why we did not promote it nationwide. We want to act locally.
Since it is a rather short competition, we wanted to prepare a topic that most photographers are familiar with. Most photographers take self-portraits, and I do not mean selfies. A self-portrait is something everyone has. However, for photographers, it is a rather difficult topic connected with identifying oneself within a space. That is why it is something completely different than a selfie. We take a selfie to show off and we always have to be beautiful. In a self-portrait, this is not the case. The photographer is more concerned with existing within a space, as they do not exist in their everyday life which they spend on the other side of the lens. All measures used by photographers in self-portraits are remarkably interesting. This is what we hope to see.
The jury of the competition includes the representatives of the Wozownia Art Gallery and the Gallery Youth Council, as well as Viktor Kopasz and Monika Sieklucka. I hope for an interesting discussion about the submitted works. The winners will be announced at the vernissage. The first-place recipient will have a chance to exhibit their works at the Wozownia Art Gallery and will also receive a cash prize. The post-competition exhibition will take place in January.
PG: Do you have any plans for a publication that would conclude the first edition of the PreFka Photography Review?
JŚ: We decided on three separate publications, each dedicated to one of the three artists presented during PreFka. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that you will also be able to purchase a publication prepared by the Museum of Photography in Kraków, dedicated to the exhibition Photojournalists of the Polish People’s Republic.
PG: What are your plans for the future of this event? Will it become a regular one?
JŚ: We want to make it a regular event. I think it would be interesting for Toruń if more photography exhibitions appeared in the city. It would be best to organise such events together with other local institutions, as combining everyone’s different ideas could be extremely creative.
Our gallery once belonged to BWA – a network of galleries. Although we are no longer a part of it, we still stay in touch. We want to create a new network of contacts and find new institutions to collaborate with – hence our relationship with the Museum of Photography in Kraków.
We are open to new collaborations. Moreover, our plans for next year include more photography exhibitions than only those at PreFka Photography Review.
Alicja Kochanowicz – an audiovisual artist. She graduated from Photography at the University of Fine Arts in Poznań (UAP) in 2015 and Intermedia and Multimedia at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (UMK) in 2018. Currently, Kochanowicz is beginning her research at the Academia Artium Humaniorum doctoral school at her alma mater. She combines the potential of post-artistic practice with strengthening resilience to climate disaster, with a particular emphasis on the local issue of wetlands. In her work, she utilises, among others, photography, video, performance and sound, focusing on the human being and their relationship with the environment. She collaborates with artistic, cultural, and educational initiatives. Kochanowicz received a scholarship from the city of Toruń in the field of culture. She is the co-creator of the Szatnia Gallery in Toruń.
Karolina Tutaj – a visual artist and a graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts (ASP) in Kraków (in 2024). She received her degree with honours at the Book Design Studio. She is interested in photography and artists’ books. Karolina is inspired by nature, daily life, and the absurd. Her works have been exhibited both in Poland and abroad – in Venice, Budapest and Barcelona.
Viktor Kopasz – the works of this artist born in 1973 are an extensive and open system of semantic operations done with photographic images. He weaves webs of meanings using various combinations of photography, collage, drawing, lettering, image modifications done in graphics software, and, most recently, also by using artificial intelligence. Kopasz’s assemblages exhibited at galleries are characterised by their uniqueness. He uses the fabric of exhibition spaces only temporarily, so he always captures their image in his artist’s books.
Translated by Beata Ekert
Edited by Julia Werdychowska
