15th International Open Air of Wicker Forms and Land Art. IN SYNERGY WITH NATURE
– fractals, labyrinths, spirals.
2023

At the turn of June and July, the garden of Poleski Art Centre together with Łódź Botanical Garden are going to host artists who will  input their works into nature's space. Land art, or Earth art, is about such artistic activity which blends into landscape in the most natural way, or transforms it so as to create objects of artistic character in synergy with nature.

The festival's participants will have a chance to cooperate with artists working in the field of land art for many years. The Open Air will be run by profesor Jędrzej Stępak (Poland), a well-known wicker creator. Artistic support within weaving techniques will be granted by Bernard Borzęcki (Poland)– an artist, graduate of the Department of Art at University of Rzeszów,  master of weaving  craft. This year we will host Jette Mellgren (Denmark), who will lead Weaving Techniques Workshops (natural and recycling materials) and lecture. Anna Deynega (Ukraine) will take us into the world of straw weaves.

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All stages of the artistic activity while creating statues and installations, as well as evening events, are open to the public.

The Open Air organized by Poleski Art Centre in Łódź is a dynamic, developing event  which helps to shape the local and international artistic community. For many years we have supported and educated artists connected to weaving craft, which has been  added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.  Thanks to the open air, many artists working with fabric art and sculpture took interest in land art and wicker.  In the Open Air, artists participate in the whole process of creating the artistic form, starting from the very concept and finishing on its realization in connection to the place, its context and history.

The Open Air is accompanied by workshops for artists as well as for anyone interested in learning the weaving techniques. As for the weaving realizations, which have constituted 90% of all the realizations so far, the artists use the experiences from the workshops, in which they work on their own forms, and which they expand with their own, creative ideas. If any problems arise with the construction or the size of it, the participants will get support from the weaving artists running the workshops. The sculptures may be also made with the use of other materials, which may be freely joined together.

The organizer provides various kinds of wicker. Lack of experience in wicker work is not an obstacle to participate in the open air.

The programme is rich in exhibitions, presentations, multimedia shows, lectures and meetings and science conference which talk about about the topic of the edition: ELEMENTS and land art.

After the accompanying events, we have planned evening events, in which our participants will be able to present their own works or consult their open air activity. The participants will work under the artistic supervision of the commissioner – Jędrzej Stępak. The everyday technical tips for the artistic work will be provided by Bernard Borzęcki.

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Before the open air, we are planning to hold on-line consultations run by the  open air's curator, Agnieszka Kowalska-Owczarek.

The program of the event will run in two ways; on the one side, the participants will deepen their techniques in the field of soft sculpture, among other things by using Polish and global weaving techniques, and on the other side, they will be able to broaden their knowledge on the subject of Open Air.

Each edition of the International Open-Air is wrapped around a theme chosen by the Program Council. The current theme is the issue of SYNERGY WITH NATURE. Its exemplification is man's use of geometric forms, which have been shaped through evolution by living organisms. The natural world is based on regularities that have been formed over many thousands of years. Every particle of matter contains an ingenious record that makes it take on a certain form. Biological structures are especially interesting because they develop, change their form, duplicate. They fascinate man with their beauty, complexity and multifacetedness. In nature, the harmony of this beauty is often manifested in FRACTAL structures, SPIRALS, based on the Fibonacci sequence. They are an inspiration for artists and designers, who see them not only as brilliant compositions and geometric arrangements that inspire their creative activities, but also as optimal engineering solutions.

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WORKSHOPS |
Each of the artists may participate in the workshops after registering. During the open air, we are going to hold workshops on weaving. You will find soon their descriptions in a separate tab "workshops".
 

CATALOGUE |
During the open air, a professional photographic documentation will be made, and after its closure - a documentation of created works. A bilingual catalogue will be designed,  it will be available on-line on the English version site of the project.

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PROGRAMME BOARD |
The International Open Air is supervised by

Aleksandra Podębska – culturologist, Director of Poleski Art Centre
Danuta Pospiech – culturologist, open air's originator and its long-standing coordinator
Jędrzej Stępak – open air's commissioner, distinguished wicker and fabric artist, pedagogue, professor at University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań.
Agnieszka Kowalska-Owczarek – open air's coordinator, curator of the projects and open air's exhibitions, fine artist, culturologist, editor of ARTERIE- an art-literature quarterly.

PROJECT'S PARTNERS |
Botanical Garden of Jakub Mosznowicz in Łódź
University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań
Book Art Museum in Łódź
Municipal Art Gallery in Łódź
 

more information:

Agnieszka Kowalska-Owczarek – land.art.sztuka.ziemi@gmail.com +48 506 170 150

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