Audience Award
The Audience Award of the 22nd SURVIVAL Art Review was funded by the Mayor of Wrocław. The award recipient also has the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the Mieszkanie Geppertów gallery, run by the festival’s organizer, the Art Transparent Foundation.
On June 26, 2024, a jury appointed by the Organizer tallied the votes cast in the competition. A total of 929 valid votes were counted. The Audience Award goes to Jan Kowalski for the project land.pl – Affordable Clothing from the Country.
Projects with the Highest Number of Votes
1. Jan Kowalski – “land.pl – Affordable Clothing from the Country”
In the space of the former heavy tailoring facility in Brochów, the artist opened a store featuring original patriotic clothing sold by weight. The style and popularity of patriotic clothing in recent years, unfortunately, reflect an extreme and harmful romanticism that embodies an identification with a particular social group. The aesthetics of such clothing are highly controversial, laden with confrontational, racist, and nationalist ideologies, often bordering on hate speech and excluding groups that do not fit the xenophobic definition of a “true” Polish man or woman.
The patriotic slogans and graphics commonly displayed on this type of clothing, referencing national history, are often historically inaccurate, intended to build a narrative of the Polish nation’s uniqueness, especially when embodying values perceived as traditional and when homogenous in origin or faith.
In his store, Jan Kowalski, using second-hand clothing and screen-printing techniques, created fashion for everyone, stripped of the negative characteristics of patriotic clothing: non-aggressive, positive, and with an inclusive rather than divisive message. The artist invited direct interaction with the work, allowing everyone to personally experience trying on and exploring the clothes he prepared.
2. Magdalena Lara – “My Place on Earth”
Polish national symbols were crystallized during the period of partitions, intended to mobilize the community and prepare it to fight the enemy. Since independence, a language has dominated public space that continues to maintain this state of civic alertness. Many people, including those on a mass scale, constantly create a strong sense of threat to national autonomy, with the eternal enemy figure ever-present. This is facilitated by simplified interpretations of current relationships using old conflicts. “I feel this state of ‘constant vigilance’ affects not just defense matters today but every sphere of our lives. We must be alert at every turn: cooking a child’s soup, opening a window in winter, or answering an email,” says the artist.
There is an ongoing battle for attention. Headlines scream even when they have nothing to whisper. Images seduce or repel with crude forms. Sounds create a cacophony, pulling people into a trance. Smells intoxicate, and flavors, rather than satisfying, leave a sense of insatiability. Communication has disappeared – replaced by exclamations.
The work consists of painted quotations from iconic patriotic cycles and images, including War and Polonia by Artur Grottger, Polonia 1863 by Jan Matejko, The Racławice Panorama, Polonia by Jan Malczewski, and contemporary patriotic comics about Jan Hardy by Jakub Kijuc. The drawing also includes quotes from war-themed memes. Scenes are arranged in a “horror vacui” composition, expressing a “fear of empty space.” The chaotic backdrop contrasts with a large ultramarine square.
3. Karolina Szymanowska – “The Weight of Air”
Szymanowska explains her work as follows:
“The flag – because it consistently reminds me of air and is a traditional symbol of power, sovereignty, and control. Human – because this topic addresses one of the causes and consequences of our (human) hegemony in the world. Therefore, the imagined person in this work strives for self-improvement and overcomes their weaknesses. Despite the gigantic (superhuman?) effort, they demonstrate their strength. I placed the flag on wheels because I needed a rover with all its symbolic weight (e.g., regarding the space race between the USSR and the USA, ignoring the costs), but also with references to the lightness of sci-fi. I wanted the flag to embrace the context of travel, exploration, and conquering new worlds, as well as the American ‘Sky is the limit’ idea. However, this ‘poor rover’ of mine (also reminiscent of a makeshift car trailer), closed and cut off from the world, carries a sense of impasse and seems to be a product of overuse. Just like the poor water tower, standing intact for 120 years, spared from war, it’s becoming obsolete. Not because it’s broken, but because it stood still while the world moved forward. This, essentially, was my starting point. I aimed to capture our species’ constant need to reach higher, conquer, consume, and discard.”
The Audience Award is monetary, amounting to 5,000 PLN gross.