Good Conversation Centre: Krzysztof Wodiczko: EMANCYPACJE. Projection on the monument to Tadeusz Kościuszko at Freedom Square in Łódź | meeting with Krzysztof Wodiczko

Moderated by: Ryszard W. Kluszczyński.

A meeting with the Polish-American artist Krzysztof Wodiczko will recall his most important realisations from five decades and nearly 20 countries. Krzysztof Wodiczko is one of the most prominent figures in critical art, and his pioneering artistic activities in public space are known worldwide. Since the 1990s, Wodiczko has focused on making video works that ‘animate’ buildings and monuments with the images and voices of people from marginalised groups. The aim of these projects is to inspire and support people who have chosen to participate in becoming contemporary “parezjasta” (uninhibited, fearless speaker) and social actors of change (K. Wodiczko “Publiczność wewnętrzna”).

The meeting will be led by Ryszard W. Kluszczyński, Professor of Humanities and curator of the Łódź project – “Krzysztof Wodiczko: EMANCYPACJE. Projection on the monument to Tadeusz Kościuszko at Freedom Square in Łódź”. He will talk to the artist not only about the latest realisation, but also about his work, which has been an integral part of the history of contemporary art since the 1970s. Among other things, we will find out what role monuments play in Krzysztof Wodiczko’s work and how the realisation in Łódź is a continuation of earlier works.

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

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.