HUB or SChAB

Hub or Schab – an exhibition which did not happen.
by Mariusz Sołtysik

participating artists:

Agnieszka Chojnacka (PL)
Christine Mackey (IRL)
Ela Walters (PL)
Wiktor Polak (PL)
Mariusz Soltysik (PL)
Dmitry Strakovsky (USA)

place: Mediations Biennale, Poznań, Poland www.mediations.pl
date: 11/09/2010

The above exhibition took place as part of the Poznan Biennale, however it was organized by Lodz based artists and involved an international cast as the list above shows. The exhibition consisted of six videos simultaneously playing in the same room. The life-size projections told differing stories but rested on the same basic brief: to construct a video in which you talk about a piece of work or your work in general. By doing this Mariusz Soltysik risked bringing together a mish-mash of images in an incoherent deluge, yet this bold stroke on the curators side allowed for true artistic freedom and when placed together the six films created a symbiant whole that more than superceeded its component parts. HUB or SChAb illustrates well the often chaotic competition that exists within many 'curated' exhibitions, where works scream out for attention. These works from six very different artists draw the viewer in, enticing them to discover more about the artist and their work. HUB or SChAB allows us to enter the thought process of the artists.
For more details please visit the artists' websites.

Mayoral Eviction

The Warsaw Voice reported on Tuesday that:

Łódź Residents Vote to Recall Their Mayor , January 19, 2010Inhabitants of the central city of Łódź have voted unanimously to recall their mayor, Jerzy Kropiwnicki, in a special referendum on Sunday.

Over 95 percent of these who took part in the referendum wanted the incumbent mayor dismissed, with the 22.2 percent turnout, which is enough to consider the results binding.

When the referendum results are confirmed Kropiwnicki, who has been the mayor of Łódź since 2002, will be replaced by a commissioner appointed by the Prime Minister.

The referendum was inspired by local Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) politicians, who blame the right-wing mayor for ineffectual investments, expensive and unnecessary business trips, closure of a new theatre complex and faulty infrastructure and transport.

To those who know Lodz this comes as no surprise. There have been a catalogue of bad decisions and people are generally frustrated with his actions.

Wacky Races

As I mentioned in a previous post, Lodz has done what no other city (I know of) has dared to do. The BBC reports today that legal street races have begun along Lodz's ring-roads. The idea has sprung from the need to combat illegal races that often occur along the cities streets. Now anyone with a road legal car and a licence can compete in the night races where it is claimed that up to 10,000 people turn up to watch.

As I said previously, this is a bold and innovative step and I highly commend Lodz's city council and police authorities for what is inevitably a controversial initiative. - Good effort :)

Wackey races

I was surprised to see the following article on Top Gear's Website:

Lodz of fun
Crudely informed stereotype it may be, but we'd never have
flagged the Polish police force as a progressive bunch.
However, news
reaches us that police in Lodz, Poland's second city, plan to cordon off
sections of the town at night to allow street racers to compete without speed
limits.
It's all part of a bid to keep youths from organising illegal night
races, and police believe the measures will help to cut down accidents in the
city.
"We've come to an understanding with the organisers of the illegal
races," said Lech Ryszewski, head of the Lodz motoring club, which has been
working with the police force to get the night races up and running.
"The
motoring club has created a Street Legal section, which will organise the races
in closed-off streets, under the supervision of licensed organisers and judges.
In return, participants are obliged to make sure no one organises similar races
on city streets."
Understandably, some sections of the Polish media have
likened the measures to organising a piss-up in a brewery and not expecting
people to get drunk outside. But just imagine all those pimped-up Ladas and
Trabbies...

I think the idea is both great and terrible. Generally finding alternative ways for young men (mainly)to get excitement is great. But surley the streets have houses and the likes next to them. Can't a race track be found?

If anyone knows if this is going ahead then please let me know. Perhaps TG has got the wrong end of the stickshift.

That said, perhaps TG should update their info on Poland as Ladas and Trabbies are not too common these days!!

Łódż Arising

It is rare that the journalists at Poland Monthly venture much outside the safe environs of Warszawa, with industrial projects in Silesia and the like being perhaps the exception. However, I was pleased to see this months PM had an article about Łódź. What is more, it wasn’t purely economy or business related. It was on a grander scale; that is Culture and People!! I had heard through the Grape Vine about Atlas owner Andrzej Walczyk and film maker David Lynch’s ambitious project for Łódź. However, I had not read the details about it in an English language article (Polish still mainly being of the spoken/listening variety despite being her three years). The plans are defiantly ambitious and will revolutionize the center of Łódź. Not mentioned in the article is the rebuilding of Łódź Fabryczna (one of the two main stations in Łódź). The plan apparently is to build an underground station akin to Warszawa’s. In a city with 120+-year-old buildings and street foundations this will require a delicate hand. That said if completed, then it will immensely improve and somewhat dreary and dare I say it foreboding place.
What does this all mean for Łódź? Well, Łódź has a somewhat poor reputation. It is not up there in the top destinations in Poland. Krakow, the Tri-City, the capital and others outshine poor old Łódź. After seven years of coming to Poland as a tourist and visiting mainly the Tri-City and Warszawa, I moved to the Łódź region having never actually seen it (Strange but true!). After being here for three years I can honestly say I love the city and wouldn’t swap it for any other in Poland. Due to its poor reputation it doesn’t have the pretension and attitude of some of the others. That said, it has original architecture, dating back to the 19th Century. This is not the Regal grandeur of Krakow or the merchants haven of Gdansk, but the hard reality of an industrial epicentre. Combine this with a bountiful supply of universities colleges and academies and you have the makings for a cultural centre. Lynch has recognized something that has been hidden for a long time and I hope will finally be let out of the bag.

Ok, enough if the flag-waving, Let us just sit back and see what will happed. After the neglect of the post-industrial period, Łódź can only get better!!

Lodz's Anti-Semetic Reign of Acceptance

On the 14th March the Lodz City Hall hosted a Teenage protest concerning the amount of anti-semetic graffiti and general anti-semitism that exists in Lodz. Lodz (Poland's second largest city) is regarded as being the most anti-Semitic city in Poland. The City's mayor was even vocal about the issue. However, how much has changed? Everyday I go past vulgar graffiti, which one would think could be easily white-washed over. However, little seems to be done about it. It is left to scar the city. If the authorities truly wished to deal with the situation, surely a few cans of paint and a band of willing workers from the city's unemployed could be found. - But no, the graffiti stays. Is this a case of public abhorance, while privatly the city's management accept and condone the anti-semetism that prevails.