PIOTR SIKORA PORTFOLIO

Working in the field of art I’m interested in art critique understood as a complex process of value shaping, that is no longer a matter of art writing but rather the work of a curator. My theoretical approach is based on cultural studies and new art history with a special focus on horizontal and regional art histories.

My work regards big narratives, stereotypes, and different kinds of prejudices and superstitions connected with regional specifics. My curatorial practice is majorly circulating around different methods of deconstruction that could come into use while dealing with big narratives. My favorite is exaggeration, irony, insinuation, and last but not least provocation.

Another field of my research is the phenomenon of cultural mobility – artists in residence programs. For the last 6 years, I work as a host and residency curator at CCA MeetFactory. This occupation gives me space to reflect on what it means to manage a residency program in times of climate change and how to make it more sustainable while keeping it open to different groups of art professionals.

Curriculum Vitae

+420777524573 piotr.sikora@meetfactory.cz

Higher Education:

MA – Art History Institute, Faculty of History/ Jagiellonian

University in Krakow 2014

Language Skills:

English (fluent), Polish (mother tongue), Italian (fluent), Czech (fluent), and Spanish (basic).

Scholarships and residences:

Constructing Utopias Summer School, mg+msum, Ljubljana, 2018

Residency at Ark Galerie, Yogyakarta, 2017

Residency at Studio Das Weisse Haus, Vienna 2016

Scholarship of Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 2015

Curatorial Experience:

Artistic Director/ Other Edges of The World Creative

Europe Project / 2022-24

Program Curator / Artists-in-Residence Program /

MeetFactory / since 2017

Co-curator / Biennale Matter of Art in Prague / 2021-22

Co-curator / Narracje Festival in Gdańsk / 2021

Curator / Censorship Strikes Back Conference / 2020

Artistic Director / The New Dictionary of Old Ideas Creative

Europe Project / 2018 - 2020

Project Curator / Intermarium traveling exhibition / 2016

Program Curator / Malopolska Garden of Art / 2012-2014

Curator / Zbiornik Kultury /2012-2013

Curator / ShowOFF at Photomonth in Krakow / 2012 - 2016

Project curator / Art Boom Festival / 2010 – 2016

Selected lectures and presentations:

Kill Memory Kill Pain - lecture / Elbe Dock festival at Ústí nad Labem, 2021

How to Squat Like a Real Artists / School of the Arts

Columbia University, New York 2018

INTERMARIUM / presentation at The Deep Flows of the Running Sea conference in Museum of Art Olomouc, 2016

The Power of Critique. The Power of Gaze/presentation at The Innocent Eye Does Not Exist conference, Krakow

2015

They Don't Know Why but They Doing It / presentation at After Capitalism conference in Bunkier Sztuki Gallery

Krakow 2012

Selected Exhibition Projects:

Feb 2023 Untitleis, Kisterem, Budapest HU

Feb 2022 IPS TYPOGRAPHUS, Berlinskej Model, Prague CZ

Dec 2021 Hussites at The Baltic Sea, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice PL

Sep 2021 EYE/EAR, GAMPA, Pardubice CZ

Aug 2020 Total Failure Spectacular Collapse, Pragovka, Prague CZ

Feb 2020 The New Dictionary of Old Ideas, MeetFactory, Prague CZ

June 2019 Avant Garde Decentralized symposium, Warszawa Biennale, PL

Feb 2019 An Out of This World Event III., Karlin Studios, Prague, CZ

Sep 2018 Slav Squatting and Its Discontents, MeetFactory, Prague, CZ

March 2018 Interpreter’s Booth, Chimera-Project, Budapest, Hungary, H

Jan 2018 Goodbye AiWeiWei, INI Project, Prague, CZ

XII 2017 Swag and Threat, TRAFO Art Center, Szczecin, PL

XI 2017 The Devils of Unreason, Koal Gallery, Berlin, D

X 2017 Eight Women, in cooperation with Plato Ostrava, Ostrava, CZ

II 2016 Intermarium, Futura, Prague/Chimera-Project, Budapest / PlusMinusNula, Žilina/BWA Sokół, Nowy Sącz

X 2015 The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, Fotograf Festival, Prague, CZ

II 2014 Czech Pope, Meet Factory, Prague CZ

IX 2013 Corpus Delicti, Jakub Woynarowski, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warszawa PL

V – XII 2011 They Don't Know Why But They Keep Doing It, Waterside Contemporary

London, UK. Galeria Blanca Soto Madrid, ESP

Member of AICA Polska.

