2015

Contexts 2015 – The 5th International Sokolovsko Festival of Ephemeral Art
The 5th Festival of Ephemeral Art took place from July 18th to 22nd, 2015.
The festival provides a platform for presenting ephemeral art in its various manifestations: performances, installations, sound pieces and multimedia works. We focus on delivering an artistic message to local community through realizing works in public space, naturally accessible to the inhabitants of Sokolovsko, organize workshops for children and adults. The festival also features documentation of art projects and art places, screenings and exhibitions. Artists, critics, art theoreticians and historians are offered a platform for discussions.

Parallel to the festival there will be open workshops for young people ran by Alaistair MacLennan(performance), Caroline Bagnall (choreography, dance), Vest&Page (performance) i Mieczysława Litwińskiego (sound/music/voice).

The theme of the 5th edition of CONTEXTS is water approached from different perspectives: one of the elements, water of life, „everything flows”, purification, medium linking the world of living and the world od the dead. In the history of Sokołowsko as a spa, water played a significant role as an element of therapy – healing mineral water and hydrotherapy of dr Priessnitz in dr Brehmer’s sanatorium. The artists will relate to these and other apsects in their realizations.

Each edition of CONTEXTS honours a distinguished artist. In the past they were Jan Świdziński, Zbigniew Warpechowski, Jerzy Bereś and Zygmunt Rytka. This year we pay tribute to Alastair MacLennan, a Scottish artist based in Northern Ireland for whom art „is the resolution of conflict through action. It is the demonstrated wish and will towards resolving inner and outer conflict, be it spiritual, religious, political, personal, social or cultural, or any interfusion of these”. Alastair will present his performance (actuation), run a workshop, open an exhibition of his drawings and give a talk about his work accompanied by screenings.

Participants: Sigmunt Skard (NO), Rosanna Irvine i Katrina Brown (UK), Kuba Bąkowski (PL), Alastair MacLennan (Irlandia Płn)/Szkocja), Vest & Page (DE/ Włochy), Anaxazi Aquila (Meksyk), Bożenna Biskupska (PL), Mieczysław Litwiński (PL), Alicja i Mariusz Jodko (PL), Krystian Truth Czaplicki (PL), Andy Williams (UK), Akademia Ruchu (PL), Tomasz Szrama (Fin), Robert Kuśmirowski (PL), Tom Haynes (UK), Krzysztof Knittel (PL), Grzegorz Rogala (PL), Vincent J.F. Huang (Tuvalu/Tajwan), Bettina Bereś (PL), Józef Robakowski (PL), Zbigniew Benedyktowicz (PL), Rob la Franaise (UK), Yasmin Davis (Izrael), Miłosz Benedyktowicz (PL/USA), Zbigniew Warpechowski (PL), Caroline Bagnall (UK), Magdalena Kita (DE) and others
Małgorzata Sady
curator