2010 - Gdansk: Affectionately Yours @ Modelarnia / project & exhbition
Wyspa Institute of Art, founded in 2004 and run by the Wyspa Progress Foundation in Gdańsk, accommodated on the premises of the former Gdańsk Shipyard is the first Polish non-commercial and non-governmental institution of an international profile, devoted to the issues of contemporary artistic culture. Its character and programme grows directly from the specificity of the venue where it is located – its history and tradition, on the one hand, and its projected future, on the other.
Travellers: Tanja Baudoin ( project coordinator), Phil Collins ( project tutor) and Hito Steyerl (co-tutor) and the students / artists Frederik Gruyaert, Taf Hassam, Yunjoo Kwak, Jort van der Laan, Sevgi Ortaç, Eva Schippers, Viki Semou, Vittoria Soddu, Petra Vacková, Barbara Wagner, and Veridiana Zurita.
Affectionately Yours was part of a one year research project that If I Can't Dance was curating at the DAI from October 2009 till July 2010. In this project the students explored the notion of affect, together with tutors Phil Collins and Hito Steyerl. The project included group reading sessions, the attendance of lectures by guest speakers and the development of new works for the exhibition at Wyspa in the Modelarnia building. The exhibition was part of a ten days stay of the students in Gdansk and was preceded by a public presentation on May the 1st and daily group meetings on May 3, 4 , 5, 6, and 7 at 20.00 hrs, both at Wyspa.
We express our gratitude to Aneta Szylak, curator and art theorist, co-founder and currently director of Wyspa Institute of Art, her hospitality and critical advice have been invaluable to our project.