The beginnings of the Art Transparent Foundation and the SURVIVAL Art Review can be traced to a period when the Polish art scene was still in a state of transition following the transformation of 1989. Exhibitions were predominantly organised by those who had been granted this “honour” by academics, the profession of the contemporary art curator was still a relatively new and narrowly defined role, and opportunities and venues for presenting works were scarce. Moreover, almost everything was makeshift – made “out of cardboard” or held together “with string” – in a reality shaped both by the post-1990s free-for-all and by the parallel process of accession to the European Union.
SURVIVAL emerged from these extreme and unstable circumstances, which is probably why it immediately resonated with audiences. Its formula was authentic: it reflected the way we functioned at the time and conveyed a genuine sense of freedom. Art Transparent, in turn, was from the very beginning associated with an attempt to give structure to this freedom – to stabilise it and extend it over time. It was a grassroots initiative, often awkward, yet consciously responding to the chaotic ordering of reality by state and local institutions within the new EU context. As Karolina Bieniek aptly observes in one of the texts included in this publication:
When the foundation was being set up, the Polish non-governmental sector was only beginning to adapt to a new reality. There were no professional support programmes, no extensive contact networks and no established standards of cooperation that today seem obvious. We worked mainly through intuition, passion and courage.
Over time, this provisionality gave rise to order – which is still maturing and experimenting – and the original freedom became the foundation for regular work, a solid organisational structure, and a recognisable brand. Yet the change has not been complete: in subsequent editions of SURVIVAL, the provisional nature remains alive as an experience in which, as Aleksy Wójtowicz aptly remarked in a text published in the catalogue of the 21st edition of the Review, “everything is for the first time.”
The Art Transparent Foundation was established in Wrocław in 2005 – three years after the first edition of SURVIVAL (2003). Today, after two decades, it organises the SURVIVAL Art Review and runs the Mieszkanie Geppertów contemporary art gallery (since 2007) and the Szewska Gallery (since 2021). It is also engaged in publishing activities. Each year, the catalogue of our activities includes festivals, artistic interventions in public space, exhibitions, and an extensive public programme. We co-finance and co-produce several dozen artistic works per year, while pursuing our own objectives through local, national, and international projects.
All this has been made possible by a series of coincidences and unplanned encounters between people who share not only curiosity, but also a particular kind of tenacity and contrariness combined with passion and dedication – and a willingness to take on every challenge of “it can’t be done.” The rest is a matter of persistence, patience, and systematic work, seasoned with ingenuity and a readiness to break established patterns.
Last but not least, on the occasion of this publication, which brings together the two twentieth anniversaries – of the Art Transparent and of SURVIVAL – I would like to acknowledge the people without whom none of this would have been possible:
Justyna Adamczyk, Piotr Asfeld, Magdalena Basak, Franciszek Bieniek, Janina Bieniek, Karolina Bieniek, Daniel Brożek, Jacek Chamot, Anna Cygańczyk, Anna Czajka, Jutrzenka Duchnowska, Marta Dziedziniewicz, Grzegorz Górny, Ola Jach, Michał Jadczyk, Julia Janowska, Piotr Kielan, Anna Kiełbasa, Anna Kołodziejczyk, Monika Konieczna, Małgorzata Kujda, Bartłomiej Lis, Łukasz Lorenc, Katarzyna Łata, Agata Makowska, Paulina Maloy, Tadeusz Mincer, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, Katarzyna Młyńczak-Sachs, Dorota Mołodyńska-Kuentzel, Małgorzata Nowicka-Faget, Agnieszka Pająk, Łukasz Paluch, Tobiasz Papuczys, Jacek Pawlikowski, Przemek Pintal, Magda Piskorz, Ewa Pluta, Anna Pomichowska, Paulina Popiół, Wojciech Pukocz, Paweł Rogowski, Małgorzata Sobolewska, Anna Stec, Magdalena Szady, Jacek Szewczyk, Dawid Jurand Szkiełka, Dy Tagowska, Karol Waniek, Kama Wróbel, Mariusz Zadorożny, Paweł Zaręba – thank you all very much!
Michał Bieniek
