Zachęta National Gallery of Art

curators of the exhibition: Dominique Roynette, Piotr Wójcik, Joanna Kinowska
exhibition design: Grzegorz Rytel
sound: Paweł Ziętara – TOK FM

The exhibition ignores chronology. The curators of the Zachęta exhibition have rejected the traditional exposition mode. They do not want the anniversary exhibition to merely display the art of photography. Instead, they focus on what is shared by both the authors and readers: the experience of freedom. This is what we are to rediscover and rethink.

The exhibition have many heroes. Among them the greatest Poles: Jerzy Giedroyc, Wislawa Szymborska, Andrzej Wajda. Side by side, there are clerks, teachers, farmers, feminists, Roms, the unemployed, and anonymous passers-by. Here meet the citizens of the country that Jerzy Gumowski photographed from the bird's-eye perspective at different times of a year.

Our exhibition features its heroes. The main one is the change, stressed by the two-decade-old photographs, which contrast with the contemporary images. The change is recorded also by the amateurs, who post on photoblogs their pictures, although not ideal at times yet honest and immediate. Such works are also exhibited here. Professionals are taken away their exclusive right to take pictures. Today everyone takes pictures on any topic. For that reason, professional photographers pose questions concerning the social meaning of photo-journalism. Some reject the old, seemingly ideal forms for spontaneous creativity. Others return to the roots. 

Intense collective emotions are another hero of the exhibition: the events connected with politics, economy, religion, and sport; endless debates on the shape of Polish schools, the medical care system reformation, the church, homophobia, lustration, and anti-Semitism.     

Finally, we show our daily lives, privacy not restrained by the events or dates, a kaleidoscope of surprising and dynamic events that pinpoint a paradox. The Polish reality, including politics, measures up with the European norms. Many pictures are devoid of the Polish specificity. The transformation was finally a great sucess. But still there is Poland that haven’t changed, and poverty looks quite simmilar from 1989 and 2009.

Having gained democracy, we got access to the world, with the opportunity to meet people of various cultures, religions, and ways of thinking. This has also been used by Gazeta’s photographers. A flamenco dancer in Seville, Arab immigrants in Paris suburbs, Sicilian fishermen, joyful American hippies, homeless children in Petersburg, the king of Romanian Gypsies, Kosovan refugees, Polish Christmas in Edinburgh – these are the people we have met on our way. We also display significant places: Chechnya, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, and African countries. We are not blind to human lives marked by wars.

Against this background, the 1989–1990 revolutions in Central and East Europe seem to have been a miracle.

