18-26 September 2021
Adorno presents the Polish collection within the Virtual Design Destination, an interactive online exhibition at the bus station in Kielce curated by Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka. Register to attend the virtual tour
The theme for this year's first Virtual Design Destination by Adorno is “The New Reality”. Preparations were initiated during the surge of COVID-19 in Europe. The curators of the fourteen participating countries have been asked to reflect on specific experiences, thoughts, and themes from the time of lockdown in the curation and art direction of each of their country collections. They have been working with leading designers from their design scene to develop sub-narratives to the overarching theme.
The changes around us are faster than we are. We love intelligent technologies that relieve us of many responsibilities. We like modernity, but we also start to fear it. We look back more and more often. It is the past that brings us hope for the future. Nature revives and items made by historical craftsmen and artists (who was then talking about designers?) can last almost forever and when they get damaged they disappear. Today, the work of the hands gives reflection and peace. Old artisans have knowledge that we won't get in school. It is clear that in the new reality, we will not act like them, but we can benefit from their wisdom and experience. We will not move forward without understanding the material, tools and secrets of the process.
Some will translate this knowledge into machines, robots and serial production. Others, like the designers I present at the exhibition, will remain halfway between art, craftsmanship and technology. For them, the process, material and uniqueness in repeatability are more important than production. In some ways, the road is more important than the goal. The presented forms are not necessarily compatible with the selected material or method of production. They could be done easier, faster, cheaper with more confidence that it would be successful. But then they would not have the author's emotions, no trace of struggle with matter, no explorers' passion. Is this not what we desire? Life inscribed in objects.
Register here to attend the guided tour of the Virtual Exhibition for the Polish collection, hosted by curator Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka
September 18 / 10:00 AM GMT
Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka is a curator of design exhibitions, interested in the subject of identity in design. Columnist, organiser of various events promoting design, jury member of numerous competitions. Director of Studies at the School of Form and co-author of the studies’ curriculum. Dean of Faculty of Design and SWPS University in Warsaw. Previously, the artistic director of the Łódź Design Festival and launching editor-in-chief at Elle Decoration in Poland.
Major international exhibitions: Roundabout Baltic. Design with a sea view presenting designers from countries connected by the coastline of Baltic Sea; Is Coral a Colour, reflecting on the local sense of colour in Visegrad countries; Common Roots. Design Map of Central European Design. Some exhibitions on Polish design: series of shows entitled Unpolished, Polished Up, and Moderna presenting the work of Polish designers of the transformation era. Polska Folk focused on local sources of inspiration in design.
FEATURED DESIGNERS
Anna Bera / Arkadiusz Szwed / Malwina Konopacka / Maria Juchnowska / Monika Patuszynska / Pani Jurek / Tartaruga / UAUProject
SUPPORTED BY
Organised in cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a state-funded cultural institution promoting Polish culture abroad.
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute's mission
is to promote Polish culture abroad. The Institute has held over 8,000 cultural events, seen by nearly 60 million viewers in over 70 countries. It also runs the Culture.pl website — a daily updated news service about the most interesting events and phenomena related to Polish culture.
