As I reflect on the last few years of Parallax, and on the post-residential exhibition developed for CSW Kronika – Sex, Suicide, Socialism, Spirits and Stereotypes it is the weight of current events that I feel most acutely. The show at Kronika only finished in January 2022. Since then, the world has changed. The Covid-19 pandemic has created a traumatic chasm that means we may never travel, congregate, learn or engage with each other and with art in the ways we used to. However, the Pandemic is not the only challenge to the way we operate. For the UK, Brexit means that links with European neighbors, such a pivotal part of the experience of studying art for many, are tested and put under greater strain. In no way immune to the populist lurch to the right that drove Brexit, Polish politics have moved at an alarming pace towards the isolationism and conservatism of a right-wing agenda. The belated acknowledgment of structural and systemic racism that has been highlighted by the international Black Lives Matter movement, following the brutal murder of George Floyd, is another seismic event that demands we consider what art and our institutions can do to help drive meaningful change. The climate emergency, which disproportionately impacts certain races and populations, is connected to all the other current crises. It is now a more present and immediate threat to the way we live and how we think about our futures. With all this turmoil, I would like to start by asking what role Parallax might have to play? What is it about the community that Parallax brings together and the nature of the dialogue that the network encourages that is particularly worthwhile now, at a time when everyone is forced to rethink and adapt?
Edited by:
Pawel Mendrek, Martin Newth
Texts:
Ann-Charlotte Glasberg Blomqvist, Gloria Lopez Cleried, Agata Cukierska, James Duffy, Katarzyna Wolny-Grzadziel, Jolanta Jastrzab, Karolina Konopka, Dominika Kowynia, Barbara Kubska, Magdalena Lacek, Maddie Leach, Beate Persdotter Loken, Reyhaneh Miriahani, Eleanor Neason, Martin Newth, Joanna Zdzienicka-Obalek, Johanna Oskarsson, Alexandra Papademetriou, Laura Rossner, Kolbrun Inga Soring, Garry-Marshall-Stevens, Alexander Stevenson
Artists:
Kronika exhibition: Rosie Dahlstrom, Mary Evans, Ben Fitton, Katrine Hjelde, Jolanta Jastrzab, Sally Jane, Karolina Konopka, Travel Agency Collective (Pawel Mendrek, Malgorzata Szandala, Ewa Zasada), Gary Marshall-Stevens, Reyhaneh Mirjahani, Eleanor Neason, Martin Newth, Johanna Oskarsson, Beate Persdotter Loken, Rasmus Richter, Laura Rosser, Secondeditions, Alexander Stevanson, Veera Rustomji, Milosz Wnukowski, Zupa exhibition: Stephanie Johansson, Jakub Kazimierczak, Karolina Konopka, Zlata Labedz, Magdalena Lacek, Johanna Oskarsson, Alexandra Papademetriou, Emanuela Pawlowska, Beate Persdotter Loken, Rasmus Richter, Magdalena Sendek, Kolbrun Inga Soring
Parallax project coordinators and co-curators:
Pawel Mendrek, Martin Newth in cooperation with Maddie Leach, Sarah Tuck and Laura Rosser
Acknowledgements:
HDK-Valand wishes to acknowledge the generosity and hospitality of ASP Katowice towards students and staff from Rothenburg in 2018 and 2019
Reviewers:
Grzegorz Sztwiertnia, Leslaw Tetla
Graphic design and typesettings by:
Katarzyna Wolny-Grzadziel
Photos:
Barbara Kubska, Kolbrun Inga Soring, James Duffy, Karen Abadie, Maddie Leach
Translation by:
Lukasz Kansy
Polish copy editing by:
Karolina Wycislik
Production coordination by:
Barbara Firla
Published by:
Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Katowice & Chelsea College of Arts – University of the Arts London, Plymouth Uniwersity
ISBN 978-83-65825-72-8 (PL)
ISBN 978-1-3999-0647-0 (UK)
ISBN 978-1-84102-456-1 (UK)
Printed by:
Drukarnia Akapit sp. z o.o., ul. Weglowa 3,20-481 Lublin
Circulation:
600
Book online:
coming soon