MERRY CHRISTMAS for the second time

MERRY CHRISTMAS for the second time

An exhibition ‘Merry Christmas’ was presented for the first time at the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok in December 2005. After 8 years I was invited by the Polish Institute in Düsseldorf for the second time to organize the exhibition on this theme. Once again, together with the artists we took into consideration what does Christmas mean to us.

For centuries, art was closely related to religion, however today they seldom find common ground. Polish contemporary art gives critical commentaries, with a certain detachment, on religious beliefs of the Poles.

The theme of Christmas is trivialized, and it was raised repeatedly by art history long time ago. Nowadays, acquiring commercial dimension Christmas hardly opposes wrapping into a shiny paper of commercialism.

In collaboration with the Polish Institute we have invited four Polish artists so they would share their reflections on Christmas in this pre-Christmas time.

Three of the invited artists do not associate Christmas with religion, but with the family, warmth and friendship, doing good, finding an agreement, the dialogue of cultures, and by dazzling with sentimental stereotype they do expose and adapt it.

Dorota Podlaska has spent few months at the residency in Atelier Höherwegin Düsseldorf this year. For her, it is a city of many immigrants. She has created a series of drawings which tell the stories of how do residents of the city, who are not Christians, spend their Christmas time. Do they stay home alone being bored or meet their German friends, or perhaps they organize some kind of entertainment out of town? The artist was talking to various people in order to find answers to the questions above. She was interested to see how Christmas related festivals are celebrated in other cultures. The exhibition will present drawings in a fairytale style and in a kind of ‘a Christmas story’. One story is about Hiroko and Sohei, a Japanese couple who have lived in Düsseldorf since the 70’s. At Christmas they usually stay at home, enjoy the peace and quiet. However they spend the New Year’s Eve as we do –  the celebration lasts for three days. First of all they organize family dinner, then they visit their neighbours. On the third day they meet their friends. Mochi is a rice cake prepared in a special machine and it is a traditional food from Japan.

Elzbieta Jablonska accomplished a project inspired by the tradition of Christmas gift giving and the vanishing custom of giving handmade gifts. Elżbieta has prepared 400 objects that will become presents for unknown recipients. However the condition to receive a gift constitutes an exchange. In order to take the gift from the gallery one should leave her/his own present to an unknown person. Subsequently, all the gifts brought by the public will be given to people in need. In Białystok (Poland) the presents where handed over to emergency placement for children and young people exhibiting behavioural problems. Elżbieta Jabłońska pleases unknown visitors by offering them the gifts, but she also challenges their generosity and willingness to share with other people. 

Monika Drożyńska will show the works from the cycle ‘Winter activities’. These are hand embroidered fabrics created by the artist with inscriptions found in the city space, commonly known as obscenities. Irrespective of the assessment, they constitute an essential element of the urban landscape. They change the meaning while being transferred to fabric, embroidered on tambour frames, surrounded by tenderness and thoroughness in accomplishment. During the opening will be organized an action titled ‘Stitch yourself’. Monika Drożyńska plays the word association game which she contrasts. The title itself ‘Stitch Yourself’ has very ambiguous connotations. Anger is typically expressed loudly and violently and in extreme situations it causes damages: destroyed objects, sometimes marks on the body and soul. However, embroidery is associated more with meditation, stillness and concentration. Embroidered napkins dusted off, evoke good memories. On the one hand the artist defies the conventional ways of solving problems and expressing emotions. On the other hand, she clearly defines her attitude towards the conventions of Christmas preparations and enjoying Christmas.

Miroslaw Maszlanko is the only man involved in the exhibition and the only follower of the Orthodox Catholic Church. Only his work copes with the religious dimension of Christmas. ‘Christmas is a sacred, family and private time. Each of us has a different story of this time, his/her own childhood area hidden in memory. In our latitude, it is strongly related to nature, winter, snow white, black long nights, light and heat, smells and taste. Here, in a special way, the spiritual element of this time is mixed with sensuality. My work at the exhibition ‘Merry Christmas’ is an attempt to relate to the power of this feast’.

curators: Magdalena Godlewska, Monika Kumięga
 

http://www.polnisches-institut.de/programm/kunstausstellung_frohes_fest,1548/