“Stories. The world is more complicated than our truths about it” is an interdisciplinary contemporary visual arts collaboration of the Mazovian Museum in Płock and Kunstbanken Center for Contemporary Art in Hamar, Norway. The one-year long project (April 2023 – March 2024) aimed at creating a platform for artistic cooperation, supporting local entrepreneurship, and promoting contemporary art and performance practices among the general public. The great contribution to the “Stories” was made by director of the Mazovian Museum, Leonid Sobieraj, director of Kunstbanken, Ingrid Blekstad, art curator, Małgorzata Sady, and the project’s coordinator, Agnieszka Kaniewska Płocieniak. “As a result of discussions, we have managed to create an elaborate programme that took into account the potential of both institutions, aimed to develop this potential and bring to light the work of the outstanding avant-garde artists, Franciszka and Stefan Themerson,” Agnieszka Kaniewska-Płocieniak explains.
The Themersons
Franciszka and Stefan Themerson, the most versatile avant-gardists of the twentieth century Poland, who pioneered in experimental filmmaking, were chosen as patrons of the project. Such a choice was not just a coincidence: many of the couple’s works are seen in the main exhibition of the Mazovian Museum. On top of that, Plock has the Themerson Gallery, which was opened in 2021, and since then has been hosting the permanent exposition of the artists’ pieces. “The Themersons’ heritage deserves to be better known because the language of their artworks, that include film, literature, paintings, and stage design, is universal. Together, they formed a harmonious tandem, for whom art was their life, and they persistently followed in its footsteps,” explains Agnieszka Kaniewska-Płocieniak.
“Due to the interdisciplinary nature of their works, the Themersons seemed to be excellent spiritual patrons of such a multifaceted project as ‘Stories’,”she added.
Organizational Success
The biggest event of the project was the International Festival of Performing Arts that took place in Plock and lasted from July 19th till July 22nd 2023 The programme of the festival included the performances of 50 international artists, art installations, an open off-stage for young performers, film screenings, interactive activities, discussions, and workshops.
The museum provided five spaces] for artistic activities. During the Festival, the guests could see works of the distinguished and well-known performance artists such as Nigel Rolfe, Marilyn Arsem, Joanna Rajkowska and Jolanta Krukowska. One of the key events was a workshop organised by the VestAndPage artist duo, known for its performance art and visual art works, as well as films.
“We put the most effort into the Performing Arts Festival. For the museum, the very organisation of such an event was a novelty and certain difficulties emerged due to the specifics of the institution. Added to this was the scale of the project – we had planned to invite nearly 50 artists from various parts of Europe and the world, and we had to organise their stay and travel, which required a lot of effort,” explains Agnieszka Kaniewska-Płocieniak.
“But regardless of all the technical difficulties, the festival turned out to be a great success”, Kanniewska-Płocieniak added.
Randomness of Artistic Process
Another major part of the project was the “In Praise for Happy Chance” multimedia exhibition that featured the works of three artists – Victoria Sarah Davis, Grzegorz Rogala and Stanisław Furman. Its main idea was the role of accidents in the creative process. The pieces were created specifically for the project.
Davis and Furman based their artworks on the Polish film traditions: the “Traces” multi-channel installation by the former focused on the Themersons contribution to the Polish avant-garde cinema, while the latter used the films by Tomasz Pobog-Malinowski as the material for his documentary.
Meanwhile, Grzegorz Rogala created two artistic personalities with the help of the artificial intelligence. Each of them took its own path, but later merged into one, while maintaining individual character.
The exhibition was on display in Plock from November to December in Płock, and from January to March in Hamar. The curator of the event was Małgorzata Sady.
Norwegian Craft
The Mazovian Museum hosted the opening of the exhibition of Norwegian arts and crafts called “Handmade Stories. Nine Norwegian artists”. Through unique pieces made of fabric, ceramics, glass, metal and wood, the creators shared visual stories with the audience.
Among the artists, whose works were presented at the exhibition, were Inga Blix (textiles), Liv Blåvarp (jewellery wood), Ragnhild Enge (textiles), Tor Alex Erichsen (ceramics), Kari Håkonsen (glass), Ingun Kleppan (metal jewellery), Vidar Koksvik (glass), Torbjørn Kvasbø (ceramics) and Kari Mølstad (glass).
The event was curated by Ingrid Blekastad, director of the Kunstbanken Center for Contemporary Art in Hamar.
“Stories” Endings
The official closing ceremony of the “Stories” project took place on March 19th, 2024. Leonard Sobieraj and Ingrid Blekastad were present at the conference to summarise the project.
“The Kunstbanken was an exceptionally committed institution, and it is worth mentioning, given that often in such projects partners hardly take part,” emphasises Agnieszka Kaniewska-Płocieniak. She also mentions that the event had an enormous impact on the museum, having been a breath of fresh air for the institution, and added to the development of its employees.
The meeting was followed by a concert by the Nowosielski Audiovisual with live visual art by Andrzej Wąsik, based on Jerzy Nowosielski’s paintings.
