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Tour of the exhibition online
Construction in Process" (1982) with the author's introduction
Meeting at the exhibition and screening of the never before shown film material from the third "Construction in Process"
The archive of the international Construction In Process project presents one of the most important initiatives of the artistic avant-garde. This unprecedented event, realised on an international scale with the participation of many prominent artists from around the world, began in Poland and was continued in Western Europe, Israel and Australia. Construction In Process was initiated in Łódź in 1981 by Ryszard Waśko, and organised under the auspices of the Solidarity Trade Union. As an artistic manifestation of the support of the freedom social movement, it was erased from the cultural calendar in Poland after the declaration of martial law. The catalogue of the first Construction was published a year later in New York by its American participants.
The exhibition at the Profile Foundation shows the pioneering nature of presenting art as a process, as the construction of forms and ideas that function in the social space. The extensive documentation offers a look into several hundred works from seven editions of Construction In Process — works that were created in relation to places, as well as their cultural and social context. Video and photographic records show the changing scenery of successive editions of the event — from the post-industrial space of ‘working’ Łódź to the rocky landscape of a desert or the park complex in the picturesque Pałuki. They allow us to see how artists responded to the challenge of changing places and cultural conditions.
The video and photographic records of subsequent Constructions In Process reflect the changing ways that art functioned in the social space in the context of regime transformations, as well as political and economic conditions. Documentation of the editions organised in Munich, Israel and Melbourne shows how the idea of a dialogue, initiated in Poland, was continued in reference to other cultural, social and political experiences. The processes of constructing dialogue and community in spite of cultural differences can be examined more closely thanks to materials from the 5th edition, organised in 1995 in the Negev Desert under the slogan Co-existence, which featured Israeli and Palestinian artists, as well as the 6th edition, organised under the slogan Bridge in Melbourne in 1998, with the participation of Aboriginal Australian and Asian artists.
The exhibition constructed from Ryszard Waśko’s archival collection includes works, designs, sketches, photographic and film documentation, as well as documents concerning particular editions of Construction in Process. In addition to works in the field of visual arts, documentation of activities on the borderline of music, literature and theatre is presented. The exhibition and the accompanying publication is carried out as the third item of the Archives of Art programme.
Project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland and the city of Warsaw.
The exhibition is on view through December 22, 2020
