Performance Art Review 2024

Performance artists who participated in the programme:

Janusz Bałdyga – performance artist and creator of objects, born in 1954 in Lublin. He studied at the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, graduating from Professor Stefan Gierowski’s studio in 1979. He was a member and co-founder of the artistic group Pracownia Dziekanka (1976–1981). Since 1979, he has been a member of Akademia Ruchu (Academy of Movement). He teaches at the University of the Arts Poznań, where he runs the Performance Art Studio at the Faculty of Sculpture.

He has participated in numerous exhibitions, symposia and artistic events in Poland and abroad, including Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, Austria, Russia, Taiwan, Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Spain, Japan, Indonesia, Ukraine, China and the USA. He has developed a distinctive artistic style, consistently reducing his visual language and means of expression. The artist’s body becomes a structural element of his performances and a tool for defining space. The social, political and philosophical undertones of his work refer to specific traditions while preserving the universal dimension of individual expression.

BREASTMILK trio is an artistic collective established in 2023, built around expressions of domination, symbolism and punk. It was founded by K*** J***** (1837–1955, Szulmierz), Z****** M*********** (38,7607233, -9,0408740, Kraków) and M***** L****** (49,33 mm × 39,94 mm × 44,95 mm, Odessa). The members draw heavily on their personal experiences, articulating and reinterpreting them within contemporary sociopolitical contexts. The project’s primary aim is to stimulate discussion and critical discourse around key issues related to sexual violence and bodily oppression, while supporting the rights of women and queer people.

The collective explores cultural studies, mythology, mother-child narratives, archetypes, posthumanist theory and postgender perspectives. It does so with the energy of “punk-and-porn” stars, simultaneously drawing nourishment and healing from these influences. The project seeks to delve into the complexities of power dynamics associated with dating culture, the art scene, femininity, war, sex and political structures.

Justyna Górowska (she/it) – hydrofeminist and performance artist working on interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of art, technology and social activism. In 2017, she adopted the pseudonym WetMeWild, focusing on environmental challenges related to water through the use of AR and VR technologies. She collaborates with collectives such as Nerdka and is part of the cyber_nymphs duo, with which she published the Hydrosexual Manifesto in 2023.

She also curates the BHA project, an online archive combining art with environmental education focused on water. Her work has been exhibited in Berlin, Jakarta, Warsaw and New York. In 2020, she obtained her PhD from the University of the Arts Poznań. She currently lives in Kraków and teaches at the Faculty of Intermedia of the Academy of Fine Arts and the European University.

Miho Iwata – born in 1962 in Ichinomiya, Japan, she has lived in Kraków since 1986. She studied architecture at Kyoto Prefectural University and Polish philology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Her artistic practice lies at the intersection of dance and performance art. In her work, she draws on the context of existing spaces and locations. Her art refers to the world of archetypes and cultural clichés, articulating tensions and emotions through performances characterised by subtlety and choreographic clarity.

Since 1994, she has performed extensively, including at the Krzysztofory Gallery, Otwarta Pracownia, Ujazdowski Castle, Zachęta in Warsaw, Bunkier Sztuki in Kraków, and festivals in China and Japan. In 2006, she was an artist-in-residence at the Kyoto Art Center. She is a member of the Otwarta Pracownia artists’ association and [i.a] – Improvising Artists.

Martix Navrot aka Xenon (he/him, xe/xem) – co-founder of the queer artistic duo Eternal Engine. A digital artist, game developer, performer and poet, he explores the phenomenon of hallucinations and draws inspiration from demons and Slavic monsters. His work addresses a wide range of subjects, from queer love and xenofeminism to critiques of Big Tech, labour and automation.

He has presented his work and performances at festivals such as Unsound and CTM HackLab, as well as in institutions and galleries including the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Skala Gallery and Zachęta – National Gallery of Art. He was selected as one of the European Change Makers 2023 by Creative Europe.

Filipka Rutkowska – born in 1991, she lives in Warsaw. She is a visual artist and art historian. She collaborates with the Foksal Gallery Foundation and Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw. Her work has been presented at Berlin Art Week, the Gothenburg Biennial, West Museum in The Hague, Ongoing Art Center in Tokyo and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. As an actress, she has appeared in films by Małgorzata Szumowska, Łukasz Ronduda and Alex Baczyński-Jenkins. In 2023, she was the subject of the documentary Filipka, directed by Dawid Nickl. She writes a column entitled Filipka in the Big City for Vogue Polska, where she describes the world from a queer perspective.

