Photo exhibition "Back to the Roots" (curated by Jagna Olejnikowska)
11-25 October 2012, CCRN, free entry | more info (FR) | catalogue (EN)
This year, in line with the festival's main theme, "Back to the Roots", the organisers will host a photo exhibition, bringing together the extensive work of six artists, from Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. About one hundred photos related to the main theme will be on display in different parts of the Abbaye de Neumünster (Agora, Salle Krieps, Buvette, etc.).
The "Back to the Roots" exhibition will centre primarily on the issues of origins, belonging and identity deep inside each of us.
Whether it's a sentimental journey to the land of childhood (Joanna Chudy), a study of the fusion between the elderly and the immediate universe they inhabit (Micha³ Zieliñski) or a look at the authentic aspects of remote and abandoned places (Wojciech Gepner), much of the work invites the viewers to reflect on the inextricable links between the identity of people and the places they come from, or inhabit.
Some of the artists question the oft-cited willingness to return to origins, or to grass roots, in a world increasingly dominated by technology and nomadic lifestyles. For instance, Kasia Stanny's project casts an ironic eye on folklore as custodian of national identity, the photographs of Tomáš Pospìch examine the challenge of "a return to earth and nature", whereas Sarolta Ban's work explores the role of imagination in the origins of our relationship with the world.
These different photographic projects raise the following questions about the origins of our individual, and collective, identities:
How important is the celebration of traditions in a modern society? Can a sentimental journey back to the places of our childhood help us to find our roots? Is the place where we live necessarily imbued with a sense of belonging, or is the belonging more to do with the traces left in the minds and memories of others? These are just some of the questions that the exhibition invites viewers to consider.
Exhibition organised by CinEast in partnership with the Association of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF), in collaboration and with the support of the CCRN and Fonds Culturel National.
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