Seldom do we see an exhibition devoted to the memory of an art curator - it is usually a privilege reserved for the artists. Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz and Fotofestiwal decided to break this convention and create an exhibition entitled „Tender attention. Urszula Czartoryska and Photography”.
Urszula Czartoryska (1934-1998) was first and foremost an art critic and theorist. She was interested in all the aspects of photography - not only those aestheticised and experimental, but the quotidian ones as well - family photos and utilitarian photography - advertising and documentary. The photography collection of Museum Sztuki reflects this open mindset, and so are the works displayed at this exhibition. Around 150 works on display have been divided into loose categories:
Photography Contested,
Reshaping Images of Reality,
Private, Super-private, Anti-Private
Points of Contact with the World
The title of the exhibition and category names have been borrowed from Czartoryska’s writings. As the curators explain in the exhibition catalogue: „Tender attention is an empathic attitude towards the world. One that points to an insightfulness that the photographer may observe reality with, and a respect that he or she has for their subject.” (M.Franecka, M.Szymańska, „Tender Attenniton. Urszula Czartoryska and Photography”, 2021)
Such definition brings to mind the Nobel Prize acceptance speech of Olga Tokarczuk, nota bene starting with a reference to a photo from a private album. Both cultural texts - the exhibition and the speech - have more in common than they appear to have at first glance.
The exhibition is not officially a part of the 90th anniversary of Muzeum Sztuki, but the association is inevitable when the institution starts to focus on its own history - especially when it is inextricably linked to the history of photography in Poland, as Czartoryska not only shaped the museum’s collection but also through her writings influenced art critics as well as artists themselves.
Polish photography would not be the same without her.
The exhibition includes among others works of: Jan Bułhak, Christian Boltansky ,Janusz Maria Brzeski, Zbigniew Dłubak, Jalu Kurek, Natalia Lach-Lachowicz, Roman Opałka, Ewa Partum, Józef Robakowski, Eva Rubinstein, Zofia Rydet, Jindřich Štreit, Antanas Sutkus, Stefan Themerson,Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. Some of the photographs are anonymous.
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Tender attention. Urszula Czartoryska and Photography
Muzeum Sztuki
ul .Ogrodowa 19
91-071 Łódź
Exhibition: 28.05.2021- 05.09.2021