Krzysztof Żwirblis (b. 1953)
graduate of Warsaw University’s Institute of Art History. Since 1976 he has been actively involved in the creative output of the Movement Academy/Akademia Ruchu – as a member of the group he participated in over 600 performances, street activities and diverse artistic actions. From 1992 to 1997 he was a curator responsible for the AR Gallery (Kinoteatr “Tęcza”, Żoliborz, Warsaw). Since the end of 2007 he has acted as the curator of the Studio Gallery in Warsaw.
Żwirblis curated several group exhibitions, among others:
1991 “Activities with the Daily”/”Działania z Gazetą”, The Former Norblin Factory, Warsaw, Poland
1996 “The A.R. Gallery of Friends: 1992-1996.”/”A.R.Galeria Przyjaciół. Lata 1992 – 1996”, Xawery Dunikowski Museum – “Królikarnia”, Warsaw, Poland
1999 “Parteitag”, BWA Gallery (Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA), Katowice, Poland
2002 “Power to the People”/”Władza ludu”, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok, Poland
2007 “Demos kratos – People’s Power”/”Demos kratos – władza ludu”, Klima Bocheńska Gallery – Fabryka Trzciny (Warsaw), 2006; BWA Gallery (Bielsko-Biała), 2007; BWA Gallery (Zielona Góra), 2007.
Żwirblis authored all-day long projects created in conjunction with the Street Art/Sztuka Ulicy Theatre Festival (2001-2003) as well as curated a series of 5 exhibitions and related debates entitled Possible, impossible?/Możliwa, niemożliwa? (Komuna Otwock, Warsaw, 2008).
Żwirblis is also an art critic, publishing articles in the “Exit” quarterly as well as writing criticism and assorted texts for exhibition catalogues.
Select Solo Exhibitions:
1994 Dust/Pył, Warszawski Ośrodek Kultury, Warsaw, Poland
2008 Family – Community/Rodzina – Społeczność (alongside Roch Forowicz and Agata Groszek), Studio Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2008 Disinterested Cityscape/Bezinteresowna przestrzeń miejska (jointly with Aleksandra Wasilkowska), Lokal_30 Gallery and a performance in Konstytucji Square, Warsaw, Poland
2011 Actions, Interventions/Akcje, Interwencje, 2.0 Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
Select Group Exhibitions:
2003 Poland/Polska, Warsaw, Poland
2004 Belmondo, The 14th Malta Festival, Poznań, Poland
2005 Inc. Art Against Corporate Appropriation of Public Space/Inc. sztuka wobec korporacyjnego przejmowania miejsc ekspresji publicznej, Warsaw, Szczecin, 2004, Zielona Góra, Wrocław, Bielsko-Biała, Gdańsk, Poland
2007 Concrete Heritage – From Le Corbusier to Hoons/Betonowe dziedzictwo – od Le Corbusiera do blokersów, Centre For Contemporary Art – Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
2008 Chain reaction (Upgrade!International), Skopje, Macedonia
Żwirblis has repeatedly organised a series of on-going lectures held both in art galleries and in open public spaces: A Lecture on Fountains/Wykład o fontannach (since 2001), A Song of the Horizon or a Lecture on the Aversion to National Colours/Pieśń widnokręgu, albo wykład o niechęci do barwy narodowej (since 2002). He is also the author of poetic and performance-oriented open-space actions, such as: Francuska Street of Poetry/Francuska Poezji (Francuska Street, Warsaw, 2003), Vibrating Word/Wibrujące słowo (Poetic Manifestations Festival/Festiwal Manifestacje Poetyckie, Warsaw, 2006) and Akcja Plon (Saska Kępa, Warsaw, 2010). His other artistic ventures include interventionist, socially committed artistic projects: Cheap Television, Tania telewizja (Grochów, Chomiczówka – Warsaw, 2005), The Wiatraczna Street Angle/Perspektywa Wiatracznej (Warsaw, 2007); Community TV/Telewizja osiedlowa (Zielona Góra, 2007); Poetic Probe/Sonda poetycka (Warsaw, 2007); Disinterested Cityscape – Winter Garden/Bezinteresowna przestrzeń miejska – ogród zimowy – co-authored with Aleksandra Wasilkowska, (Warszawa Wschodnia Railway Station, 2007); Social Museum/Muzeum społeczne (Mariensztat, Warsaw 2010).
Anna Ciabach (b. 1980)
Ciabach is a graduate of the Museum Studies programme at Mikołaj Kopernik University,Toruń, Poland (Fine Arts Faculty). She worked at Klima Bocheńska’s Gallery and at the Art NEW Media Gallery.
