Artistic Encounters

Want to be in on a secret? Let’s not fall for stereotypes!
Last year’s first ever Krakow Art Salon was warmly received by the participants and the public. The joint initiative of the Krakow Festival Office and the Foundation Artists Innovation Theory provides the perfect platform for meetings among artists and between artists and audiences. The open nature of the recruitment process for the exhibition at the Palace of Art (the only conditions are submitting a recent artwork and having ties with Kraków) breaks down formal and genre divisions, while the atmosphere of the event encourages the public to engage with contemporary art, even if they found it inaccessible in the past. Last year, the main reference point for the organisers was reviews of contemporary paintings and sculptures held in Kraków in the 19th century; this year reaches for the formula of private literary and artistic meetings held at the homes of wealthy Cracovians around the same period.

Palace filled with art
The exhibition of the Krakow Art Salon 2019 (15-24 November, noon-8pm, admission free) brings together 112 artists and collectives. We will see a selection from almost 1000 artworks submitted by 435 authors, chosen by Magdalena Kownacka (programme director of the event), Gaweł Kownacki (artistic director), Arkadiusz Półtorak (curator and critic) and Anka Sasnal (director and screenwriter). They include paintings, drawings, prints, photos, sculptures, objects and installations as well as videos, documentation of performances and audiovisual projects. Our subjective guides through the world of contemporary art will be artists, critics and curators. Full programme of the daily guided tours can be found on www.krakowskisalonsztuki.pl.

Let’s meet!
This year’s events are centred around the idea of sociability, therefore the symposium held at the Palace of Art on 16 and 17 November recalls meetings held at wealthy salons throughout 19th-century Europe. Participating artists and representatives of museums and private galleries discuss the significance of our social lives to culture, and how fashions guiding the aesthetic choices of patrons of the arts changed at different periods in history. The formula of the symposium, with presentations and discussion panels held in a friendly atmosphere, recalls art symposiums held in Poland in the post-war period.

(Not) simply the best
The formula of the Salon places an important task on the jury: the aim of the competition isn’t to choose the objectively best artworks, but those that appeal most to each of the jury members and their artistic sensitivities. As last year, they will award the Grand Prix and prizes in four categories: Painting of the Year, Object of the Year, Media Work of the Year and Action of the Year. In a curious twist, artworks aren’t assigned to any particular category, so Painting of the Year could be awarded to a video and Action of the Year to an oil painting. This year’s winners are selected by Krzysztof Garbaczewski (theatre director), Zofia Gołubiew (director of the National Museum in Krakow between 2000 and 2015), Katarzyna Janowska (journalist and director of the department of culture at Onet), Krzysztof Lipiński (musician) and Jacek Poniedziałek (actor). A separate vote belongs to the public, awarding their own prize (Audience Award). At the end of the Salon, we will learn who will be awarded the Wojtek Falęcki Creative Scholarship, founded by the family of the collector who passed away two years ago.

Daily events
If you would like to bring contemporary art into your life while supporting artists and next year’s Salon, join the auction closing this year’s events (24 November, 5pm), featuring 75 artworks presented at the Palace of Art. The full list of works going on sale and terms and conditions are on the Salon’s website.

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Most importantly, the Krakow Art Salon introduces us to the latest works by Cracovian artists to discover that art is universal and for everyone, regardless of background or wealth. (Dorota Dziunikowska,“Karnet” monthly)

Organisers: City of Krakow, Krakow Festival Office, Foundation Artists Innovation

 Adission free