16.02.2023 at 18:00 / Silesian Museum 1 T. Dobrowolskiego St., 40-205 Katowice
, "Experiencing Place" is a photographic exhibition that presents some of the most interesting projects telling the story of the region, created in Upper Silesia after 2010. It is a reflection on the relationship occurring between man and space, understood as a place to live.
The exhibition will feature the photographs of Krzysztof Szewczyk, Tomasz Liboska and Kai Rata, whose photographic series show stories related to Upper Silesia and its industrial heritage. The exhibition also shows the change that is taking place within Silesian documentary photography.
Krzysztof Szewczyk's photographic series "Tremors" explores the traces and stories associated with the phenomenon of seismic tremors. The subject also relates to the collective experience of residents of mining towns, that is, the physical sensation of tremors and the anxiety associated with it. "Retreat" is a long-term project carried out in Upper Silesia since 2016 by Tomasz Liboska. The series is a photographic record of people and places, lined with stories about industrial heritage and people living in its shadow. Kai Rata's photographs from the series "kajnikaj" create a poetic tale from the borderline of java and dream, in which she seeks a way to escape from the place where she was born and raised. Through the creative act she manages to disenchant the place where she lives, as Silesia emerging from the works has a cosmic aura, is peculiar and mysterious.
The common denominator for the selected series is the phenomenon of experiencing place, which is an important theme in the philosophy of culture. The exhibition also highlights the change that has gradually taken place since the first decade of the 21st century within Silesian documentary photography. Over the decades, a distinctive iconography of the region, dominated by traditional black-and-white documentary, has taken shape. A new generation of artists is moving away from the canon both in terms of aesthetics, choice of subjects and the way of building a photographic story.
Curator: Dominika Szczech