On 6th of March at 6 p.m. Polish artists Agnieszka Wołodźko and Marek Wołodźko will present their exhibition “From the point of view… “.

The idea of the exhibition was born from reflection on direct contact with the culture of the Bora Indians of the Peruvian Amazonia. The artist’s monthly trip to that place and the annual ethnographic research of the anthropologist among Bora showed that although they both come from the same cultural circle, their perception of the Bora culture is different. Despite the joint residence of the authors of the exhibition with the Indians and participation in everyday life, their interpretation and understanding were different, sometimes even mutually exclusive. However, it is the field of difference in the experience and perception of this culture – and not the field of unanimity – that the authors give their interpretations. Negative interpretations are important to them, even if they add nothing to their own perspectives of view. They can act as mirrors in which these perspectives are viewed and complement each other, without giving any of them a privileged character.

In this way, the authors of the exhibition refer to the value of individualism in Western culture and – on the other hand – to the idea of egalitarianism of a person in indigenous societies of the Amazonia. In the Bora Indian culture, it is expressed, inter alia, in ritualized conversations between close people, in which everyone listens to each other and reveals their point of view, taken into account when undertaking joint actions.

The exhibition is constructed based on a juxtaposition of metaphor and document with the help of installations, video, photographs and Bora culture artifacts.

Agnieszka Wołodźko – artist, curator, cultural researcher and blogger. In her art work, she is involved with art in public space, engaged art, photography, installation, ceramics, sound works and actions. She implements workshops for various social groups. She is an author of texts and books on contemporary art and culture as well as of a blog „Pomiędzy sztuką a życiem” (Between Art and Life) pomiedzysztukaazyciem.home.blog.

Marek Wołodźko – anthropologist. He conducts ethnographic research in the Peruvian Amazon among the Bora Indians. Issues of his investigations include: learning and understanding of the foreign culture; functioning in a society different from the European one; acquiring different cultural competence; field research methodology and ability to represent and describe indigenous cultures in terms of conceptual, visual and contemporary human experiences. Author of articles on anthropological and museological topics as well as of photographic and ethnographic exhibitions.

Agnieszka and Marek live in Gdańsk and jointly manage the Foundation „Cultures Beyond Culture”.

The exhibition runs until 28th of March.

The project is supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture