About the project:

The moment we resign ourselves of life’s little pleasures marks the beginning of the end. Time, confined within four walls, starts to slow down and stretch simultaneously through repetitive actions. Turning the light on, turning the light off. Soon even that will stop being our input. The doors will also lead nowhere. Then, darkness will emerge from the corners. It will run rampant. Seize and consume. No one knows how long this will last and how much dust will slowly settle on the furniture. But it will eventually come, the eternal stillness. We will turn off the lights. We will cover the mirrors. No wind will ever carry away this scent.

About the author:

Katarzyna SZWARC

Graphic designer, freelancer, photographer.
Graduate of Art Institute of the University of Silesia in Cieszyn and the Academy of Photography in Cracow.
Currently she’s a student of photography at The Institute of Creative Photography in Opava.
She’s a member of the student photography collective Šedá Zóna.

What does the system observe? How does this act of observing reveal the system itself?

Almost 40 million photos are kept at the Institute of National Remembrance. These include images of matters important for Polish history, as well as evidence for the banality of human actions, petty crime or insubordination. Their common thread is violence. Violence expressed by the gaze of an agent of the system.

From the perspective of the apparatus of oppression, everything is of interest and importance; nothing is insignificant enough to be left out. Just as with all matters tied to memory, here we will also stumble upon what is denied and disturbing. That’s why the excluded and unsaid become such an incredibly important lead, because what’s left undocumented may be simply dangerous.

This exhibition is another to ask questions about history, memory and our past. The book titled “How to look natural in photos” by Beata Bartecka and Łukasz Rusznica is part of the presented exhibition.

ŁUKASZ RUSZNICA

Łukasz Rusznica (1980) – photographer and curator, in his artistic practice he mostly focuses on photography books. He runs the publishing company Sun Archive in Wrocław.

TOMASZ STEMPOWSKI

Tomasz Stempowski (1971) – historian and IPN archivist, author and co-author of numerous articles and publications, including: Sandy roads of Carpathians. Photographs by Captain Karol Angerman from the years 1940-1945, Collection of photographs from the Main Commission for the Investigation of Crimes against the Polish Nation, Polish Roads through Switzerland. The fate of the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Rifle Division 1940–1945 in photographs from the collections of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, The Siege of Warsaw in the photography of Julien Bryan, The career of SS-Oberscharführer Hermann Baltruschat 1939–1943. Photographic album of an Einsatzgruppe and Gestapo officer in the Polish territories annexed to the Reich, Law in Film.

He writes a blog about historical photography – fototekst.pl

Curator: Łukasz Rusznica

Texts accompanying the exhibition: Tomasz Stempowski, Łukasz Rusznica

Translation: Aleksandra Szymczyk

Painting, photography, sculpture, installation… Just as different techniques, diverse personas come together to form a multidimensional mosaic, which we invite you to experience within the walls of the Rzeczna Gallery in Rybnik from June 14th to August 24th, 2024.

The genres and media are in relation to the subjects, and the viewers will be in relation to the artistic statements. They are woven by the individual language of stories about the world around us, but also the micro-worlds of the artists themselves.

The group exhibition of artists from Dorsten – a partner city to Rybnik, accompanying the 30th anniversary of the friendship between the cities – is an occasion to see the works of artists from western Germany. It will also be an opportunity to personally meet the artists themselves. Here are their names: Alex Fichtner, Doris Gerhard, Frank Hesse, Tanja Nowak, Ingrid Saalfeld, Claudia Schnitzler, Slavica van der Schors, Brigitte Stüwe.

His works are simultaneously monumental and intimate. They carry an extraordinarily emotional charge, whilst remaining mysterious and poetic. Ryszka had unparelled workshop skills, a strong understanding of form and an exceptional respect for the medium he created in. An important yet, little-known part of Ryszka’s artistic activities are his gouaches, watercolours, drawings and prints. All executed with great tenderness. Ryszka was a key influence to many outstanding artists, and his independence and individuality made his creative output consistently impervious  to the passage of time.

The exhibition presented at Rzeczna Art Gallery, has been designed to allow the viewer to immerse themselves in the world of Adolf Ryszka, learn about his diverse artistic achievements and appreciate the importance of the sculptor for not only Polish but global art as a whole. The exhibition includes works representing different stages of the artist’s career and the major undertaken themes, which are arranged in the form of cycles. Each cycle is represented by a select group of sculptures, diverse in form and materials.

The aim of this exhibition is to show the mastery of the sculptor’s craft. Showcasing his unparalleled skills, imagination and sensitivity. As well as the outdoor aspects of these objects created by Adolf Ryszka during sculpture symposiums. Resulting in monumental works that remain in a symbiosis with nature, bringing a new quality to their intimate relationship with the landscape.

Adolf Ryszka’s works are the property of Anna Ryszka-Zalewska. Rzeczna Art Gallery expresses its gratitude to the Master’s heir for the kindness shown while working on this exhibition

Chris Niedenthal is a photographer – legend. For years, his photographs have been presented in exhibitions and publications. Thus, selecting approximately 200 images from an archive of hundreds of thousands of photographs posed a great challenge. We felt tempted to surprise the audience and present works which have not been shown before. However, a retrospective of Chris Niedenthal’s 50 years in photojournalism has never been done before. 

He documented the activities of two future Nobel Peace Prize winners: Lech Wałęsa and Mikhail Gorbachev. A winner of the World Press Photo prize himself, Niedenthal was a contract photographer for two of the most important newsmagazines in the world: Newsweek and Time. His photographs depicting life in Eastern Bloc countries were published by Stern, Geo, Der Spiegel, and Paris Match, among others. He was the only foreign photographer documenting the first days of the Lenin Shipyard strike in Gdańsk. From day one, his primary focus was photojournalism. Having no interest in studio or art photography, he wanted to document reality, not create a new one. 

Always professional and honest, he knew his limitations. He didn’t document the centres of protests or street riots. He did not cover conflicts. In one interview he said: ”I do not photograph dictators but the consequences of their actions”. (Ironically, it was a photograph of the Hungarian dictator János Kádár that that won him a World Press Photo prize). His prime interest was everyday life and ordinary people. These photographs are the greatest and most fascinating part of his archive. Perhaps it is so because the country his parents were born in was so different from the one he grew up in. He would roam communist-ruled Poland with a camera, capturing situations which seemed ordinary to contemporary Poles. Yet he saw something exceptional in them. 

A foreign correspondent press pass enabled him to take photographs few could take at that time. His contracts with Newsweek (from 1978) and then Time were a tremendous step forward in his career. It meant unlimited access to high quality colour films. He knew the language. He had a car and a British passport. He could leave Poland anytime. But he never did. That is why his archive is a unique journalistic record of Poland and Eastern Europe of the 1970s and 1980s. 

He would preserve it on colour slides. It was this difficult photographic medium, requiring very precise exposure, which lent itself to printing in glossy magazines. He used to ship undeveloped film rolls, meticulously described on envelopes, to editorial offices. He did not know what his work looked like. A lab technician would develop the films and a photo editor would choose the frame that would be published. Niedenthal was only able to see the effects of his work in the print editions of magazines sent to him by the editorial offices. Considering the delays of post offices, he sometimes had to wait for a long time.

Although he has worked for prestigious world magazines, he always points out that it was Polish photographers who taught him professional photography. 

We hope that you will be willing to get to know both the photographs and their author: an author who consistently followed his own path, knew how to use the opportunities which presented themselves, became a legend of photojournalism, and at the same time has remained a warm, open, and modest human being. 

Anna Brzezińska and Katarzyna Puchalska