Zdzisław Beksiński (1929–2005) was one of the most important Polish artists of the 20th century – a dark and fascinating figure, adored by some, rejected by others. In September, the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Zdzisław Beksiński Gallery in Kraków. The events organised to mark the occasion will allow visitors to experience the artist’s unique universe in a variety of ways.
DE PROFUNDIS – Beksiński VR
19 and 20 September , 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
An immersive virtual reality experience allowing visitors to explore the spaces depicted in the artist’s most famous paintings. The main aim of the project, created by Jakub Ruszała –of the 11th Dimension studio – is to offer art lovers a new way of interacting with the pieces. The journey features ambient music and sounds. The VR headsets isolates the viewers from the outside world, allowing them to embark on a personal journey into the paintings. This 20-minute experience takes visitors on a journey through four surreal worlds that blur the line between reality and dreams. The environmental elements and character animations based on Beksiński’s original paintings, draw the viewer in, heightening the sense of being taken to a different world. The journey begins with a stroll through a virtual gallery featuring the painter’s most famous works.
Tickets: 30 PLN
THE LIGHT OF DREAMS
19 and 20 September, 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m
A monumental light show by Krzysztof Guzik, with music by Szymon Górka – - an original audiovisual production inspired by the work of Zdzisław Beksiński. The projection does not reproduce or interpret the artist’s works verbatim, but engages in a dialogue with the atmosphere typical for his paintings – a space that balances between dream, memory and imagination. Using a contemporary language of image and light, the artist constructs a narrative based on metaphor, rhythm and emotion, transporting viewers into a world of evocative visions, in which the architecture of the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre building becomes an integral part of the artistic composition. The musical score rounds off the whole experience, enhancing its immersive nature and guiding the audience through the successive sequences of this multi-dimensional visual narrative.
The animation will be shown on a loop every 20 minutes.
Admission to the event is free of charge.
CODENAME 27
19 September (Saturday), 7:00 p.m.
This performance by Art Color Ballet transports the audience into the extraordinary world created by Beksiński and seeks to decipher the hidden meanings in his works through spatial interpretation. The audience is drawn into a space created from moving images, ballet dancers, holograms and live music. Between reality and dreams, in the gallery and on stage – in a hazy landscape of fantastical visions, a hypersensitive imagination and hidden fears.
choreography, direction, set design: Agnieszka Glińska
music: Nikola Kołodziejczyk
tickets: 140–180 PLN
CODENAME 27 – exhibition of photographs from the Art Color Ballet production
1—30 September
The photographs on display are snapshots of a musical and ballet performance which premiered in October 2016 to mark the opening of the Zdzisław Beksiński Gallery in Kraków.
Admission to the event is free of charge.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ZDZISŁAW BEKSIŃSKI – Anna and Piotr Dmochowski Collection
15–22 September
Before Zdzisław Beksiński created the paintings that have left an indelible mark on the history of art, he engaged in an equally uncompromising dialogue with photography. Photography allowed him to develop the artistic language which would become easily recgognisable in his drawings and paintings – - the language of tension, distortion, silence and unease. He did not use photography as a way to document the world. It was an instrument used to transform it. Beksiński did not seek out events; he was not interested in chronicling everyday life or in the humanistic reportage that dominated Polish photography in the 1950s. He used the camera to construct his own reality – one governed by emotions, intuition and imagination.
Admission to the event is free of charge.
