In this part of the exhibition, Bożenna Biskupska shares the space with the artists she has invited, repeating the act of hospitality performed over the last two decades at Sokołowsko where she hosts the International Cultural Laboratory, a venue for creative encounters and collaborative artistic experimentation.
Stach Szumski’s Tubercle bacillus installation is the artist’s interpretation of the Brehmer Sanatorium at Sokołowsko. Thanks to the efforts of Bożenna Biskupska, this iconic building, which turned to ruin in the early 21st century, is now being gradually restored. Inspired by the artist’s visits to Sokołowsko and his conversations with Bożenna Biskupska, Szumski’s site-specific installation at the Four Domes Pavilion is the deconstructed miniature model of the castle-like structure, juxtaposing architectural fragments with Szumski’s sculptural intervention.
Nicolas Grospierre exhibits the photographic project entitled From the Grate’s Perspective realized at Sokołowsko. He uses a self-constructed optical machine to document the interiors of the Brehmer Sanatorium in an unconventional way. In each shot, the grating dissects the frame superimposing its rhythmical articulation upon the building’s Gothic Revival architecture.
Dancer and performer Magda Jędra explores and evokes the imaginary spaces of the monumental “possible construction” by creating choreography and describing each space with movements of her body. Designed for the camera, the script of her Rebeka performance relies on expressive means inspired by Biskupska’s works while allowing for experimentation and improvisation.
Commissioned for the present exhibition, these projects have been inspired by the special space for art created by Bożenna Biskupska at the foot of the Dry Mountains to which all three artists have responded with sensitivity, tenderness, and mindfulness. Thanks to them, the spirit, magic, and matter of the Brehmer Sanatorium and the site have been symbolically brought to Wrocław.
A different perspective on the Brehmer Sanatorium is showcased in the series of photographs by Zygmunt Rytka, a distinguished intermedia artist and co-founder of the Contemporary Art Foundation In Situ, who died in 2018. A performative, visual record of Sokołowsko and at the same time the artist’s self-portrait, the photographs, never before exhibited, are shown to the public for the first time.