Out in the Fresh Air? Early Ecological Projects during Artistic Plein-Airs in Poland

Out in the fresh air? But was the air really so fresh when artistic plein-airs were gaining popularity in Poland and the country’s communist authorities sought to “catch up” with the West by developing industry? When levels of coal extraction were the greatest in history, reaching even 200 million tons a year, and new mines dotted the landscape of Silesia.

The exhibition seeks to encourage reflection on the origins of the ecological movement in Polish art. Ecology was very often addressed by artists during summer plein-airs. The topic gained a much more frequent and diverse presence during such meetings in the 1970s, which spawned a wide array of works devoted to the ties between humans and nature. Interestingly, such events were often sponsored by industrial plants, which aggravated environmental pollution. Some artists observed that situation with concern and highlighted the scale of the problem in their pieces.

The exhibition presents selected works created during plein-airs where ecology often became the central theme, including the 1st Symposium of Artists and Scientists “Art in the Changing World” in Puławy, 1966; “Ziemia Zgorzelecka – 1971” plein-air titled “Art and Science in the Process of Protecting Human Natural Environment”; and Plein-Airs in Osieki in 1972, 1973 and 1974, themed, respectively, “Art and Science in the Process of Protecting Human Field of Vision”, “The Art of Water Images”, and “The Artist and the Earth 400,000 Km Afar”.

Pieces created on those occasions heralded the advent of ecology in the field of Conceptual Art and demonstrated artists’ boldness in opposing the “technocratic reality of the Polish People’s Republic”.

The projects also gain relevance in the context of current developments. They draw attention to the damage done to our planet, an issue approached by artists already towards the end of the 1960s, when they noted that fast-paced industrialisation led to the degradation of the natural environment. This serious problem was identified by artists of the era. Why did it then take so long for ecological initiatives to move beyond the sphere of art?ents. They draw attention to the damage done to our planet, an issue approached by artists already towards the end of the 1960s, when they noted that fast-paced industrialisation led to the degradation of the natural environment.

This serious problem was identified by artists of the era. Why did it then take so long for ecological initiatives to move beyond the sphere of art?


BIBLIOGRAPHY:

R. Ziarkiewicz, Awangarda w plenerze: Osieki i Łazy 1963-1981 : polska awangarda II połowy XX wieku w kolekcji Muzeum w Koszalinie

A. M. Leśniewska, Puławy 66 : I Sympozjum Artystów Plastyków i Naukowców, 2-23 sierpnia 1966

W. Gołkowska, J. Ludwiński,Plener Ziemia Zgorzelecka -1971, Opolno-Zdrój, lipiec 1971 : nauka i sztuka w procesie ochrony naturalnego środowiska człowieka

https://galeriaopole.pl/wydarzenia/wystawa-kleska-urodzaju-,385.html

http://www.journal.doc.art.pl/pdf18/Art_and_Documentation_18_section1_anex_trelinski.pdf