“Look Around” | Presentation of the “Look Around” Polish Exhibition of Countries and Regions from the Prague Quadrennial 2023 in Warsaw

The “Look Around” project consists of an exhibition, a sound walk and a programme of events held at the Kamień Educational Pavilion on the banks of the Vistula River and its environs.

“Look Around” encourages you to take a closer look at your immediate environment, its human and non-human inhabitants, its colours, sounds and smells. Have a look around and focus your attention on the places we tend to ignore in our daily lives as city dwellers, on the overgrown riverbanks, on the bird’s nests made of sticks and artificial fibres, and on the creations of human culture that have grown into our landscape.

“Look Around” is a continuation of the activities carried out by the collective (Zuzanna Berendt, Ludomir Franczak, Magdalena Franczak, Michał Fronk, Anna Majewska, Sara Märc and Ida Ślęzak) in preparation for and during the International Exhibition of Stage Design Prague Quadrennial 2023. As part of the “Look Around” project presented at the Prague Quadrennial 2023, the creative team worked out the rules of collective artistic and research methods, conducted research on the exhibition venue, the former slaughterhouse in Holešovice, and developed a proposal of activities aimed at developing multi-sensory sensitivity to space and noticing the presence of more than human beings there, their way of life, activities and time. The exhibition and programme of events, which will take place from 1 to 9 December in the Kameń Educational Pavilion, will offer the people of Warsaw the opportunity to experience the effects of the collective’s work in a local context.

1 December, 18:00–21:00 | Opening of the exhibition and a performative intervention

2 December, 14:15–16:15 | Performative walk

2 December, 16:15–18:15 | Curator on call: Magdalena Franczak

3 December, 10:00–13:00 | Workshop on artistic and research methods of working*

3 December, 13:15–15:15 | Curator on call: Ludomir Franczak

4 December, 17:00–19:00 | Curator on call: Anna Majewska

5 December, 17:00–19:00 | Curator on call: Ida Ślęzak

6 December, 16:00–18:00 | Curator on call: Anna Majewska

7 December, 16:00–18:00 | Curator on call: Ida Ślęzak

9 December, 16:00–18:00 | Curators on call: all curators

9 December, 18:00–19:30 | Performative dismantling of the exhibition

Admission to all events is free.

*Registration is required to participate in the workshop on artistic and research work. To register write to bilety@instytut-teatralny.pl

“Look Around” | Presentation of the “Look Around” Polish Exhibition of Countries and Regions at the Prague Quadrennial 2023

1–9 December 2023

Kamień Educational Pavilion, Wybrzeże Puckie 1, Warszawa

Creative collective: Zuzanna Berendt, Ludomir Franczak, Magdalena Franczak, Anna Majewska, Ida Ślęzak

Production: Karolina Dziełak-Żakowska, Krystyna Mogilnicka

Music: Marcin Dymiter

Workshop on artistic and research work methods run by: Ida Ślęzak

Performative intervention at the exhibition opening: Jagna Nawrocka

Visual identification: Robert Zając (kilku.com)

Light design: Sebastian Klim

“Look Around” is a continuation of the activities carried out by the collective (Zuzanna Berendt, Ludomir Franczak, Magdalena Franczak, Michał Fronk, Anna Majewska, Sara Märc, and Ida Ślęzak) during the Prague Quadrennial 2023.

The Kamień Educational Pavilion is a centre for ecological education run by the City of Warsaw’s Green Office and the heart of the Dzielnica Wisła project. Most of the educational projects at the Kamień Pavilion take place outdoors, in the middle of the amazing nature of the Middle Vistula Valley Nature 2000 Zone. It is also a place of debates, meetings, exchange of experiences, creativity and culture, open to all residents.

PERFORMATIVE WALK | 2 December, 14:15–16:15

Our daily lives are filled with movement – sometimes physical, but more often symbolic. The pace is accelerating with the development of new technologies and means of transport. Meanwhile, the physical movement of our bodies is inextricably linked to the pace at which our brains function. It helps us to tune in to our surroundings, to other humans and non-humans: beavers, ducks and the river. Moving at a walking pace promotes thinking and, combined with observing the space around you, allows us to focus on things that are outside of our day-to-day interests. As we walk, our thoughts begin to flow and our senses are sharpened.

Ludomir Franczak will take us on a walk, which he sees as a creative method. A series of exercises (not necessarily physical) related to walking, which will also introduce us to one of the methods developed during the creation of the exhibition for the Prague Quadrennial.

Is December a good month for walking?

Who owns the landscape around us?

What exactly are we looking at what can we hear in our surroundings?

What is hidden in the constant movement of nature and how can we tune in to it?

A WORKSHOP ON THE METHODS OF ARTISTIC AND RESEARCH COLLECTIVE WORK | 3 December. 10:00–13:00

During the workshop, Ida Ślęzak will share with the participants the methods of collective work that were applied during the execution of the “Look Around” project at the Prague Quadrennial. This will include methods of collaborative creation of various artistic and research formats as well as ways of organising long-term group work. She will also share the challenges and doubts she encountered during the process.

The workshop is designed as a space for mutual support and inspiration, so an important part of the workshop will be the exchange of experiences, ideas and working methods between participants. If you have experience in collective work or are interested in such forms of work, please join me at the workshop.

To register for the workshop, please send an email to: bilety@instytut-teatralny.pl

PERFORMATIVE DISMANTLING/EXHIBITION CLOSING | 9 December, 18:00–19:30

The work that was created as part of the “Look Around” project is related to the set design milieu and to thinking about the environment as a backdrop for performative actions. One of its core elements is movement, which so far has mainly been evoked by the audience experiencing the work on many levels: while physically interacting with the installation, moving through its contexts and participating in sound walks. Throughout this time, the installation on display is transformed by these movements, yet remains somehow static itself.

Is the closing night of an exhibition not the perfect time to set it in motion?

Can the accumulated energy be released?

How to influence the reception of a multithreaded work created by a creative collective with the use of sound and moving image?

Can this be done in a similarly collective way?

We invite everyone to participate in the dismantling of our exhibition. It will be a performative event highlighting the constant movement in which our work remains.

“Look around” is co-financed from the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage within the framework of the task “Execution of the project of the 15th edition of the Prague Quadrennial 2023”, date of contract execution: January 2023.