This year’s exhibition “Open city” is curated by Zbigniew Libera. Born in 1959 in Pabianice, the artist lives and works in Warsaw. In 1982-1983 he was arrested and detained for printing underground Press. Later, in the ‘80s, he was associated with the most interesting circles of the independent art in Poland and was a member of the Kultura Zrzuty group. Libera moved in with Zofia Kulik and Przemysław Kwiek, modelling for Kulik’s photographs and living with them for two years. In the early 2000s, he co-founded the WAA and was involved in the Civic Forum of Contemporary Art.
He participated in numerous exhibitions in Poland and abroad, including: “Beyond Belief” at MCA Chicago, “Mirroring Evil” at the Jewish Museum in New York, “Correct Me If Im Wrong” at Guy McIntyre Gallery in New York, “Correction Devices” at the Centre for Contemporary Art at Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, “Masters and Positives” at Atlas Sztuki Gallery in Łódź, “Aperto” at the Venice Biennale in 1993.
After graduation from Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, he made a feature film “WALSER” ( 2015 ). He collaborated with many stage directors, including: Krzysztof Warlikowski, Magda Szpecht, Katarzyna Kalwat, Emilia Sadowska and Maja Kleczewska.
He also curated artistic exhibitions such as “9 Tytułów” [9 Titles] at the Art Exhibition Office in Zielona Góra, “Artysta w czasie beznadziei” [The artist in the time of hopelessness] at Awangarda Gallery in Wrocław, “To nie moja wina, że ta rzeźba się o mnie otarła” [It’s not my fault that this sculpture rubbed against me] at the National Museum, Janusz Gałuszko’s individual exhibition “Kobiety i mężczyźni przed wojną” [Women and men before the war] at the Art Exhibition Office in Legnica.
Didactics is a new thread in Libera’s work. At the end of 2008, Libera stayed in Prague at the invitation of the local Academy of Fine Arts ( AVU ), where he agreed to run an open studio. Later, in 2017, he was a lecturer at the Theatre Academy in Warsaw. In the 2013-2016, thanks to cooperation with Aleksandra Panisko he made over 50 episodes for TVP Kultura entitled “Libera – Przewodnik po sztuce” [Libera’s Guide to Art].