Inspace_Exspace | Exhibition on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Stage Design of the University of the Arts Poznan

Inspace_Exspace | Exhibition on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Stage Design of the University of the Arts Poznan

Słodownia +1, Stary Browar, 42 Półwiejska Str.
Opening: 4.10.2024, 18:00
Duration of exhibition: 4 – 13.10.2024
Gallery is open daily from 12:00 to 20:00

Curatorial, design and implementation team:

Tomasz Ryszczyński, Martyna Stachowczyk, Marta Wyszyńska, Krzysztof Cicheński, Karolina Grzeszczuk, Dorota Kuźniarska, Kinga Ludek, Krzysztof Urban  

Inspace_Exspace – an exhibition organized on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Stage Design major at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts Poznan – shows a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to creating space and the relationship between a human/”actor” and the world/”stage”, sensitive to the constantly changing reality. It is guided by both artists who conduct classes in the original studios that are part of the Department of Stage Design and the Department of Fashion Design, as well as students whose works are also included in the exhibition. The presented works show the autonomous status of stage design, costume and clothing, going beyond dictionary definitions and fields of application. Some of them are related to theater, coexist with dramaturgy and potential stage action, others create their own context, far from performative arts and fiction – they are a response to the personal and collective experience of everyday life. Designing space and clothing is therefore in a sense creating the conditions of existence of things and entities, real and concrete or abstract and imagined. The variety of tools, forms and means of artistic expression used in this process – sometimes going beyond the intuitively felt and institutionally defined set belonging to visual arts – strengthens the power of the individual and independent nature of the work of each of the people co-creating the major of Stage Design.

Although the main goal of the exhibition is to capture the moment in which we currently find ourselves – what problems concern us and how we respond to them – we also look to the past, recalling selected achievements of people once associated with the course and for many years creating its character and atmosphere. The exhibition therefore begins with a reminder of the professors and teachers who left a permanent mark on the Stage Design program during their lives and shaped the direction of many studios and subjects – prof. dr hab. Wojciech Müller, prof. dr hab. Henryk Regimowicz, prof. dr hab. Ireneusz Domagała, prof. dr hab. Jarosław Maszewski and Lech Raczak.

The main part of the exhibition consists of works by the staff of the Department of Stage Design and the Department of Fashion Design. The title Inspace_Exspace, composed of an ambiguous English word, defining “space” (as well as area, space, emptiness, … cosmos?) combined with intuitively used prefixes in many languages, suggesting movement inwards (e.g. inspiration) and outwards (e.g. expression), is an attempt to metaphorically integrate our creative explorations (and the underscore not only connects these words, but also draws attention to what is the “field” of our action …). The surrounding space, organized or chaotic, close like fabric to the body, or overwhelming the individual with its vastness, physical and concrete or virtual and ephemeral, architectural and organic – its interpretations multiply when the works enter into mutual dialogue, combine the experiences of the authors contained in them with the reception of the audience. Original works, sketches and drawings as well as documentation of artistic work are presented in the main part of the exhibition by: prof. dr hab. Sławomira Chorążyczewska, prof. dr hab. Bohdan Cieślak, prof. dr hab. Katarzyna Podgórska-Glonti, dr hab. Anna Regimowicz-Korytowska prof. UAP, prof. dr hab. Piotr Tetlak, dr Zyta Kaleta, dr Ewa Mróz-Pacholczyk, dr Tomasz Ryszczyński, dr Martyna Stachowczyk, dr Marta Wyszyńska, mgr Krzysztof Cicheński, mgr Karolina Grzeszczuk, mgr Dorota Kuźniarska, mgr Kinga Ludek and mgr Krzysztof Urban.

In addition, three screens show the works by lecturers of the Stage Design major and those studying in the studios assigned to the Department of Stage Design and the Department of Fashion Design. The first list shows the nature of the work of specialists in their fields, who, with their experience, indicate potential career development paths for future graduates of Stage Design. The next two allow us to discover the creative potential of artistic attempts, original ideas, which, in most cases, had no chance or conditions for implementation, but thanks to this they retain a certain invigorating idealism and – paradoxically – are inspiring for people running studios and classes in Stage Design. The aspect of mutual exchange – of ideas, experiences, views and knowledge – still animates the community born from these studies. The centre of the exhibition is an installation that is the result of such work – a work created as a result of optional scenography and costume workshops, for which the impulse that triggered discussions and associations was the concept of non-human, containing many aspects of contemporary (and future) civilization.

We also invited artists from the Lviv National Academy of Arts to co-create the exhibition. The costumes presented on ten mannequins were created in cooperation between teachers and students, thus being an inspiring example of collective, intergenerational exchange that finds its result in creative action and a coherent artistic vision.