Immigration/Emigration
*** (“Because I live on a couch in a kitchen in my friends’ place”)
“Because I live on a couch in a kitchen in my friends’ place” - this seemingly
enigmatic sentence might be the best summary of Marta Zdulska’s exhibition.
A selection of photographs and small publications pictures a constant journey
and the way of life of their author. Rough, imperfect photographs bluntly
describe the consequences of Zdulska’s decision to live her life
as a nevereding journey, which sometimes is pleasurable and sometimes
the complete opposite.
“Personally, I don’t like traveling, quitting a safe routine and leaving familiar territory. However,
I enjoy so called “borrowed journeys” literature and stories of people who experienced something.
But to move somewhere myself? That’s terrifying. I don’t understand Marta, her whole being
in the constant state of movement and change, between losing something and getting accustomed
to something else. I also can’t not have a house.”
I look at Marta’s photos and I see chaos, unpacked bags and flowers, which she uses to appropriate space. I don’t envy her. I feel pity, and yet I can’t wait for another batch of photographs. Since 2009 the artist has been photographing the reality in which she functions during the first years of emigration mainly due to her need for documentation and appropriation. Her decision to exhibit photographs in the context of the festival changed the way she works. Since previous April photography has become the engine of her work, and emigration an artistic strategy. The photographer consciously enters difficult situations and relationships, subjecting herself to unstable life. It might be that Zdulska is tired, and yes she is still playing the emigration game.
Łukasz Rusznica
Marta Zdulska
*** (“Because I live on a couch in a kitchen in my friends’ place”)
Curator: Łukasz Rusznica
1 – 11 September 2016
IP Studio
46a Ruska Street, III floor, Wrocław
Exhibition Partners: Ośrodek Postaw Twórczych, Miejsce u przy Miejscu Gallery
About exhibition (PDF)
