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Gerard Kwiatkowski
The new documentary film by Arton Foundation about legendary artist and art curatore, Gerard Kwiatkowski (1930-2015)
Screenings:
11.05.2017, 7 p.m.; ELGallery, Elbląg, 82-300, Kuśnierska 6 St.
18.05. 2017, 3 p.m. Town Hall, Hunfeld, 36088, Konrad-Adenauer-Platz
In the 1960s, Elbląg became one of the avant-garde art centres in Poland. The most prominent Polish artists were coming to the EL Gallery, which was located in the ruins of a Gothic church, to act together, to create, and to present their works. And it was where, between the years 1965 and 1973, the legendary Bienniale of Spatial Forms was held, during which monumental sculptures were created in the urban space of Elbląg thanks to the cooperation of artists and workers - the employees of the ZAMECH Mechanical Plant. In 1973, Biennale was named ‘Kinolaboratorium’. It was when Elbląg was hosting more than 100 prominent artists from Poland and from abroad who presented their films and performed artistic interventions of various kinds with the ambience of the joyful artistic community. The invitation addressed to the future participants of the event was announcing: ‘We contact you with the Polish artistic avant-garde’.
Gerard Kwiatkowski (1930-2015) was the ‘perpetrator’ of all of these events. He was an artist, a charismatic organiser of cultural activities, and a man with a fascinating, mysterious biography and a complex personality. Moreover, he founded the EL Gallery.
In 1974, Gerard emigrated to Germany where he started founding new art centres, including the Museum of Modern Art in Hünfeld which became a vibrant and significant place associated with the avant-garde.
The film ‘Gerard Kwiatkowski. Nie(d)odceniony robotnik sztuki’ shot by the Arton Foundation with the support of the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, the Art Centre of the EL Gallery, and the Museum of Modern Art in Hünfeld is the first production dedicated to Gerard Kwiatkowski and his remarkable life.
The authors of the film found his friends and co-workers from the periods of his activity in Poland and in Germany. On the basis of their reports, valuable archival materials, and Gerard’s statements, Karina Dzieweczyńska and Piotr Grdeń build a portrait of an extraordinary hero, focusing on selected parts of his life.Gerard Kwiatkowski… is a story about the art, and about the passion which was so strong that it was changing the reality.
Script: Karina Dzieweczyńska Director: Piotr Grdeń Production: Arton Foundation, Marika Kuźmicz Co-operation: Centrum Sztuki Galeria EL in Elbląg (Art Centre of the EL Gallery), Museum of Modern Art in Hünfeld Year of Production: 2017 The project has been completed thanks to the support of the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation |
