The Year of Avant-Garde Publications win the first prize
Muzeum Sztuki in Łodzi was recently awarded with the first prize for the Year of Avant-garde publications at the 3rd edition of The Visible Museum [Muzeum Widzialne] competition.
The Visible Museum [Muzeum Widzialne] competition is organized by the National Institute for Museums and Public Collections. Its task is to popularize the best branding and graphic design solutions used by cultural institutions in Poland. The jury of the competition appreciated two publications from the year of Avant-garde series namely: Superorganism. The Avant-Garde and the Experience of Nature Enrico Prampolini. Futurism, Stage Design and the Polish Avant-garde Theatre.
The particular volumes of the series, containing texts and articles by the best known experts on topics undertaken in particular projects, sought to look at new avant-garde phenomena from the perspectives formed within current research methodologies, introduce interpretive keys, and re-evaluate fossilized opinions on the phenomena that make up the avant-garde movement. The research results, presented in six volumes, have therefore the potential to become a source of knowledge and inspiration for future generations of avant-garde researchers.
Enrico Prampolini. Futurism, Stage Design and the Polish Avant-garde Theatre
„The catalogue presents Prampolini as a truly versatile artist, a man of the theatre,
whose awareness and activity in any artistic discipline was infused with the whole
spectrum of art.
Individual texts in this volume have been penned by authors, some of them world
famous, who are specialists in their chosen field, including such acclaimed figures as
Günter Berghaus, Maria Elena Versari, Giovanni Lista, or David Rifkind, who writes
about Prampolini the architect… In to my opinion, not a single important issue identified
by the title of the exhibition and the catalogue is missing.”
– Prof. Lech Sokół
„Although the volume shows various spheres of Prampolini’s artistic and architectural
activity, the authors focus primarily on issues associated with the influence of
Futurism on theatre-its aesthetics, (stage) technique, and the shaping of space. The
second important meaning of the reviewed book is the broad depiction of the effect
that the Italian Futurism had on Polish theatre through Prampolini. What has so far
been seen as a marginal and incidental phenomenon in the interwar theatre in Poland
has been portrayed as a powerful avant-garde formation, determinedly shaping avantgarde
thinking about stage technique and space.
The volume is accompanied by two texts by Enrico Prampolini, and reminiscences
of Jalu Kurek and Jan Brzękowski about their meeting with the artist. Another valuable
supplement to the volume is a collection of rich iconographic materials, of which the
vast majority is published [in Poland] for the first time.”
– Prof. Małgorzata Leyko
Published by: Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi
Texts by: Enrico Prampolini, Przemysław Strożek, Andrea Baffoni, Gunter Berghaus,
Maria Elena Versari, Monika Chudzikowska, David Rifkind, Giovanni Lista, Paulina Kurc-Maj,
Jalu Kurek, Jan Brzękowski
Concept and scientific editing: Przemysław Strożek
Publishing coordinators: Andżelika Bauer
Graphic design and typesetting: Ryszard Bienert
Publication accompaning the exhibition: „Enrico Prampolini. Futurism, Stage Design and the Polish Avant-garde Theatre” which took place at Muzeum Sztuki ms² Łódź ( 09.06–08.10.2017).
https://msl.org.pl/file.php?i=produkty/829840b69858cc0d503e8ff33ee024e3.pdf
Monograph by Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź wins a prize!
On 30th of November 2015 at the National Museum in Warsaw during the meeting summing-up the second edition of the Visible Museum Review, Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź won the First Prize for its Monograph, in the ‘Books and multimedia publications’ category.
Volume One focuses on the history of the Muzeum, with its main axis still being the International Collection of Modern Art of the “a.r” group, presented to the public for the first time at the Julian and Kazimierz Bartoszewicz Museum of History and Art on 15th February 1931. The book presents the milestones of the institution’s history, depicting both its pre- as well as post-war development.
The idea behind Volume Two of the Monograph was the need for review and critical reflection on the Muzeum’s activities in recent years. Seven artists: Józef Robakowski, Jakub Woynarowski, Agnieszka Polska, Mona Vatamanu and Florin Tudor, Wendelien van Oldenburg and Stuart Bailey were asked to provide their observations and commentaries.
Publisher: Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi
Editors: Daniel Muzyczuk, Magdalena Ziółkowska
Graphic design and typesetting: Poważne Studio – Małgorzata Frąckiewicz, Tomasz Głowacki, Alicja Kobza
Year of publication: 2015
Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz – a monograph receives Sybilla Award in publications category for 2015
On 23rd May 2016 during the official gala award ceremony at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw the awards of the 36th Museum Event of the Year Competition – Sybilla 2015 were presented to the laureates. The main prize of this prestigious annual competition – entered into by the most prominent Polish museums – in the PUBLICATIONS category was awarded to Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź for the book ‘Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź. A Monograph’. Director Jarosław Suchan received the Sybilla statuette on behalf of the Łódź museum.
The rewarded monograph is a monumental, two-volume book, commemorating the 85th anniversary of the inauguration of the International Modern Art Collection of the “a.r.” group, and the only one in Poland, presenting the achievements of one of the largest and most important Polish museums in such deep and comprehensive way. The motives behind the publication of the book, depicting over eight decades of the Muzeum’s history, were the need to reflect critically on its hitherto activities and the potential directions of the future expansion.
Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz. Monograph. Volume I
Book published by the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź. Monograph. Volume 1 is devoted to the history of the institution whose core activities continue to focus on the International Modern Art Collection of the a.r. group presented for the first time to the public in the J. & K. Bartoszewicz Museum of History and Art on 15 February 1931. It discusses subsequent milestones in the history of the institution and provides insight into its pre-war (Chapter 1) and post-war development (Chapters 2 and 3).
The volume includes research essays that present the history of the Museum in a wider historical, political and social contexts written by eminent experts in the history of arts and theory of culture, such as: Nawojka Cieślińska-Lobkowicz, Paulina Kurc-Maj, Prof. Marta Leśniakowska, Dr habil. Iwona Luba, Marta Madejska, Dr Magdalena Moskalewicz, Dr Adam Mazur, Daniel Muzyczuk, Paweł Polit, Konrad Schiller, Dr hab. Andrzej Szczerski, Dr Marcin Szeląg, Agnieszka Szewczyk, Agnieszka Taborska, and Dr Magdalena Ziółkowska.
There are also source materials, many of them published for the first time, originating from the protagonists of the history of the Museum, whose list includes: Marian Minich (director from 1935 until 1965), Jan Brzękowski (member of the “a.r.” group, co-author of the International Modern Art Collection) or Ryszard Stanisławski (director from 1966 until 1990). In 2013 directors: Jaromir Jedliński (director from 1991 until 1996), Nawojka Cieślińska-Lobkowicz (director in 1996), and Mirosław Borusiewicz (director from 1997 until 2006) were interviewed by the editors of the volume about their visions of the development of the Museum, ways of working with the collection and issues faced in everyday museum practice.
The publication also discusses art projects by Jadwiga Sawicka and Agnieszka Piksa developed as a continuation of their works created for the exhibition Eyes Looking for a Head to Inhabit triggered by texts by Katarzyna Kobro and Władysław Strzemiński, and Marysia Lewandowska’s project that continues her work initiated in 2009 within the framework of Tender Museum project (a part of the project Working Title: Archive) this time in dialogue with Ryszard Stanisławski. The narrative proposed in the book is supplemented with archive materials, documents that had never been published before, letters, posters, catalogue covers and a vast selection of photographs that illustrate published papers.
The book makes an attempt to complement the research examining the milestones of the museum’s history based on previously unknown materials and currently available tools.
