Third Edition

For over a hundred years, window views have inspired artists from Zakopane. That is why students from the Antoni Kenar Complex of Visual Art Schools in Zakopane eagerly submitted "The world from my window” - a project entitled "White bear, brown bear” to the third edition of the "Wena" Grant Program competition of the Starak Family Foundation.

 

The project has a real impact on the window view. Through performative actions undertaken: activism in art or pro-ecological attitudes, students build the image of the city, and in the future, as artists, they want to actively participate in the social change that is taking place in Zakopane.

 

„Throughout the project, we want students to ask themselves what they want the view from their window to look like, and to realize that they have an impact."  - Marcin Tas

 

What has happened so far in the project?

The artists leading the project - Katarzyna Depta-Garapich and Małgorzata Mirga-Tas - as well as the teachers of the Zakopane school of visual arts: Anna Filipczak, Magdalena Wanat and Marcin Tas, the coordinator of the project, discussed its aims and main ideas with the students. They presented photographs and films showing the performance of female artists dressed as white bears. The shoots took place outdoors in the mountains and at the Władyslaw Hasior Gallery in Zakopane. Students especially enjoyed the pictures of Katarzyna Depta-Garapich dressed in a white bear costume hiking the High Tatras.

 

 

 

A meeting with a nature photographer also took place - a passionate of mountains and nature, Bożena Wajda. The photographer presented a series of photographs to the students, told them countless stories and anecdotes concerning the habits of animals, including the brown bear. She also shared her experience in wildlife photography techniques.

 

 

Currently, the brown bear costume creation workshops are underway. The workshops are conducted by (the already mentioned) outstanding artist and personality: Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, visual artist, painter, sculptor, educator, whose work - a patchwork competition project entitled „Demystifying the world” will be presented in the Polish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. In February the workshops will be conducted by Katarzyna Depta-Garapich, a visual artist from London. We are happy that young people are given the opportunity to meet and work creatively with world-class artists.

 

 

Coming back to the workshops, the process of making such a costume is time-consuming. During the first day, the mold of the bear's head was created. Then the head will be covered with artificial fur. The costumes constitute the basic elements of a performance action, which the students and their teachers will carry out in Zakopane in May. 

 

 

In addition, one of the students, inspired by the project, will make a film based on this grant project as part of his thesis. The film premiere will take place at the end of the project, after an artistic happening on the streets of Zakopane. 

 

In the pictures, first tests of the costumes in the outdoors, made by visual artists invited to the project. Documentation of the action - Katarzyna Garapich, Małgorzata Mirga - Tas, photos by Marcin Tas.