We live in a time of interpretation and “puncturing” everything that humans have created within themselves and around them. Among the most important topics are the scale of human evil, genocide, the destruction of the planet, the crisis of religiosity, and the changing status of women. In the wake of this widespread tendency to “stick a thermometer up the backside of civilization,” the issue of art in public space has also revived. The more art moves away from being merely a decoration for a park or square, the more intensely it begins to converse and argue with public space, the more it becomes an art that belongs to it, grows from it, and shapes it. Public art is identified with the city, because it contributed to the emergence of this social phenomenon. The city is a cauldron that produces problems and questions. Their potential, their hunger for answers, are an invitation and a provocation for artists. The city calls them to respond. And they are increasingly willing to engage in dialogue with it. A dozen years ago, the city of Lublin decided to help artists fulfill this relatively new artistic need by organizing a festival each year, inviting a different curator each time, and providing excellent production opportunities. I titled the OPEN CITY 2025 festival “Conversation with the City.” This slogan seems to me to most broadly summarize the meaning of activities in public space. The city asks questions—or rather, they constantly leak out—and the provoked artist responds in his or her own foreign language. The multilingualism of contemporary art—which defies the form of a classical monument—is provocative, yet at the same time very attractive to public spaces.
For “Conversation with the City,” I invited more than a dozen artists who addressed topics important to Lublin, and more broadly, to the essence of the city. Gunter Demnig, Robert Kuśmirowski, and Tomasz Pietrasiewicz address the Holocaust, of which Lublin was an important and painfully experienced witness. These works—I hope—will endure forever. Andrzej Bednarczyk and Piotr Blamowski will explore themes of religiosity and ecumenism. Andrzej Dłużniewski and Norbert Radermacher will demonstrate absurdist playfulness—a trait that urban pragmatism thrives on. Małgorzata Lisiecka will offer an idea for renewing our relationship with nature. Fabian Knecht, who has supported Ukraine since the beginning of the war, will reveal the results of his expeditions. Jarosław Kozłowski—aptly, as always—will comment on something important. Krzysztof M. Bednarski will address social customs. Jadwiga Sawicka will give a chosen building a fitting name. Krzysztof Wodiczko, in turn, will highlight the tragedy of homelessness. Paweł Kowalewski will pay tribute to the legendary Lublin artist Andrzej Mroczek. The festival curator will install plaques commemorating Józef Czechowicz and Mikołaj Smoczyński. The artistic product of the public space itself will be Andrzej Krawczyk’s street gallery. The opening will include a promotion of Maria Anna Potocka’s book, “Art Wants to Be Everywhere” (Austeria Publishing House, partnership: Zachęta Poznań, ROZDROŻA Center). Hosted by Robert Kuśmirowski and Karolina Koziołek.
– Maria Anna Potocka
curator of the 17th edition of the Festival of Art in Public Spaces in Lublin, entitled “Conversation with the City”
