WAITING ROOM (2024) | Vernissage

In the organizer's words:

Installation (video, sound, light), 29'40".

Konrad Smoleński's installation consists of image and sound material collected in Iraqi Kurdistan in May 2024. The artist and curator Jagna Lewandowska went there at the invitation of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights to meet and work with the Kurdish photographer Shamal Hisamaddin, who photographs families of people who go missing during forced migration to Europe. Relatives of missing persons sometimes wait for decades for their return or even for news of their death, and they rarely manage to get any concrete information. They remain in a strange state of limbo, in the absence of information, in the titular "waiting room".
The task of Smoleński's work was to create an abstract context for Hisamaddin's powerful reportage material. The installation, whose components are image (monitor), sound (loudspeaker) and light (light bulb), reflects the atmosphere of a strange lack, showing vanished cities and landscapes in which people, of whom there is no trace, could function. The editing of the video orchestrates the whole, recalling the last WhatsApp conversations of people migrating with their families, conversations that suddenly end. In "Waiting Room" we also find fragments of conversations that Hisamaddin had with the people he photographed.
By using characteristic elements (sudden cuts, original sound combined with the image, light turned on at surprising moments) that break the habits of perception, Smoleński manages to generalize the message and move from individual stories to a general atmosphere of longing, emptiness and suffering.

ENG: Konrad Smoleński's installation is composed of visual and sound materials collected in Iraqi Kurdistan in May 2024. The artist and curator, Jagna Lewandowska, at the invitation of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, went there to meet and work with Kurdish photographer Shamal Hisamaddin, who has been photographing families of people missing during forced migration to Europe. Relatives of the missing have been waiting for their return or even the news of their death, sometimes for decades, and they rarely manage to obtain specific information. They remain in a strange limbo, lack, stuck in the titular "waiting room". The task of Smoleński's work was to create an abstract context for Hisamaddin's strong reportage material. The installation, whose components are image (monitor), sound (speakers) and light (bulb), reflects the atmosphere of strange lack, shows missing towns and landscapes in which people of whom there is no trace could function. Editing of the video orchestrates the whole and brings to mind the last WhatsApp conversations of people migrating with their families, conversations that suddenly end. In "Waiting Room" we will also find fragments of conversations that Hisamaddin had with the people he photographed.As a result, Smoleński, through the use of characteristic elements (sudden cuts, original sound coupled with the image, light switching on at surprising moments) that break the perception habits, managed to universalize the message, moving from individual stories towards a general atmosphere of longing, emptiness and suffering.

Text: Jagna Lewandowska

The Artists

Konrad Smoleński is a multimedia artist who works in the fields of sound, video, installation and performance. His works combine the aesthetics of punk rock with the precision characteristic of minimalism. Through the use of sound objects taken directly from popular culture or created by himself, Smoleński explores the effects of free-flowing energy. This is evident in works in which a sound signal is manipulated live and/or forced into an interaction with the audience. By exploring the possibilities of electricity, sound waves and sound systems, he manipulates the meanings usually attributed to objects in the context of rock music and contemporary art culture. Winner of the Views 2011 - Deutsche Bank Foundation Award. The artist represented Poland at the 55th Venice Biennale with a solo exhibition in the Polish Pavilion (2013). He is the director of the BNNT sound performance project and co-founder of the artist collective PENERSTWO. His works can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Ludwig Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest, Museum of Art in Łódź, Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw.

Jagna Lewandowska works at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw as a curator and researcher. She curated and co-curated exhibitions such as "Andrzej Jórczak. Looking at Alpha Ursae" (2014) at the Arton Foundation, Warsaw; Mikołaj Moskal. "Bones" (2017) at the SABOT Gallery, Cluj Napoca, Romania; "Brace for Impact" (2018) at De Appel, Amsterdam. Together with Sebastian Cichocki, she curated the cross-sectional exhibition "The Penumbral Age. Art in the Time of Planetary Change" (June-September 2020) at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. In 2023 she was guest curator of Vanish Gallery - a mobile gallery project by Konrad Smoleński. Recently she curated Gizela Mickiewicz's solo exhibition "Shifting Views" at SKALA Gallery in Poznań. She is a PhD student at the Faculty of Liberal Arts at the University of Warsaw and a member of the artist collective New Roman.