Published by Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz
Editing: Aleksandra Jach, Katarzyna Słoboda, Joanna Sokołowska, Magdalena Ziółkowska
Publishing coordinator: Andżelika Bauer
Graphic design and typesetting: Poważne Studio: Małgorzata Frąckiewicz, Tomasz Głowacki, Alicja Kobza
https://msl.org.pl/media/system/produkty/546718b2abbba517bb8c89cb3d9857d6.pdf
Organizers of Life . De Stijl, The Polish Avant-Garde and Design
“Exactly one century ago, the autumn of 1917 witnessed two events of immense importance for the development of avant-garde thought in Poland and in the Netherlands. In October of the same year, the first issue of the journal De Stijl was published in the Dutch city of Leiden, which provided a platform that played an extremely significant role in the development of the so-called New Art. Only one month later, the First Exhibition of Polish Expressionists was inaugurated in Kraków, a city located more than one thousand kilometres away—the show is recognised today as a symbolic beginning of the Polish Avant-garde. At the time, the two events did not have much in common, yet this coincidence acquires a special meaning in the light of the mutual contacts and influences that emerged in the course of time between Polish and Dutch avant-garde groups and their representatives.” (from an essay by Dr. Michał Wenderski)
This book and catalogue is the first to present so extensively the connections between Polish avant-garde design and De Stijl’s output. It presents extensive essays written by Prof. Marek Wieczorek, Dr. Michał Wenderski, and Dr. Szymon Piotr Kubiak focused on De Stijl’s influence on European design, mainly the Avant-garde and design in Poland. This part is supplemented with selected archival materials. The catalogue part of the publication mirrors the structure of the exhibition similarly entitled, showcasing the most important examples of artworks in Dutch and Polish circles.
Published by: Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi
Texts by: Theo van Doesburg, Marek Wieczorek, Michał Wenderski, Andrzej Pronaszko, Szymon Piotr Kubiak, Szymon Syrkus
Concept and scientific editing: Paulina Kurc-Maj, Anna Saciuk-Gąsowska
Language and stylistic editor, proofreading: Magdalena Świątczak
Publishing coordinators: Katarzyna Mróz
Graphic design and typesetting: Ryszard Bienert
Publication accompaning the exhibition: „Organizers of Life . De Stijl, The Polish Avant-Garde and Design” which took place at Muzeum Sztuki ms1 Łódź (24.11.2017–25.02.2018).
https://msl.org.pl/file.php?i=produkty/STIJL_an_low.pdf
The International Collection of Modern Art of the „a.r.” group
The first monograph published after almost 50 years in an expanded and updated version dedicated to the collection, which provided the momentum towards the development of the then J. and K. Bartoszewicz Municipal Museum of History and Art in Łódź – currently the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź – into one of the major European exhibition and research institutions focused on diverse aspects of modern and contemporary arts.
International Collection of Modern Art of the “a.r.” group is the first collection of radical avant-garde art in Poland and one of the first collections in the world created with the intent to be shown publicly. It is exceptional also because its idea was conceived in the art community and it brings together works donated by artists. Finally, the collection was deposited and later donated to the then municipal museum meaning it was viewed as a public collection from the very start. This is how the legacy of the Avant-garde was “officially” sanctioned and included into the mainstream culture. Although further research is still needed, the publication presents an updated body of knowledge about the history of the collection.
The publication includes two essays: the first one authored by Paulina Kurc-Maj and Anna Saciuk-Gąsowska devoted to the history of the Collection and its positioning amongst other modern art collections created in more or less the same timeframe and the second one by Masha Chlenova discussing stages in which the Collection was built based on the current state of research.
The last chapter of the book contains annotated reproductions of all the works in the Collection. Works lost during the WWII are also described and presented in accordance with the state-of-the-art knowledge. The publication finishes with a catalogue in which there are brief descriptions of the history of each of the works and conservator reports.
Publication available in Polish and English language versions.
