Sunday, November 30, 2008

Centre of Contemporary Art, Torun



Founded in 2008, the Centre of Contemporary Art is the newest and the biggest (over 4,000 square metres of gallery space) institution solely dedicated to contemporary art in Poland. With its inter-media and interdisciplinary formula, a multi-format program and international cooperation, CoCA presents the most interesting facets of contemporary art and related discourse. Through exhibitions, artist talks, seminars, artist-in-residence, publications, education programs as well as establishing a permanent collection, CoCA has committed itself to supporting contemporary art in Poland.

Central to CoCA's activity is the concept of 'glocality', or putting a global perspective on regional phenomena, providing a jumping-off point for the development of identity of an institution founded far from the centre. CoCA's programme is largely focused on the analysis of diverse collecting-related phenomena at anthropological, social, psychological and artistic levels.

Krzysztof Zielinski Millennium School
14.11.2008 – 31.01.2009

Krzysztof Zielinski's photography exhibition 
Millennium School opened on 14 November. Carried out in the artist's old school, the project is a nostalgic trip through one's own memory, a journey "in search of lost time". A riot of colours, the dreamlike photographs of the deserted school transport the viewers, like the taste of Proust's madeleine, to the lost world of childhood. Zielinski takes pictures of places which have changed radically. Layers of gaudy oil paint on the school's walls hide a nostalgic truth about childhood and perfectly illustrate the complex historical processes that have been taking place in Central and Eastern Europe over the last decades. The artist's private history and the history of his generation – new migration generation – overlap.

Zielinski's previous projects (Hometown, Seens and Random Pleasures) were also carried out in the provinces. His photographs show what is familiar, ordinary, excluded from the realm of art, and yet strange. Although return seems impossible, the artist keeps coming back to his hometown, even though he once chose to leave it – for Prague, where he studied photography, and later for Berlin, where he lives.

The first of his projects, 
Hometown (2000-2003), was exhibited at the 26th São Paulo Biennial, the Prague Biennial and in the Zacheta Gallery in Warsaw. Photographic series inspired by the artist's hometown, Hometown, Seens and Random Pleasures, can be viewed in CoCA's virtual gallery 
(
http://www.ecsw.pl).

Artists-in-Residence Programme

Artists and other art professionals can now apply for a stipend for 
Artist-in-Residence in Torun. The current residencies programme is concerned with spatial and sound environment of Torun. Its aim is to develop projects inspired by the cartography of the city. 

Send your application to CoCA, along with your contact information, your CV and the activity description. It is the most convenient for us and the environment if you apply via the Internet. No particular application form is required. 

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