to artists by the Archives. First positive answers pushed things forward. A group of persons called Organization Committee started to work. The composition of the Committee, never stable, was mainly based on students and faculty of the Łódź Film School, with the following persons always in the group: Lechosław Czołnowski, Jacek Jóźwiak, Andrzej Kamrowski, Violetta Krajewska, Mariella Nitosławska, Józef Robakowski, Tomasz Snopkiewicz, Maria Waśko and Piotr Zarębski. Many people and institutions supported exhibition organization, such as Independent Trade Union “Solidarność” – represented by Jerzy Kropiwnicki, Andrzej Słowik and Krzysztof Osada. “Solidarność” offered its honorary patronage and supported realization of works by artists. City authorities guaranteed accommodation in Hotel Centrum. Also Jerzy Koj, Director of the Municipal Communication showed his goodwill by offering new spaces of the factory hall for the time of the exhibition. Association of Culture Creators offered their bank account for the needs of organizers. The Film School offered their equipment for the registration of the course of activities – thus, Jacek Jóźwiak turned his documentary. Film Group Aneks produced the film by Józef Robakowski about Construction (1982). Organizers, assisted by “Solidarność” asked trade unions to talk to workers and select some to work with artists – sometimes they did it on their own initiative. One of the most important features of Construction in Process was showing the process of work and its organization, that is something, that usually remains behind curtains of cultural events. Artists designed their works with regard to a specific site - factory hall, using materials accessible to them, which was not an easy task considering the Polish economic misery in 1981. Collective work had crucial meaning in the execution of these works and bringing them to the venue of the exhibition. Co-ope-
ration of artists and workers from several mills in Łódź and the resultant exhibition seemed an accomplished utopia of proletarian-artist community, soon wiped away by the declaration of martial law. Therefore, it allows us to think about it as “the community that came”, and confront Agamben’s conception with the history of the event that actually happened. The heritage of Construction in Process is a set of works, donated by artists to the Independent Trade Union “Solidarność” Łódź Region, and by the Union – to the Muzeum Sztuki. Today, when we ask a question whether art can affect the world, and recall, in our exhibition, the community that passed, our answer is, in a way, that 30 years ago – for a short time – it did.
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