Lodz Biennale October 2 – 31, 2004 Lodz, Poland Lodz Biennale October 2 – 31, 2004 Lodz, Poland Lodz was founded in 1820 upon a decision of the authorities of the Kingdom of Poland to transform a village of around 800 inhabitants into an industrial town – “a city of factories”. Soon Lodz became an important industrial center and, by the beginning of World War II, a vibrant and rich European metropolis with over half million citizens, where a cross-cultural religious life, mostly of Poles, Germans, Jews and Russians, played an important role. Lodz was always a place of important artistic activities: at the very beginning of 1930s one of the first in the world collection of works of modern art was founded by a group of constructivist artists, among them Wladyslaw Strzeminski, Katarzyna Kobro, Henryk Stazewski. With this collection of avant-garde works, one of the earliest in Europe, a Muzeum Sztuki (Museum of Art) was established. After the war, during the 50s, 60s and 70s, many well-known film makers, among them Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieslowski, the radical avant-garde group “Workshop” and many others, came out of Lodz Film Academy. In 1981 Lodz became a site of a large international exhibition of minimal and conceptual art initiated by Ryszard Wasko and entitled Construction in Process. This exhibition, comprised of site specific works by more than 50 international artists, curated and organized by artists, and supported by the Solidarity movement. Construction in Process took place at vacant industrial sites in the city. The first edition of Lodz Biennale is based upon ideas developed during Construction in Process exhibitions – that of priority of process and dialogue over product. One of the main goals for this edition of Lodz Biennale is to present a challenging international exhibition where all works will be made exclusively for this project. The Biennale will provide the terrain of the exhibition and also, importantly, a terrain of opportunity to meet other artists to encourage a direct artists’ dialogue. The opening of the Lodz Biennale will be held on October 2, 2004 and the exhibition will be on view through October 31, 2004. Participating artists will be invited be a special International Committee comprised of curators, writers and artists: Zdenka Badovinac – director of Moderna Galerija, Ljubliana Leon Golub – artist, New York Robert C. Morgan – writer, New York Anda Rottenberg – art-critic, Warsaw Won Il-Rhee – critic and curator, former director of Gwangju Biennale Gregory Volk – writer, New York Lilly Wei – art-critic, New York Lawrence Weiner – artist, New York Emmett Williams – poet & artist, Berlin The complete list of participating artists will be published in August. For further information, please contact: press contact: klimczak@lodzbiennale.pl travel information: chmielewska@lodzbiennale.pl hotel reservations: chmielewska@lodzbiennale.pl The Lodz Biennale is organized by IAM – International Artists’ Museum in Lodz contact: rwasko@muzart.infocentrum.com Lodz Biennale Sponsor – The City Hall of Lodz Mr. Waldemar Dabrowski – Ministry of Culture and Art Media Sponsor – “Gazeta Wyborcza”