Natalia Sara Skorupa (she/her) – sociologist, filmmaker and curator. Her artistic practice focuses on various audiovisual forms in the context of sexuality and corporeality. She frequently works with performance art, exploring the limits of pain in the perception of artistic transgression and the relationship established between the audience and the artist, treating these as fundamental forms of externalisation or so-called artistic vivisection.

In 2022, she received a scholarship from the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Her work has gained recognition in Taiwan, Dubai, Singapore, Mexico, Germany, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, India, Chile, Italy, Austria and Colombia, as well as in numerous cities across Poland.

Wojciech Stefanik – born in 1952 in Wrocław, where he continues to live and work. Between 1974 and 1979, he studied at the Faculty of Interior Architecture and Industrial Design at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Wrocław. Since 1974, he has been developing artistic projects, primarily performances and installations, often situated at the intersection of performance art and conceptual art documentation. He was among the first artists in Wrocław to engage in activities and artistic actions that would only later come to be described as performance art, installation and environmental art.

Between 1977 and 2002, he was involved in running art galleries and institutions, including Simplex Gallery, Katakumby Gallery, Zakład nad Fosą, the Centre for Visual Arts and BWA, which served as spaces where these then-unconventional forms of artistic expression began to emerge.

His work has been presented in Poland and abroad, in galleries and at festivals, including in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary and the USA. He participated in the International Festival of Ephemeral Art KONTEKSTY 2017 and has appeared numerous times at the NAVINKI International Performance Art Festival.

Ana Szopa – dance host, performance artist, aspiring choreographer, second-degree Reiki healer and specialist in having a good time. She cultivates collective working practices, seeking pleasure in creative processes. She believes in the healing power of dance as a means of challenging the conditioning and disciplining of bodies. She advocates a holistic approach to movement. Her interests move between techno-shamanism and queer-feminist theories. She is passionate about DIY approaches to materials, camp, myths, postgender, dreams, harsh noise and shaking her butt.

She graduated from the Dance Department of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. She participated in the third edition of the Kem School programme and the SNDO Intensive Course of Choreography. She received a scholarship for this year’s edition of the ATLAS programme at ImPulsTanz. She is a winner of choreographic competitions and open calls.

Artur Tajber – intermedia artist. He studied at the Faculty of Painting, Graphic Arts and Sculpture at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Wrocław and at the Faculty of Painting of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He founded and developed the curriculum of the Interfaculty Intermedia Studio. He currently heads the Department of Art Phenomena and the Conceptual Art Studio at the faculty.

He has been practising action art since the mid-1970s. He co-founded the performance group KONGER (1983–1993) and the Fort Sztuki Association. His activities encompass artistic practice, research, teaching, theory and organisation within the field of performance art. He works in thematic series (such as ORIENT-AKCJA, OKCYDENT-AKCJA, WALK’MAN, TABLEABLE and TIMEMIT), combining various media and forms of expression. Since the mid-1990s, the principal driving force behind his performances has been an analysis of human behaviour in urbanised and human-organised spaces. He has exhibited and presented his artistic work in most European countries, as well as in North, Central and South America and Asia.

Ewa Zarzycka – born in 1953 in Szczecin. Between 1973 and 1978, she studied at the Department of Graphic Arts within the Faculty of Painting, Graphic Arts and Sculpture at the State Higher School of Fine Arts (now the Academy of Fine Arts) in Wrocław.

During the 1980s, she participated in events including the Nieme Kino (Silent Cinema) festivals at Strych in Łódź and the Biennale of New Art in Zielona Góra. In 1989, she took part in the exhibition Lochy Manhattanu (Manhattan Dungeons) in Łódź, and in 1996 in Kobieta o kobiecie (Woman About Woman) at Galeria Bielska BWA. She has held solo exhibitions at institutions including Labirynt Gallery in Lublin, the Baltic Gallery of Art in Ustka, BWA Gallery in Zielona Góra and lokal_30 Gallery in Warsaw. She has participated in performance art events such as the European Performance Art Festival at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, the International Action Art Festival in Piotrków Trybunalski, the KONTEKSTY Ephemeral Art Festival in Sokołowsko and Performance Platform in Lublin.

Her artistic practice is rooted in conceptual art. She primarily works with spoken-word performance, but also creates drawings and installations. Her works are held in collections including the National Museum in Warsaw, Józef Robakowski’s Exchange Gallery, the Museum of Art in Łódź, Andrzej Ciesielski’s Moje Archiwum Foundation and Zachęta Lubelska.