Last week I had an interesting trip at the National Museum of Contemporary Arts from Warsaw, but I didn’t have the time, until now, to write about it. First of all, I think it is important to space position the museum, for those of you who are in Poland and who have been strolling “in and out” of Warsaw’s streets, you will have no problem in finding the location. The museum is very close to the Lazienki Palace. More exactly, you can take the bus from everywhere and get off at the station that comes before Belverderski :D (I am giving you this street mark because I can’t seem to remember the proper name of the station and I didn’t find it online either, it seems my polish is rusty. Sorry!).
I am sure that you will find it! So, you get off just before the Belvederski street starts, you cross the street and walk forwards. You have two possibilities, walk on straight or turn left. Choose the second option and keep the road straight. You can’t miss it!
The museum has three or more flags in front of it and there is a wood “human” shaped, boy puppet tied to one of the pillars.The entrance is 6 zloty, so it’s quite cheap. Here, I found out that the Zamek Ujastowski (or the Ujast Castle, both names as still known in Warsaw), another nickname of the museum, was once upon a time, a royal residence, but due to political issues the place lost its majestic function. It also suffered a lot during the Second World War, it had to be rebuilt and brought to its former glory. Now, the museum looks great and you can see the influence of the high technology that contributed to its reconstruction, it’s not only a space where you can delight yourself in mysterious arts, but also a place from which you can buy books (it has a pretty good and spacious bookshop) and even enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, since there is a restaurant attached to the bookshop.
The museum has two levels that await your eyes. At the first level, I saw an exposition about the freedom to be different compared to the cosmopolite model of life, so praised, today. The exhibition bears the mark of an author that has been suspected of initiating a movement that worked against the scientific development. All of the paintings and drawings seem to be a “manifest” of disbelieve against the riches of technology. I do not know if the author wanted to make a portrait of the American way of living, since they are considered the force of contemporary times, but most of the paintings display simple, redneck life. The women taking care of the children and the animals (like, chickens and pigs) and the men, wearing red bandanas looking after the horses and showing their role in protecting the family.
The combinations used by the author are strange. The colors are really bright, they catch you eye, but the facial mimicry is contradictory, the people caught up in their plain living are sad, even mad, they display negative emotions. It is like the painter is trying to tell us that they are upset because technology is destroying the sacredness of their lands. Technology is taking over, so no one is willing to continue in the same archaic life style, here I mean, that the younger generation has thrown this part of history and life into oblivion.
In the ground floor level, there is a particular item that will make you wonder. A wooden tower that has on top a globe in shape of the Earth, it has a blue eye on it. The eye is rolling continuously, as if the author is the same room with us, overlooking his paintings and checking our reactions.
As you walk on to discover “newer lands”, you will find a room that holds a truly mind boggling view. Two very old and rusty cars with trash inside (I mean real trash like, paper, nylon, plastic bottles, etc.) are just waiting to “take you for a ride”, an imaginary one, of course.
During my visit, it seemed that the authors had a most strange passion for chickens. On top of one of the cars from the exposition, you could see three stuffed chickens. If you stared into their small eyes, you actually thought they were real, more bizarre was the cut chicken head glued to a wooden frame. Yes, I am not imagining, there was a chopped off, chicken head, so this place is not for the easy impressed types.
Moving into the next room, positioned on the left, you could see a chamber full of old and new image projectors. What did they show? You are too good at this guessing game :)). You are right, more images with chickens and other animals, but in all fairness there were a few slides with people. In this room there is a greenhouse with dead plants. Lots of dry pots with what once used to be green flowers.
The symbol seems to be death in all of its shapes and forms. Moreover, after you walk through the greenhouse, you reach a tiny room where you can see how they used to make (in some parts they still to this in the same way) alcohol. Thus, it seems that we return to the “Tanatos” (or Tanathos – King / Lord of the Dead) impression.
The exhibition from the first level leaves you with a deep mark and with the illusion that you have been reading a still contemporary, George Orwell story (The “Animal Fram”), but one that bears the traces of “illuminati” legends and miths.
Continuing our journey. At the second floor, there are four rooms, one that displays the film “Hair” – a reflection about the hippy life style. A most interesting one, I muss add. Another chamber, where you can see an animation short film made in a Japanese style. The constructing of this movies is marvelous, they used a kind of origami, but the material wasn’t paper, they utilized they hands to create different figures, from people to birds, from mountains to waterfalls and roads. This visual exhibition was named “Shadow life”. For the car fans, the third chamber shows you an exposition about vehicles, pictures and videos. It is like the car is no longer just a car, it is a witness of all of the things that we have done, being in the same time a element of support and of judgment.
The fourth, but not the last room shows the Maurizio Cattelan exposition. Here, I think is the main point of the museum because you will see stuffed dogs, a replica of a dead horse, replicas of pigeons, a replica of a doppelganger (an artist displays himself in two small replicas, both of which are dead – he is portraying his image while being dead) and most shocking of all, a big replica of a woman that is tied to a cross and is crucified. We do not see her face, only the back of her body, the image is terrifying, but in the same time its visual impact extends beyond any limits.
About this artist the critics say : “The Maurizion Cattelan’s oeuvre is certainly not a comforting sight. Any encounter with the artist’s work is a test of our consciences and sensibilities. It triggers off emotions in us that are difficult to contain. The greatest of Cattelan’s art is not based on its ability to provoke. Paradoxically, this is totally dependent on us- on what lurks inside us”.
Either, you are a fan of art in general or you prefer the more modern discoveries and talents in the field, this is a good place to go and to provoke your mind to reach beyond its normal limits.
Have fun!
(Pictures made by my dear friend , Giorgiana Astefanei)
