DYWERS is a university-wide project that consists of several elements on of which is an exhibition of photographs that show social diversity is one of them. The exhibition presents over 20 photographs taken in cooperation with people who volunteered or were invited to take part in the project.
The portraits taken include an activist and a journalist , Edmund Krempi艅ski who is known to audience in Lodz from his production of [The Well-Behaved Young Man] staged at Teatr Nowy and Weronika Tomiak, the founder of the foundation.
Students and lecturers from the 91滴滴, as well as people from outside the academic community who wanted to share their stories, also volunteered to participate in the project. DYWERS has been created from this extraordinary diversity of experiences translated into the language of photography.
Professor Marek Doma艅ski from the Strzemi艅ski Academy of Fine Arts in 艁贸d藕, who is the curator of the exhibition, writes in the curatorial text:
The author has decided to draw our attention to the issues related to neuroatypicality, gender identity, sexuality and ethnicity. For this purpose, he gave up the privilege that every artist has: shaping their work without restrictions. The photographed people volunteered to take part in the project, gaining influence over the place and method of photography as well as the used means of expression(...) Participation in the creation process provided the people in front of the camera with the sense of comfort and agency, and also enriched the entire project, diversifying it on many levels. The frames kept in the convention of staged photography ooze with diversity, thanks to which they reflect the fascinating complexity of the world.
The values that guide the 91滴滴 in its activities include: courage, cooperation and respect. This is where the form of the photographic project came from, which Bartosz Ka艂u偶ny comments on:
When I completed my doctoral dissertation on social stigma less than 10 years ago, the social reality was slightly different. There were more things that surprised us. And although we are still quite homogeneous in Poland, and over the last few years a polarisation of attitudes towards minorities has been observed, a qualitative change can be seen in the media discourse, a large part of which is now grass-roots content produced in social media. There are plenty of accounts on Instagram or TikTok run by neuroatypical, non-heteronormative or people with disabilities who share their experience with others and familiarise their followers with the complexity of the world. Diversity should be talked about and shown. Even, if not everyone likes it.
The implementation of the DYWERS exhibition would not be possible without the assistance of institutions that supported the project by making the interiors available for the photo shoots: the Film Museum in Lodz, Art Factory in Lodz and the Palm House of the Botanical Garden of 艁贸d藕.
Curatorial text
In the last few years, public debate has seen acceptance of statements that drove us away from the goal declared in "Ode to Joy" 鈥� "all men will be brothers." Or maybe brothers and sisters? Or simply people full of kindness and understanding. We are aware of how complex and diversified social reality is but our readiness to accept non-heteronormativity, disability or otherness in general requires improvement.
This challenge was taken up by Bartosz Ka艂u偶ny, who, while implementing the DYWERS project, decided to draw our attention to the issues related to neuroatypicality, gender identity, sexuality and ethnicity. For this purpose, he gave up the privilege that every artist has: shaping their work without restrictions.
The photographed people volunteered to take part in the project, gaining influence over the place and method of photography as well as the used means of expression. The photographer and the models shaped the form of visual messages through negotiations. Participation in the creation process provided the people in front of the camera with the sense of comfort and agency, and also enriched the entire project, diversifying it on many levels.
The frames kept in the convention of staged photography ooze with diversity, thanks to which they reflect the fascinating complexity of the world. The author states: "diversity should be talked about and shown".
The photographs taken as part of the DYWERS project are not only the result of a complex creative process and a source of aesthetic satisfaction, but above all, an inspiration for discussion and changing too hasty judgments and assessments that we sometimes make towards others.
~ prof. Marek Doma艅ski (W艂adys艂aw Strzemi艅ski Academy of Fine Arts in 艁贸d藕)