The Wild West. A History of Wrocław’s Avant-Garde

Wrocław (Poland)—a city in the Recovered Territories, which before the Second World War had nearly one million inhabitants, for decades could not be rebuilt after being destroyed in the Siege of Breslau. Out in these fascinating wild fields situated at the edge of a communist country where various cultures met, in a spirit of freedom and independence, artists have created their own original microcosm with bold experiments and international cooperation with partners from both sides of the Iron Curtain at its heart. The exhibition presents works of art, films, documentary photographs, objects d’art, and recordings—nearly 500 works of visual arts, architecture, urbanism, theatre, film, design, and everyday life of Wrocław since the 1960s until the present.

The exhibition Wild West is not a story of the art of Wrocław. It is a story about this special city seen through the art created there. It is a story about a city with towers of gothic churches, buildings designed by Max Berg, Hans Poelzig, Erich Mendelsohn, or Hans Scharoun, where the newly arriving Poles have brought new values and most of all, new life.

The exhibition organized by Wrocław Contemporary Museum held as a part of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016 programme has been already shown at: Zachęta — National Gallery of Art (June 19–September 13, 2015), Kunsthalle/Hala umenia Košice (October 6–November 15, 2015), Kunstmuseum Bochum (March 5–May 8, 2016) and Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb (June 16–August 15, 2016).

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Exhibition commissioner: Dorota Monkiewicz, Head of Wrocław Contemporary Museum
Exhibition arrangement: Robert Rumas
Curators: Michał Duda, Anka Herbut, Anna Mituś, Paweł Piotrowicz, Adriana Prodeus, Sylwia Serafinowicz, Piotr Stasiowski