Shamal Hisamaddin is a photographer and journalist from Ranya, Kurdistan, who has been documenting cultural and journalistic issues for 14 years. He is currently studying for a Master's degree in Philosophy of Art at the University of Tehran. For him, it is the duty of photographers to report on current events and inform the public, which is why he focuses on the human impact of political developments. His work has been shown in independent and collaborative exhibitions, and his photography was named Photo of the Year by Metrography in 2023.

Konrad Smoleński is a multimedia artist working in sound, video, installation and performance. His works combine punk rock aesthetics with the precision that is characteristic of minimalism. Through the use of sound objects that are plucked directly from popular culture or of his own creation, Smoleński examines the effects of free-flowing energy. This is evident in works where a sound signal is manipulated live and/or is forced into an interaction with the audience. By exploring the possibilities of electricity, sound waves, and PA systems, he manipulates the meanings that are usually attributed to objects connected with rock music and contemporary art culture. Winner of the Views 2011 - Deutsche Bank Foundation Award. The artist represented Poland at the 55th Venice Biennale with a solo exhibition at the Polish Pavilion (2013). He is the leader of the BNNT sound performance project and co-founder of the PENERSTWO artistic collective. His works are held in the following collections: Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Ludwig Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Museum of Art, Łódź, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. www.konradsmolenski.com

Jagna Lewandowska works at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw as a curator and resercher. She curated and co-curated exhibitions including "Andrzej Jórczak. Looking at Alpha Ursae" (2014) at Arton Foundation, Warsaw; Mikołaj Moskal. "Bones" (2017) at SABOT Gallery, Cluj Napoca, Romania; "Brace for Impact" (2018) at De Appel, Amsterdam. Together with Sebastian Cichocki, she curated the cross-sectional exhibition "The Penumbral Age. Art in the Time of Planetary Change" (June-September 2020) at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. In 2023 she was guest curator of the Vanish Gallery - a mobile gallery project by Konrad Smoleński. Recently, she curated Gizela Mickiewicz's solo exhibition "Shifting Views" at SKALA Gallery in Poznań. She is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Artes Liberales, University of Warsaw and member of the New Roman artistic collective.

Shamal Hisamaddin is a photographer and journalist from Ranya, Kurdistan with a 14-year career documenting cultural and journalistic subjects. Currently pursuing a Masters in the Philosophy of Art at the University of Tehran, he believes in the photographer's duty to share events and shape public opinion, focusing on the human impact of political issues. His work has been showcased in independent and collaborative exhibitions, and he was awarded Photo of the Year by Metrography in 2023.

The exhibition is part of the project DROWNING IN THIS POT OF GOLD, organized and curated by Spacetransformer e.V. (Hanna Karpenko, Johanna Ralser, Ewa Meister) and funded by the City of Leipzig. In addition to the exhibition, artist talks, workshops, film screenings and performances will take place in October as part of the project and in cooperation with the Cinémathèque Leipzig. More information will follow soon.

ENG: The exhibition is part of the project DROWNING IN THIS POT OF GOLD, organized and curated by Spacetransformer e.V. (Hanna Karpenko, Johanna Ralser, Ewa Meister) and funded by the City of Leipzig. In addition to the exhibition, artist talks, workshops, film screenings and performances will take place in October as part of the project and in cooperation with the Cinémathèque Leipzig. More information will follow soon.

Öffnungszeiten für die Ausstellung / Opening hours for the exhibition

17.9. - 20.10.2024
Tue - Fri / 11 am - 5 pm and during events