Lecturer at Anglo American University, Prague.

Member of Publishing Committee at Modern Gallery in Hradec Králové

Selected curatorial projects 2012-2023

Untitleis by Gábor Kristóf Curator

Kisterem Gallery

Budapest

14.02.2023 - 31.3.2023

Golf is never about golf, it’s always about something else.

Mark Twain

[a voice from the past] So what was golf really about? esoterics? violence? kinky stuff? after all, we are running around like blue-ass flies with one aim: to complete the hole What is it about? getting a title? domesticating nature? naturalizing ourselves by taking these never-ending walks through the bunkers and fairways and greens. Ultimately a golf course is nothing but an oasis where we all are going to hide one day, the day when the end of the world as we know it will reach us

In his second solo exhibition at Kisterem, Gábor Kristóf presents his latest series. The material of Untitleist is the result of years of experimentation, with elements that have now expanded in size Kristóf started working with powder coating in 2015 and has since then explored the application of this industrial technique, which produces surfaces similar to enamel paint, and the related possibilities of expanding the RAL colour range through several series In 2020, he produced his first works inspired by the exclusive world of golf, of which he presented a larger selection at his solo exhibition Picnic on the Driving Range in Bánská Štiavnica. This time, Kisterem will present works inspired by the specific terminology of the sport, with compositions created by layering layers of powder paint that evoke the golf phenomenon through typographic experiments, abstracting it into textures.

Biennale Matter of Art 2022

Co-Curator with Rado Ištok, Renan Laru-an, tranzit.cz

Prague City Gallery

Former laundry at the Faculty Hospital

21st of July - 23rd of October 2022

Participating artists & authors

Hamja Ahsan (UK), Gwendolyn Albert (US/Czech Republic), APART (Slovakia), Michal BarOr (Israel), Anca Benera & Arnold Estefan (Romania), Hera Büyüktaşcıyan (Turkey), Larisa Crunțeanu (Romania), Nolan Oswald Dennis (South Africa), Patricia Domínguez (Chile), Mandy El-Sayegh with Alice Walter (UK), Brenda Fajardo (Philippines), Florin Flueras (Romania), Ramon Guillermo (Philippines), Filip Herza (Czech Republic), Jana Horváthová (Czech Republic), Robin Hartanto (Indonesia), i pack* [Robert Gabris (Austria), Luboš Kotlár (Slovakia) & Cat Jugravu (Germany)], Brigitta

Isabella (Indonesia), Hanni Kamaly (Norway/Sweden), Barbora

Kleinhamplová (Czech Republic), Alina Kleytman (Ukraine) & Marie Lukáčová (Czech Republic), Jacques de Koning (Netherlands), Jana

Krejcarová-Černá (Czech Republic), Tarek Lakhrissi (France), Renz Lee (†) (Philippines), Dorota Jagoda Michalska (Poland), Candice Lin (US), Fathia Mohidin & Adele Marcia Kosman (Sweden), Mara Oláh (†) (Hungary), Linh Valerie Pham (Vietnam) with Rene O. Villanueva’s characters, Alina Popa (†) with Florin Flueras (Romania), Pižmo (Czech Republic), Kolektiv Prádelna / The Laundry Collective (Czech Republic), Ábel Ravasz (Slovakia), Anna Remešová (Czech Republic), Vincent Rumahloine (Indonesia), Charlotte Salomon (†) (Germany), Rudolf Samohejl (Czech Republic), Františka Schormová (Czech Republic), Sina Seifee (Germany/Iran), Jana Shostak (Poland), Sráč Sam (Czech Republic), Ceija Stojka (†) (Austria), Bára Šimková (Czech Republic), Olúfẹmi O. Táíwò (US), Shūji Terayama (†) with Tetsuya Chiba and Ashita no Joe artifacts (Japan), Marie Tučková (Czech Republic), Rene O. Villanueva (†) with Jo Atienza (Philippines), Lenka Vítková (Czech Republic), Zai Xu (Czech Republic)

