Summary 2016

Exhibitions

In 2016, the CAMERIMAGE Festival was accompanied by four unique exhibitions:

• DAVID CRONENBERG "EVOLUTION", Centre of Contemporary Art „Znaki Czasu” in Toruń
• JESSICA LANGE "UNSEEN", The Municipal Gallery bwa in Bydgoszcz
• CZECH AND SLOVAK PHOTOGRAPHY FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, The Regional Museum in Bydgoszcz
• DIGITAL PAINTINGS WITH THE SUPPORT OF VR TECHNOLOGY, Opera NOVA in Bydgoszcz

DAVID CRONENBERG: EVOLUTION
Exhibition / 14.11.2016 – 26.03.2017
Centre of Contemporary Art „Znaki Czasu” in Toruń

Exhibition organised and circulated by: TIFF, Toronto, Canada
Curated by: Piers Handling and Noah Cowan
Producer, co-curator: Marek Żydowicz
Organisers: TUMULT Foundation - CAMERIMAGE Festival, Centre of Contemporary Art „Znaki Czasu” in Toruń, Arts of the World Foundation

Director David Cronenberg’s reputation as an authentic auteur has been firmly established by his uniquely personal body of work which includes: Shivers, Rabid, Fast Company, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Crash, eXistenz, The Dead Zone, M. Butterfly, Spider, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis and Maps to the Stars. Frequently lauded as one of the world’s greatest and most influential directors, Cronenberg’s films have earned him critical praise and recognition internationally. In 1999, he presided over the jury at the Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Festival’s lifetime achievement award, the Carrosse d'Or, in 2006.

In 2006 David worked with the Art Gallery of Ontario as a guest curator for the exhibition, Andy Warhol/Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, 1962-1964. David created an innovative soundtrack audio guide with additional commentary by several of Warhol’s contemporaries, including actor Dennis Hopper, film critic Amy Taubin, and artist James Rosenquist. In 2008, David brought his film The Fly to the stage for the Théâtre du Châtelet and LA Opera. He debuted his own novel and first work of fiction, Consumed, fall 2014. Recognition of Cronenberg’s contribution to art and culture has included investiture in the Order of Canada in 2015, France’s Order of Arts and Letters in 1990 and the Légion d’honneur in 2009. Cronenberg was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in 2011.

The cinema of David Cronenberg offers one of contemporary culture’s most unique, intriguing and powerful speculations on the idea of human evolution. Through the presentation of original artifacts, props, set pieces and dynamic audiovisual elements, David Cronenberg: Evolution parallels Cronenberg’s own growth as a filmmaker with his ongoing examination of human evolutionary possibilities. Divided into three major sections that follow the chronological and thematic trajectory of Cronenberg’s cinema, the exhibition traces how Cronenberg’s early fascination with the inner realms of body and mind – their drives, desires, and sometimes uncontrollable powers – develops into an exploration of the outer world that those forces help to shape. Immersively exploring Cronenberg’s creative process, his relationship to science fiction and science fact, and his affinities with other major 20th-century artists, David Cronenberg: Evolution celebrates not only one of the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers but one of our most provocative and influential contemporary thinkers.

JESSICA LANGE: UNSEEN
Photography exhibition / 13.11.2016 – 29.01.2017
The Municipal Gallery bwa in Bydgoszcz

Exhibition organised together with: diChroma photography, Madrid, Spain
Curator: Anne Morin
Producer: TUMULT Foundation - CAMERIMAGE Festival, Marek Żydowicz
Co-organiser: The Municipal Gallery bwa in Bydgoszcz

The exhibition of photographs of Jessica Lange, world renowned actress best known for her performances in All That Jazz, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Tootsie, Rob Roy, Cape Fear, Blue Sky and American Horror Story TV series.

In 1967 Jessica Lange was granted a scholarship from the University of Minnesota to study photography, but the vicissitudes of student life led her to Spain and then Paris where she chose to put dramatic arts before practical photography. It was then that she embarked on her acting career, playing leading parts in numerous iconic movies and winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Tootsie (Supporting Role, 1983) and Blue Sky (Leading Role, 1995).

Not until later, at the beginning of the nineties (when Sam Shepard gave her a Leica M6), did Jessica Lange take up her photographic exploits again. Her images are captured on her travels and wanderings – her lens has roamed through countries such as the USA, France, Finland and Italy, although she has a particular soft spot for Mexico, as she herself puts it, “for its lights and wonderful nights“.

The collection, bringing together 135 black & white photographs (including 12 contact sheets) taken traditionally over the last 20 years, is arranged into two series: “Things I See” and “Mexico, On Scene”.

CZECH AND SLOVAK PHOTOGRAPHY FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Photography exhibition
The Leon Wyczółkowski Regional Museum in Bydgoszcz

The exhibition presented nearly three hundred photographs by many well-known Czech and Slovak photographers of different generations who created their works in the 20th and early 21st century. The main theme of the presentation was nude art complemented by portrait, reportage, landscape, experimental and candid photography. We presented various formal and thematic Czech and Slovak photographs, and the nature of the artists' personal collections. There were many prominent artists represented, including: Drtikol, Větrovský, Růžička Funke Gribovský, Sudek, Bartuška, Št’astný, Hájek, Beran, Bartůšek, Straka, Štyrský, Dostál, Postupa, Saudek, and Židlický. At the same time, the exhibition presented the work of artists who are less known to the typical Polish viewer, and whose pictures show good artistic experience and technical skills. These photographs, taken over a period of several decades, were created using a whole range of available technologies. There were black and white as well as colour photographs, taken with traditional film and digital cameras. Most of the images presented were characterised by a classical approach to the subject combined with formal and technical excellence. We also presented courageous experimental photographs created using, among other things, studio spot lighting, grain effects, collage and multi-layer techniques, Sabatier effect and technologies related to the gelatine silver process. The authors of the images are reporters, documentary makers, still photographers, artistic photographers, painters and sculptors. Their activities form a part of numerous trends and styles, but above all their photographs reflect their seeking for methods of self-expression.

The pictures presented in the framework of the exhibition demonstrate the character of a private photographic collection created and transformed through the years. Its owner, Thomas Kruzel, treats the collected Czech and Slovak photographs as a kind of mysterious and magical mirror used to observe the old and modern worlds surrounding our southern neighbours.

The exhibition was under the patronage of the CAMERIMAGE Festival.

POLISH DIGITAL ART: EXHIBITION OF DIGITAL PAINTINGS WITH THE SUPPORT OF VR TECHNOLOGY
Exhibition of digital paintings / 13-18.11.2016
Opera NOVA, Bydgoszcz

From 13th to 18th November Polish Digital Art presented an exhibition of works by artists they represent in the classical and virtual reality version. Polish Digital Art is a project promoting, and offering for sale, digital paintings of best digital artists, who use the latest technology. At the exhibition PDA presented a series of works in the form of a classic exhibition and a presentation in virtual reality. At our workstation the audience was able to experience VR using HTC Vive and see our exhibition in a virtual gallery, as well as try their skills in creating digital paintings.