Etnocentrum Ziemi Krośnieńskiej invites you to the first exhibition of contemporary Lemko art on such a scale entitled. ‘External and Internal Space. Images of Lemkivshchyna in contemporary art’. It is a story about memory and its universality in the context of creating a contemporary Lemko identity.
Conducted in 1947 by the communist authorities, following the Soviet model, the Operation Vistula caused a permanent change in the social, cultural and economic structure of the areas it covered. Ethnic groups subjected to ethnic cleansing were forcibly resettled, deprived of their homes, possessions and, above all, their roots.
The Lemkos were one of the groups assigned a Ukrainian identity. Their forced displacement deprived them of their homeland, their cultural and identity base, and the subsequent assimilation measures deprived them of the possibility to nurture and develop their native culture and traditions.
The title of the exhibition refers to Andy Warhol’s filmOuter and Inner Space, which premiered in New York in January 1966. It was not made available for over 30 years until 1998, when it was restored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and premiered as an installation at the Whitney Museum of American Art in October 1998.
As the title of the exhibition suggests, Outer and Inner Space is primarily concerned with the personal (inner) and material (outer) spheres of social life. The works shown by Lemko and Polish artists are positioned between these two opposing spheres and operate in a kind of intermediate territory.
A combination of historical and political circumstances has meant that Lemko art is unknown in Poland. Lemkos have inspired Polish artists for a long time, but there is no place for Lemko artists in Polish museum collections. The exhibition is therefore an attempt to highlight their work. The title of the exhibition is also a postulate to look at Lemko and Polish artists who want to preserve their memory, and what the presence of Lemkos – or more often their absence – says about the condition of the state or, more broadly, contemporary culture
The exhibition features works by the following artists:
Mikołaj Fedak, Jakub Jakubowicz, Bogdan Kareł, Ewelina Kogut, Teodor Kuziak, Marzena Majka, Władysław Rewak, Andryj Suchorski, Katarzyna Szweda, Michał Szymko, Joanna Śpiak, Dawid Zdobylak, Anna Maria Zygmunt
Curator: Michał Szymko