What is life imagined in violence? In other words, how can we let the soft be soft? The second edition of the biennale Matter of Art invites the public to explore diverse artistic positions that reiterate these intertwined questions in various affective registers, media, and outputs. The choir of voices that is at times consonant and at times dissonant seeks know-how for undermining the bold narratives that revolve around heroic, autonomous figures who exert extraordinary power to overcome obstacles Where does the saying about the events which make us stronger unless they kill us come from, and what is the actual meaning of the word “stronger” anyway? In contrast to this proverb, the art presented in the exhibition weaves together different stories of essentially vulnerable bodies and deficient systems dependent on and inseparable from other bodies, the environment, and infrastructures.

IPS TYPOGRAPHUS by Stach Szumski Curator Berlinskej Model Prague

25 2 2022 – 10 3 2022

The story you are about to read – or perhaps rather be swallowed by – is written on the walls of the gallery space. The intervention was conducted by Stachu in collaboration with legions of bugs as a part of a long-lasting psychedelic therapy session. This interspecies cooperation aimed to visualize the fears and anxieties that stay in the way of a friendly coexistence of humans and bugs Even though it may now appear as a creepy bark beetle bone chapel, the future will acknowledge it as something like a cave painting from the turbulent dusk of the Holocene, when Gregor S. was just a literature protagonist and the human-bug era was about to take off

For most of his life, Stachu has lived in the Giant Mountains (believe me or not, this is the English translation for Krkonoše). Even though he is much less present in his family home these days, in the long summer months he enjoys his escapades into the wild Walking from Bogatynia to Broumov and back and exploring the territories of the mountains, artificially divided by the state border. The border is understood as a meeting point of what we consider nature or natural and culture or artificial remains a constant element in Stachu’s work. The ornament-like forms appear on wooden bones eaten by the bark beetle The aeographic gradients emerged from the surface of an abandoned building as if graffiti was some kind of lichen, slowly covering every inch of concrete. Thick branches in the shape of skeleton hands, reaching out for you as in some kind of twisted Disney cartoon. And all the silhouettes resemble stalactites, rocky mushrooms, cranks in the sandstones, gargoyles, and hazy devil heads All of a sudden you realize that the origin of this murky gothic style that dominates Stachu’s work is derived directly from the forest – the darker, more human-resilient side of the Giant Mountains

Hussites at The Baltic Sea Curator

Rondo Sztuki

Katowice

18 12 2021-10 02 2022

Artists: Adrian Altman, Veronika Čechmánková, Barbora Kleinhamplová, Eliška Konečná, Kateřina Konvalinová, Marie Lukáčová, Jan Matýsek, Michael Nosek, Kateřina Olivová, Lucia Sceranková, Linda Wrong

The exhibition presents ten artistic approaches from the Czech art scene. For many of them (but not all) the common denominator became the motif of water; as fluid and difficult to grasp as possible. It recurs in individual works, becoming the background of the action, personifying the healing process or, on the contrary, being a source of hallucinogenic sensations Its excess - rising sea and ocean levels - and scarcity at the same time, make it not so much a threat of futuristic catastrophes as a metaphor of transformation.

Poland's Czechophilia? Rather Turów’s

depression

A state from sea to sea or preferably a state covered by the sea

We want a sea instead of Poland! (and the beach under the Sněžka)

Exoticism with a small e spelled, inscribed in our Central European melting pot

A cumbersome wink from over a beer more eloquent than many a ratified agreement

Poles again in Prague

Hussites on the Baltic

NARRACJE #12 Co-curator

Gdańsk

21.10-22.10.2021

Artists:

Mark Fridvalszki (HU), Barbora Kleinhamplová (CZ), Kateřina Konvaliová (CZ), Magda Lazar (PL) & Michalina Bigaj (PL), Cecylia Malik (PL), Kateřina Olivová (CZ), Jan Matýsek (CZ), The Melancholy of Marissa Cooper: Zuzanna Žabková & Nik Timkova (SK), Centrum Centrum: Łukasz Jastrubczak & Małgorzata Mazur (PL), Tatuator Maciej (PL), Potencja: Karolina Jabłońska, Tomasz Kręcicki, Cyryl Polaczek (PL), Egill Sæbjörnsson (ISL), Lucia

