Maria Wasko
"This Earth Is a Flower"
Maria Wasko is an artist and filmmaker, the co-founder of The International
Artists' Museum and the co-organizer of all its events since 1981. Since 1990
she has been making video documentaries about the Construction in Process.
Her films have been shown in Polish and German public televisions and in many
places around the world, such as Cinematheque Israel, Akademie der Kunste Berlin,
DuMont Kunsthalle Cologne, P.S.1 Museum New York, Footscray Art Centre Melbourne
and National Gallery "Zacheta" Warsaw.
Maria Wasko will talk
about the activity of the Artists' Museum and the 22-year history
of Construction in Process. She will also present a video documentary
of the last event (the 7th Edition of Construction in Process),
which took place in 2000 in Poland with the participation of
120 artists from 30 countries. Construction in Process is a large-scale
art event organized by the independent group of artists gathered
around The International Artists' Museum. Each edition of the
project allows up to 150 artists from all over the world to participate.
Participant selection is made by artists: one artist selects
other artist to take part in the event and the event organization
is based on voluntary work. Construction in Process intends to
be an inclusive forum, which opens art to other forms of human
existence. It is a process itself that seeks to combine art and
co-existence at the same time. It is an idea that continuously
develops itself as a "clash of consciousness with time", where
such elements like improvisation, emotions, energy, excitement,
solidarity and cooperation are totally fundamental. Art works
are created during the event, thus resulting in a climate of
experimentation and dynamism. The artists are working in different
disciplines and there's no division between young, old, emerging
and famous artists. Construction in Process contains all forms
of art activity, visual arts, video, performance, theater, concerts,
literature, discussions, panels, public dialog etc. The working
places are spread over the entire city and its natural surroundings
and are accessible for the viewers.
Construction in Process
events:
1981 Construction in Process - first Edition in the time of the historical "Solidarnosc" movement
in Poland
1985 "Prozess und Konstruktion in Munchen"
1990 Construction in Process "Back in Lodz" - return after the democratic changes
in Poland
1993 Construction in Process "My Home Is Your Home" - establishing of the Artists'
Museum in Lodz
1995 Construction in Process "Coexistence", Negev Desert, Israel
1998 Construction in Process "Bridge", Melbourne, Australia
2000 Construction in Process "This Earth Is a Flower", Bydgoszcz, Poland
The honorary President
of the Artists' Museum is Emmett Williams. Members of the International
Artists' Board are a.o. Marcia Hafif, Sol LeWitt, Ken Unsworth,
Ay-O, Micha Ullman and Lawrence Weiner. The originator of the
idea and the main organizer of all the events is Ryszard Wasko.
"Construction in Process
was remarkable as an initiative generated by artists and as a
social and political project, carried out on a shoestring budget,
which drew its strength from Poland's particular situation...
If the crowds and the mood of celebration at the official opening
of the exhibition were any indication, there was tremendous local
support for the project and truly renewal of the optimism that
had fired the first show." (Sue Cramer, Art in America", 1991) |
