online / What is the future of regional collections of contemporary art?

Supporting the development and popularisation of contemporary art, creating representative regional collections reflecting the latest trends and phenomena in art, preparing exhibitions, circulating art in society, striving to build contemporary museums – these goals were set by the Minister of Culture Waldemar Dąbrowski as he initiated the “Signs of the Times” National Culture Programme in 2004. The implementation of these goals was to be based on close cooperation with local and regional governments and civic institutions – associations and foundations – working for the development of contemporary art and referring in their character to the tradition of the Societies for the Encouragement of Fine Arts that have operated in Poland from over 100 years. The programme was intended to result in, among others, the establishment of a network of museums of modernity and interdisciplinary centres of modernity in Poland, which would collect, store and share cultural works of our time.*

The conversation with a group of experts responsible for regional art collections in Poland will be an attempt to summarise the activities of the Societies for the Encouragement of Fine Arts.     Participants:

Joanna Kobyłt – curator of the MWW collection.

Monika Szewczyk – Director of the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok.

Sylwia Świsłocka-Karwot – President of the Zachęta Lower Silesian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts.

Agata Zbylut – President of the Zachęta Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Szczecin since 2004.

Moderator:

Kama Wróbel – Artistic Director at OP ENHEIM.     * Małgorzata Bakalarz, Małgorzata Winter, “Signs of the Times” National Culture Programme [online access: 27.10.2020]. Link to the article.     The meeting is inspired by the exhibition Natural Resources – the annual presentation of the collection of the Zachęta Lower Silesian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts.

The purchase of works for the collection of the Zachęta Lower Silesian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts was co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund

Public task entitled “Continuation of the creation of a regional collection of contemporary art in Wrocław in 2018–2020” is co-financed from the funds received from the Municipality of Wrocław

Anna Płotnicka, "Unfinished Film 2", 2019; video (colour, no sound), mp4 HD/DVD; 3 min. 45 s.; loop. Photograph by Małgorzata Kujda, © DTZSP 2020