Sceranková (SK), Julita Wójcik (PL), Linda Wrong (CZ)

The 12th edition of NARRACJE takes you on a journey to the year 2080, when a substantial part of Gdańsk will be submerged under the Baltic Sea. However, the one-metre sea level rise will not cause an environmental disaster predicted in bleak scenarios from the early 21st century. Instead of an accelerationist vision of a concrete desert, the year 2080 will instead unfold in a stable ecosystem, in which human interference with nature brings about surprising outcomes. In our concept of the festival, we propose urban projects based on a speculation that synthesizes the work of an international team of artists All activities are bound together by a vision of the future as a polyphony of concepts and voices standing in opposition to fatalistic predictions. Wrzeszcz and other parts of Gdańsk will at one point serve as one of many examples of the dramatic consequences of humanity’s impact on our planet. While we are aware of the gravity of our situation, we do not believe in gloomy scenarios of the Anthropocene We want to build an event whose narrative stretches far into the future, yet offers a visionary image of what’s to come, and, by way of a remedy, initiates a collaboration between residents, artists and activists.

FOOD STUDIO - in frame of MeetFactory Artists In Residence Programe Curator

The studio is running continuously from May 2020 hosting the following artists:

Christina Dietz (US), Juliane Foronda (CA), Zsolt Miklósvölgyi and Dominika Trapp (HU), Adelina Cimochowicz (PL), Adrian Altman (CZ), Catherine Murray (IR), Maria Toboła (PL), Denisa Langrová & Marie Lukáčová & Alex Sihelsk (CZ), Tomek Pawłowski-Jarmołajew (PL)

Stony Tellers (CZ)

From a seasonal trend in exhibition-making to yet another sub-medium in contemporary art, food is becoming an increasingly important element of today’s art practice. Over the course of the preceding decade, one can follow the appropriation of foodstuffs by a broad spectrum of artists developing community-based and socially engaged projects. It can be seen as another path to recognising identity politics or dealing with post-colonial topics Since our residency programme is mainly oriented towards building relationships between the Prague art scene (art audiences and residents), we would like to use a food-oriented art practice as a platform for connection and mutual understanding Let’s have a bite!

Picnic at The Flame Curator

Třinec City Gallery

10.09 - 15.10.2020

Artists: Adrian Altman, Stan Barański, Adelina Cimochowicz, Yeva Kupchenko, Kasper Lecnim, Irmina Rusicka

Picnic! The absolute beauty of a meal in the midst of natural surroundings!

The unforgettable charm of a gentle organic fusion of culture and nature sealed by a festive lunch! The concept of The Piknik u Plamene is very homely – a few artists coming together to celebrate a meal in different parts of Třinec town. Scouting the boundaries between what is industrial and cultural, natural and urban, in the narratives involving the recent history of the city seen from foreign perspective

One can say it is quite banal, everydayish and sybaritic. It definitely isn’t an object of desire, it can’t be hung over the couch and we had no intention in making it look good The art we propose is simply an image of life that is being highlighted and gains visibility After all, the fundamental function of institutions such as Knihovna is adding visibility to things and matters we tend to skip and forget in everyday rush. It is going to be a pity not to have a place to remind the citizens of Trinec about that.

The New Dictionary of Old Ideas Co-curator

MeetFactory, Prague

20.02 - 27.03.2020

Artists:

Erick Beltrán, Verónica Lahitte, Elena Lavellés, Irmina Rusicka, Adéla Součková, Katharina Stadler, Sandro Sulaberidze, Nino Zirakashvili, Jiří Žák

Central Europe can also be seen as an idea, a metaphor of connection between the presumed West and East. However, this contact should not be understood in absolute terms, but relative to the specificities of each context. Historical and global processes, the existing threads between locations and ideas, must also be considered, since they contribute greatly to the shaping of opinions and beliefs tied to this concept

How, then is it possible to define “central” when aspects beyond geographical location intertwine, and when boundaries and definitions are not seen as fixed entities, but rather in flux? In search of this, the exhibition addresses issues that are critical in many countries of Europe and beyond, such as oppression, the distribution of power and resources, the dismissal of perspective, and historical reenactment