GRAPHIC “METROPOLIS”
The theme of the Second Kulisiewicz International Graphic Arts Triennial in Warsaw is Metropolis. The strength of this word consists in both its ancient pedigree and contemporary meaning, bringing with it numerous associations. The Greek concept of metropolis arose from a combination of two words: meter (mother) and polis (city). The mother-city or mother home town in this way embodied the idea of centralized contemporary social structures. Modern language increasingly indicates a potential inadvertent correlation of the word coined by the Greeks with the concept of metro, or in between, revealing a second - centrifugal - nature of the modern metropolis. This duality makes us aware that the phenomenon of modern civilization is a very complicated product. It goes far beyond the framework of defining the organizational and spatial structure of human communities. Its perception and cognition (understanding) should take place on many different levels.
For the multitude of cultural anthropologists, sociologists, demographers and specialists in other areas, metropolis has become the field of multifaceted research, as well as triggering scientific exploration of new, unfamiliar territories. The last decades have shown clearly that art can perfectly fulfill itself in the spheres close to science, engaging with it in inspirational discourse or creating a close symbiosis. Similar results are expected in the implementation of the title concept of our event, which will doubtless fulfill the role of initiator of creative exploration.
Thus the question remains how the guiding theme defines the artist’s potential tasks, and what directions the artist can explore. They will surely be compelled to focus on the individual and the structures of human communities. Creative exploration will always have social repercussions, even if man will be only its putative subject. Designated in this way, the direction in fact opens up a broad spectrum of possibilities rather than limiting them.
