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The exhibition Presence/ Absence/ Traces. Contemporary Artists on Jewish Warsaw is the outcome of a program of thirteen artistic residencies organized at POLIN Museum in the years 2014–2016. On several occasions I have been asked about the rationale for having artistic residencies at a historical museum. In that case one might ask whether artistic residencies are only to be run by institutions dealing exclusively with contemporary culture. POLIN Museum sees this issue in a somewhat different light. The Jewish heritage of Warsaw and Poland is an extremely important topic for us. We conduct research, oral history projects, and art projects involving witnesses of history and artists. Contemporary artistic commentary on topics of such vital importance seems to us a natural extension of our activity. The works created during artistic residencies focus on the notion of the continued presence of Jewish heritage in Warsaw today. In dealing with the thousand-year history of Jews in Poland the museum also examines that legacy through the eyes of artists, looking at the issue of presence — or more fittingly absence, perhaps traces — of Jewish history in the city and in the whole country. The creation of the works of art was a process that involved the local community. From the perspective of the museum which, like the residential blocks around it, stands on the rubble of the former ghetto, this is an added value. For many of the artists, working with the residents of Muranów has been tantamount to working with the memory of the city, or more often with the lack thereof. The final results often sparked lively public debates, as in the case of Hubert Czerepok’s Fence of Hatred. In commenting on the assigned topic, the artists appealed to different media and channels of expression. We will therefore see installations, photographs, and videos. Some of them will enter POLIN Museum’s collection, adding to our contemporary holdings.
Enjoy Jolanta Gumula Deputy Director, Exhibitions and Museum Collections
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