From 2007 to 2008, under the auspices of the Saturator Club (Warsaw), she joined forces with Mikołaj Starowiejski and co-ran the G.S. Rozwój (Progess) Gallery, an independent exhibition space in the heart of Warsaw’s Praga district. Ciabach worked with the Warsaw-based Aktyw Artystów (A Collective of Artists), acting as the coordinator of their cultural initiatives. Together with Karolina Łabowicz-Dymanus, she organised and hosted a series of Q and As with artists; the meetings, held from 2007 to 2008, were part of the activities of the Art Appreciation Society (Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland). Ciabach also works with the Arteria Art Foundation, organising cultural events associated with the Five Flavours Asian Film Festival in Warsaw.
Ciabach curated numerous exhibitions and artistic events, among others:
2006
“A Little Paranoid”, The Boulevard of Art Festival/Festiwal “Bulwar sztuki”, Toruń, Poland
Anna Okrasko, “There is No Day Without a Line” (“Nie Ma Dnia Bez Kreski”), Klima Bocheńska Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
“High-tech-ready-made” Project, The Imagination of the Screen Festiwal/Festiwal “Wyobraźnia Ekranu”, Dla… Gallery, Toruń, Poland
2007
Ikoon Collective, “Unde Imperium”, G. S. Rozwój Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2008
“Pink Punk Evening” (“Wieczór Pink Punk”), G. S. Rozwój Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
“Face Lifting”, Studio Gallery, Budapest, Hungary (curated jointly with Agata Chinowska and Monika Weychert-Waluszko).
She works in the Studio Gallery in Warsaw.
Stefan Hanćkowiak (b. 1980)
He is a graduate of the Department of Painting Fine Arts Faculty, the University of Zielona Góra, Poland) and a recipient of the Bielska Jesień Prize, bestowed upon him by the Bielska Gallery, the organisers of the 38th Painting Biennale in Bielsko-Biała, Poland (2007). He lives in Warsaw.
Major Exhibitions:
2005
“ZBK (Sławomir Czajkowski) vs STIOPA (Stefan Hanćkowiak)”, Viakunst and Squater Vitrine, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
“Tomek69, Stiopa, ZBKool”, Bohomaz Cafe/BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra, Poland
2006
“At Jadźka’s” (“U Jadźki”), Zielona Góra, Poland
2007
“First, she is sad. Then she cries.” (“Najpierw smutna a potem płacze”), PGR ART Gallery, Gdańsk, Poland
“Bielska Autumn” (“Bielska Jesień”), BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała, Poland
2008
“Fish Eye” (“Rybie Oko”), Bałtycka Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej, Słupsk, Poland
“Underwater Wrocław” (“Podwodny Wrocław”), Browar Mieszczański Gallery, Wrocław, Poland
“Animalis” (“Animalis”), MM Gallery, Chorzów, Poland
2009
“Does Anybody Hear Me? I Can’t See a Thing” (“Kto mnie słyszy? Nic nie widzę”), Studio Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
“Cheil Macaw”, Klub Garnizonowy, Międzyrzecz, Poland
“A Letter from Faraway”, The Roxy Art House, Edinburgh, Scotland
2010
“Religious Wars” (“Wojny Religijne”), Geppert’s Apartment, Wrocław, Poland
“Anarchy in Space” (“Anarchia w Kosmosie”), U Gallery, Wrocław, Poland
2011
“In Search of Happiness” (“Poszukiwanie szczęścia”), Studio Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
Jolanta Sikorska
Sikorska is a sociologist and a graduate of the Centre For Theatre Practices in Gardzienice, Poland (Akademia Praktyk Teatralnych Gardzienice); she is a lecturer in Theatre Studies at both High School No. 86 in Warsaw and the Artbem Cultural Centre (Bemowo, Warsaw).
Sikorska is also an organiser of cultural activities, a freelance film editor and a camera operator. Her artistic CV includes:
2010 Free People/Ludzie Wolni (a project with inmates), Białołęka Prison – Bemowo Division. Warsaw, Poland
2010 Artistic Holidays/Artystyczne Wakacje, Raszewski Theatre Institute, Warsaw, Poland
2010 Social Museum/Muzeum Społeczne (project curated by Krzysztof Żwirblis), Mariensztat, Warsaw, Poland
2009 Polish-German Theatre Workshop/Polsko–Niemieckie Warsztaty Teatralne, Atrium, Berlin, Germany
2008 Hulanie Jelenia (project curated by the De-novo Association), Pojana Mikuli, Romania
2008 The Republic of Żoliborz/Republika Żoliborska (project curated by Jacek Kuroń’s Educational Foundation), Warsaw, Poland
2008 Disinterested Cityscape/Bezinteresowna Przestrzeń Miejska (project curated jointly by Aleksandra Wasilkowska and Krzysztof Żwirblis), Konstytucji Square, Warsaw, Poland
2011 Social Muzeum, Open City, Lublin