curatorial description

The main theme of this year’s SURVIVAL is Romanticism, in particular the question of what meanings and values derived from the Polish – as well as regional and European – Romantic tradition persist today and how they shape our perception of modernity.

As a trend in Polish art, Romanticism is identified with the struggle for independence and the dream of a sovereign state based on a messianic idea of saving Europe. Throughout Europe, Romanticism accompanied the formation of the concept of the nation – as we understand it today – and in a sense shaped national aesthetics. The Romantic belief in what is invisible, inaccessible to reason and evading scientific knowledge meant that spirits were involved in nation-building processes. Thus, in the Polish tradition, independence turns out to be inseparable from that which is not subject to reason. The motto Frenzy and Independence is borrowed from Maria Janion’s book Gorączka romantyczna [Romantic Fever], in which this eminent expert on Romanticism writes:

Romantic fever is fantasy and the experience of the cosmos, it is tragedy and revolution, frenzy and independence, and above all – the discovery of a new wondrousness; it was new, because it turned out that all reality – visible and invisible – is “wondrous”, abounding in unexpected signs and meanings, exploding with “wonders” in even the tiniest events.

One of the most striking features of Romanticism is its spiritual splendour and emotional surplus, this peculiar excess and intensity that makes us see the world as an impenetrable mystery full of symbols, secret messages and more-then-human secrets. Irrationalism becomes a virtue and the uncanny – a reality.

The barrenness of the Romantic approach to questions of nation and identity, which focused solely on the vision of patriotism created by the bards, would resonate for centuries to come. What also matters today is the impact of Romanticism on the collective worldview of Poles, especially the importance of nationality and the belief in the uniqueness of the Polish nation and its history, which in many cases has eventually led to xenophobic and nationalist ideologies. Because of the constant references to the works of the great bards, with their burden of heroic and messianic myths, Romanticism as the “key tradition” of Polish patriotism still influences the language and consciousness of far-right groups. In this context, a profound critical re-evaluation is needed.

Another important thread is the interpretation of history through a Romantic version of Poland’s past. One of the most significant examples of this is the Romantic writers’ vision of broadly defined Slavism that finds little support in scientific discoveries. The wall of Romantic myths and legends surrounding the general consciousness is so impenetrable that no research-based knowledge of Slavic tribes can break through it. The 19th-century interest in the Slavic past and, especially in beliefs, remains a phenomenon that still resonates in cultural and even scientific texts.

The search for pre-Christian knowledge and rituals led some Romantics to appreciate folk tradition and ascribe to it a special role in the formation of Polish self-awareness. Importantly, in keeping with the democratisation processes of the 19th century, this belief was connected with the idea of full popular participation in civic life.

At the same time, European Romanticism gave rise to a peculiar form of Orientalism, which in the Polish tradition was characterised by a specific view of the nearest East: Ukraine and Russia. One example is Mickiewicz’s Crimean Sonnets – a cycle of Italian-style sonnets, first such work in the Polish language, published in Moscow in 1826 with a quotation from Goethe. The poet’s rapturous description of his journey to Crimea was an opportunity to express a Polish pilgrim’s longing for his homeland and to define himself in relation to the West. To this day, the Polish view of the East often seems to be based on a similar orientalising optics demanding an occidental reflexivity.

Although Romanticism, with all its ideological heaviness, seems unquestionable and untouchable, in recent years there have been attempts to re-read the whole trend, and especially the archetype of the “Romantic hero”, in new contexts, most notably postcolonial and queer ones. Romantic tropes and aesthetics are explored in today’s pop culture, which is replete with references to the Gothic novel and vampirism. Contemporary spiritualism and, more broadly, the search for meaning and significance in areas far removed from scientific cognition also seem to rely on intuition and the heart, in the Romantic fashion. The feminist aspect of 19th-century spiritualism is important – by assuming the role of a medium, women gained not only financial independence but also public respect.

One of the most frequently cited moments of silence in Polish history accompanied the unveiling of Adam Mickiewicz’s monument in Warsaw on 24 December 1898. Although the reason for it was the event organisers’ fear of provocation, it created an unforgettable moment of unity and attentiveness for the assembled crowd. Such moments of allowing all voices, especially those silenced and intimidated, to resonate in the Polish national space and narrative have been few and far between. The works making up the Sound Art Forum programme are also intended to create such safe and inclusive spaces, responding to the need for deeper, more attentive listening to the Other and the unknown, the forgotten and the overlooked.

The opposition of sound art to the classical system of music is connected with the programmatic pursuit of inspiration and experience in the Romantic idea. This model still functions today, both within academic circles and in the programmes of musical events.

Romanticism also bequeathed the idea of a synthesis of the arts, including Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), which still permeates many stage productions. The liberation of sound from the musical framework consisted mainly in its conceptualisation and contextualisation, and thus moving away from the totality of music towards a deep experience of sound. These tools can also be applied to questioning Romanticism, problematising both its origins and effects, some of which are now considered canonical, e.g. Chopin’s music.

Romantic music was, of course, dominated by men; the work of women composers of the period is less well known, showing that they remained in the shadow of famous musicians, with whom they were sometimes linked by blood or love – as was the case with Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Alma Mahler, Clara Schumann or, in Poland, Filipina Brzezińska and Maria Szymanowska. History might have taken a different turn if the open forms proposed by, for example, Tekla Bądarzewska or Louise Farrenc gained more prominence – perhaps it would have been free of nationality and historicism, but rooted in spirituality.

This year’s SURVIVAL asks for another possible image of Romanticism on the level of emotions, myths and facts, sometimes in opposition to what is already known, familiar and oft-reproduced. It is important for us to reflect on the creation of Romanticism and their longevity by asking about the extent to which many Romantic patterns and beliefs still remain with us today.