EXHIBITIONS
OPENING NIGHT
"UTOPIA ART" - October 12, 2023
A UNIQUE artistic event "Utopia Art", which takes us to the world of abstraction, colors and mysticism - is a vernissage and exhibition discovering the mysterious and beautiful world of Aboriginal "painting", in which history, culture and art are intertwined into an amazing story.
"Utopia Art" is not only an encounter with Aboriginal painting, but also with the spirit and history of this fascinating people. The presented works come from various regions of Australia, and their richness of colors and details create an extraordinary story about the mystical way of life of the Aborigines.
The opening took place on Thursday,
October 12, 2023, 18.00-21.00
6:00 p.m. – official opening of the exhibition
7.00 p.m. – lecture on Aboriginal culture by Iwona Pruszyńska
7.30 p.m. – Ruff Libner didgeridoo concert
20.00 – guitar concert by Teheke Hape Knap and Rafał Olbrychski
Place: Public Library of the city of Warsaw
Koszykowa 26/28, 00-950 Warsaw
OPENING NIGHT OF "DREAMTIME"
ABORIGINAL ART EXHIBITION
Hand Poke Tattoo Temple
street Mokotowska 63, Warsaw
Sunday, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m
Free entrance
18.30 – Iwona Pruszyńska, introduction to Aboriginal art and discussion of the presented paintings
20.00-21.00 – Rafał Libner, didgeridoo concert
The opening was organized in cooperation with Cap Lawyers Australian Polish Legal Services. All exhibited works come from private collections.
In 1984, James Mollison, director of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, stated that the painting of Aboriginal people from the Papunya Tula tribe is "the greatest achievement of abstract art in Australia." Today, such opinions no longer surprise anyone. These paintings adorn museum collections and break records at auctions in Europe and America. Many Australian historians even admit that Aboriginal art has proven its superiority to artistic work with roots in Europe.
This ancient and highly symbolic form of expression was originally hidden: drawn in sand or applied to rocks in territories forbidden to lay people. But in the early 1970s, amidst struggles for recognition of Aboriginal identity, the Papunya Tula community translated their cultural practices and symbolic knowledge through paint. Using non-traditional methods borrowed from Western culture (acrylic, brushes, cardboard and later canvas), indigenous peoples of Australia found a modern way to express their cultural, political, social and economic struggles.
Today, this work is at the center of discussions about Australian art, and also - and perhaps even above all - plays a leading role on the Australian art market. It is estimated that up to 3/4 of sales are Aboriginal works, while Aborigines themselves constitute only less than 3% of the Australian population.
The opening will be hosted byla Iwona Pruszyńska, a Polish-Australian lawyer from the Cap Lawyers law firm, who is privately a lover and collector of Aboriginal art. The paintings presented at the opening come partly from her private collection.
