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