SURVIVAL ART REVIEW

SURVIVAL ART REVIEW HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT IN WROCŁAW SINCE 2003, ALWAYS OUTSIDE TRADITIONAL EXHIBITION INSTITUTIONS. THE ORGANISERS OF THE REVIEW AIM AT INTRODUCING THE PROBLEMS RAISED BY YOUNG MODERN ART INTO PUBLIC DISCOURSE AND PROVOKING VIEWERS TO LIVELY REACTIONS.

THE ARTISTS OF SURVIVAL TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE OF THE URBAN JUNGLE BY CARRYING OUT THEIR PROJECTS IN ABANDONED VENUES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND OPEN SPACES. THE ACTIONS ARE TRIGGERED BY URBAN SPACES, WHICH ABOUND IN MEANINGS. THE SITUATIONAL CONTEXT DETERMINES THE CHARACTER OF AN INTERVENTION, POSSIBLE WAYS OF INTERPRETING ONE’S IMMERSION IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. ART PERFORMED OUTSIDE THE AREAS WHERE ITS PRESENCE IS JUSTIFIED AND PROTECTED MUST FACE A REALITY TAKEN OVER BY MASS MEDIA, ADVERTISING, ECONOMY AND POLITICS. AS A RESULT OF THIS CLASH, IT MAY EITHER SHOW ITS GRANDEUR OR REVEAL ITS WEAKNESS AND REDUNDANCY.

THE PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF SURVIVAL HAVE TAKEN PLACE, AMONG OTHERS, AT THE CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION, IN THE HISTORICAL BUILDINGS OF THE FORMER CITY BATHS IN PL. TEATRALNY, IN THE FOUR TEMPLES DISTRICT (FORMER JEWISH DISTRICT IN WROCŁAW), IN THE FOUR DOMES PAVILION (DESIGNED BY HANS POELZIG, NOW PART OF A COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS OF THE WROCŁAW FEATURE FILMS STUDIO), AND IN AN AIR-RAID SHELTER IN PL. STRZEGOMSKI (WHICH NOWADAYS HOUSES THE WROCŁAW MUSEUM OF MODERN ART). THE NINTH EDITION OF THE REVIEW, WHOSE WRITE-UP AND PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION IS INCLUDED IN THIS CATALOGUE, TOOK PLACE IN THE S. TOŁPA PARK, THE FORMER NOWOWIEJSKI PARK, LOCATED IN THE ŚRODMIEŚCIE DISTRICT IN WROCŁAW.

THIRTY-SEVEN ARTWORKS WERE PRESENTED AS PART OF SURVIVAL 9, MAINLY INSTALLATIONS, OBJECTS, PERFORMANCES AND SOUND INSTALLATIONS, WHICH REFERRED TO THE HISTORY OF THE PARK AND ITS SURROUNDINGS, OR TO COMMON NOTIONS ABOUT PARKS, LANDSCAPES, NATURE. SOME OF THE REALISATIONS PORTRAYED THE SURROUNDINGS FROM A SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE, RAISING QUESTIONS OF A WIDER, POLITICAL MEANING.