Krzysztof Wodiczko: EMANCYPACJE. Projection on the monument to Tadeusz Kościuszko | accompanying event

Krzysztof Wodiczko, a world-renowned Polish-American artist, one of the most important representatives of public art, will use video projections to “reanimate” the monument to Tadeusz Kościuszko, located in the center of Łódź Freedom Square. The artist, who has been fascinated by the figure of this historical hero of Poland and the United States for many years, will use his texts, as well as statements by contemporary citizens of Łódź, to create an exhibition that will focus on the issues of emancipation – the old one – of Polish peasants, black slaves and other minorities of the time, as well as the challenges of emancipation today. By updating Kościuszko’s attitude and thought, this project aims to draw attention to the still insurmountable inequalities and injustices in contemporary societies.

The project “Krzysztof Wodiczko: EMANCYPACJE. Projection on the monument to Tadeusz Kościuszko at Freedom Square in Łódź” is an event accompanying the Łódź of Many Cultures Festival. The projection is realised by Strategia 360° and financed by the Łódź Centrum Wydarzeń.

Curator: Ryszard W. Kluszczyński

Cooperation: Transdyscyplinarne Centrum Badań Artystyczno-Naukowych Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego

Bio

Krzysztof Wodiczko – Polish artist living in the USA since the 1980s. Known for his large-scale video projections on building facades and monuments (nearly 100 in 20 countries), drone projects, installations and performances. Through his productions, he gives voice to marginalised social groups and advocates for the rights of the excluded. Wodiczko’s work has been shown in major exhibitions around the world: Documenta, Venice Biennial, Whitney Biennial, Liverpool Biennial, Yokohama Triennial. He is laureate of the 4th Hiroshima Art Prize “for the contribution of an international artist to world peace”. His retrospectives have been held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Fundacio Antoni Tapies in Barcelona, the Museum of Art in Łódź, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, among others. Wodiczko is the former director of MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies, has been a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design since 2011, and is currently a visiting professor at the Faculty of Media Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

Ryszard W. Kluszczyński – curator of the project – Professor of Humanities. Head of the Department of New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Łódź. Head of the Transdyscyplinarnego Centrum Badań Artystyczno-Naukowych at the University of Łódź. Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. Deals with issues of new media art and cyberculture, as well as art theory and its latest trends, with a special focus on the problematic relationship between art, science, technology and politics. Creator of numerous international exhibitions and art projects. Between 1990 and 2001 curator of film, video and multimedia art at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. Since 2011 artistic director of the international project Art + Science Meeting at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk. Author of numerous books and articles on contemporary art and culture.

Eliza Gaust – producer and local consultant of the project – cultural expert, trainer in the field of DEI and anti-discrimination activities. She has been working in the field of equal opportunities and human rights for many years – in public institutions, non-governmental organisations and from 2022 to 2024 in the Urząd miasta Łódź as the Pełnomocniczka Prezydent Miasta Łodzi ds. Równego Traktowania. She worked for many years at the Marek Edelman Centre for Dialogue, where she was responsible for intercultural and anti-discrimination projects. Since 2013 she has been coordinating the Living Library Łódź. She coordinates the Zespół Praw Uchodźców_czyń of the “Nasz rzecznik” initiative. She is also active in the HaKoach Association with a Jewish and advocacy profile. She co-founded the Łódź of Diversity Coalition, which brings together people from minority groups and with migration experience living in Łódź. Graduate of the Flying University of Human Rights.

Accompanying events

Good Conversation Centre: „Krzysztof Wodiczko: EMANCYPACJE. Projection on the monument to Tadeusz Kościuszko at Freedom Square in Łódź” – A summary of Krzysztof Wodiczko’s project at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Łódź. Moderated by: Ryszard Kluszczyński.