Photographers participating in the exhibition: Daniel ADAMSKI, Sebastian ADAMUS, Cezary ASZKIEŁOWICZ, Kuba ATYS, Piotr AUGUSTYNIAK, Dorota AWIORKO, Jacek BALK, Bartek BARCZYK, Anna BEDYŃSKA, Piotr BERNAŚ, Anna BIAŁA, Marta BŁAŻEJOWSKA, Bartosz BOBKOWSKI, Andrzej BOGACZ, Kamil BROSZKO, Bogdan BUGAJSKI, Radosław BUGAJSKI, Iwona BURDZANOWSKA, Grzegorz CELEJEWSKI, Dawid CHALIMONIUK, Ireneusz CIEŚLAK, Łukasz CYNALEWSKI, Filip ĆWIK, Renata DĄBROWSKA, Grzegorz DĄBROWSKI, Piotr DESKA, Piotr DŁUGOSZ, Mirosław DOMINEK, Wojciech DRUSZCZ, Wojciech DUSZENKO, Dominik DZIECINNY, Bruno FIDRYCH, Łukasz FOJT, Dominik GAJDA, Alina GAJDAMOWICZ, Tomasz GAŚ, Łukasz GIZA, Andrzej GOIŃSKI, Adam GOLEC, Dariusz GORAJSKI, Kamil GOZDAN, Robert GÓRECKI, Przemysław GRAF, Michał GROCHOLSKI, Michał GRZYBCZAK, Jerzy GUMOWSKI, Krzysztof GUTKOWSKI, Piotr GUZIK, Wojciech HABDAS, Mateusz HALAWA, Marzena HMIELEWICZ, Andrzej IWAŃCZUK, Wojciech JAKUBIUK, Piotr JANOWSKI, Wojciech JARGIŁO, Maciej JARZĘBIŃSKI, Michał JASIULEWICZ, Grażyna JAWORSKA, Przemek JENDROSKA, Roman JOCHER, Radosław JÓŹWIAK, Sławomir KAMIŃSKI, Tomasz KAMIŃSKI, Wojciech KARDAS, Krzysztof KAROLCZYK, Rita KATANA, Beata KITOWSKA, Tomasz KIZNY, Marcin KLABAN, Filip KLIMASZEWSKI, Daniel KLIMCZAK, Krzysztof KOCH, Waldemar KOMPAŁA, Maciej KONRAD, Marek KOPEĆ, Michał KOPIŃSKI, Robert KOWALEWSKI, Adam KOZAK, Paweł KOZIOŁ, Przemysław KOZŁOWSKI, Damian KRAMSKI, Wojciech KRÓLAK, Robert KRZANOWSKI, Marek KRZĄKAŁA, Jarosław KUBALSKI, Artur KUBASIK, Marcin KUCEWICZ, Bartłomiej KUDOWICZ, Małgorzata KUJAWKA, Dariusz KULESZA, Bartosz KURAŚ, Maciej KUROŃ, Grzegorz KWOLEK, Anna LEWAŃSKA, Jacek ŁAGOWSKI, Michał ŁEPECKI, Marcin ŁOBACZEWSKI, Anna ŁOŚ, Grażyna MAKARA, Bartosz MAKOWCZYŃSKI, Mariusz MAKOWSKI, Rafał MALKO, Paweł MAŁECKI, Piotr MANASTERSKI, Jacek MARCZEWSKI, Adam MARKOWSKI, Tymon MARKOWSKI, Wojciech MATUSIK, Franciszek MAZUR, Piotr MAZUR, Piotr MAZUREK, Mieczysław MICHALAK, Rafał MICHAŁOWSKI, Janusz MICZEK, Rafał MIELNIK, Sławomir MIELNIK, Justyna MIELNIKIEWICZ, Krzysztof MILLER, Grzegorz MISIAK, Andrzej MITURA, Piotr MOLĘCKI, Andrzej MONCZAK, Agnieszka MORCINEK, Igor MORYE, Michał MUTOR, Wojciech NEC, Tomasz NIESŁUCHOWSKI, Mikołaj NOWACKI, Mirosław NOWORYTA, Marek OBREMSKI, Wojciech OKSZTOL, Marcin OLEJNICZAK, Eliza OLEKSY, Wojciech OLKUŚNIK, Marcin ONUFRYJUK, Jakub ORZECHOWSKI, Jarosław PABIJAN, Daniel PACH, Sergiusz PĘCZEK, Włodzimierz PIĄTEK, Karol PIĘTEK, Leszek PILICHOWSKI, Agnieszka PIOTROWSKA, Jacek PIOTROWSKI, Paweł PIOTROWSKI, Marek PODMOKŁY, Aleksander PRUGAR, Paweł RELIKOWSKI, Jacek RENARD, Szymon ROGIŃSKI, Tadeusz ROLKE, Stanisław ROZPĘDZIK, Sebastian RZEPIEL, Agnieszka SADOWSKA-MAZUREK, Dominik SADOWSKI, Sławomir SAJKOWSKI, Marcin SAUTER, Bartłomiej SERAFIŃSKI, Rafał SIDERSKI, Bartosz SIEDLIK, Michał SIERSZAK, Sławomir SIERZPUTOWSKI, Karolina SIKORSKA, Joanna SIWIEC, Maciej SKAWIŃSKI, Krzysztof SKŁODOWSKI, Grzegorz SKOWRONEK, Piotr SKÓRNICKI, Przemysław SKRZYDŁO, Mateusz SKWARCZEK, Paweł SŁOMCZYŃSKI, Adam SŁOWIKOWSKI, Grzegorz SOCHA, Julian SOJKA, Waldemar SOSNOWSKI, Bartłomiej SOWA, Paweł SOWA, Tomasz STAŃCZAK, Andrzej STAWIARSKI, Wojciech STRÓŻYK, Wojciech SURDZIEL, Krzysztof SZATKOWSKI, Jerzy SZCZĘSNY, Jerzy SZOT, Grzegorz SZYMAŃSKI, Arkadiusz ŚCICHOCKI, Maciej ŚWIERCZYŃSKI, Marcin TOMALKA, Paweł TOPOLSKI, Tomasz TRUSIEWICZ, Paweł ULATOWSKI, Tomasz WAJSPRYCH, Tomasz WALKÓW, Tomasz WANTUŁA, Tomasz WASZCZUK, Tomasz WAWER, Tomasz WIECH, Tomasz WIERZEJSKI, Andrzej WIŚNIEWSKI, Lesław WŁODARCZYK, Agnieszka WOCAL, Krzysztof WOJCIECHOWSKI, Marcin WOJCIECHOWSKI, Arkadiusz WOJTASIEWICZ, Józef WOLNY, Sebastian WOŁOSZ, Marcin WOŁOSZCZAK, Piotr WÓJCIK, Bartosz WRZEŚNIOWSKI, Jan ZAMOYSKI, Albert ZAWADA, Beata ZIEMOWSKA, Maciej ZIENKIEWICZ, Tomasz ŻUREK, Piotr ŻYTNICKI