BIENNALE WRO 2021: REVERSO
We are announcing the list of artists whose works we have selected from submissions sent to our open call from all over the world. Congratulations.
We will be contacting everybody individually in the nearest future. We are looking forward to working together on the festival’s program.
As planned, the opening days of the 19th Media Art Biennale WRO 2021:REVERSO will take place on May 12-15. In anticipation of possible restrictions related to the pandemic, both in Poland and in the artists’ countries of origin, we will carry out the entire program successively until the end of 2021.
Tatsuru Arai (DE), Sharon Azagi (IL), Adam Basanta (CA), Joacélio Batista (BR), /Nikodem Biegowski (PL), Mikołaj Torz (PL)/, Anna Bielawska (PL), /Marcos Bonisson (BR), Khalil Charif (BR)/, /Persijn Broersen (NL), Margit Lukacs (NL)/, Robert Cahen (FR), /Nicolas Carrier (FR), Marie Ouazzani (FR)/, Úrsula San Cristóbal (CL), André Damião (BR), Ozgur Demirci (TR), /disnovation.org: Maria Roszkowska (PL), Nicolas Maigret (FR)/, Tomasz Domański (PL), Charlotte Eifler (DE), /Karin Ferrari (IT), Bernhard Garnicnig (AT), Peter Moosgaard (AT)/, Francesca Fini (IT), /Elvin Flamingo (PL), Agnieszka Kiejziewicz (PL), Jowita Nowakowska-Gołacka (PL), Łukasz Pindor (PL)/, Amalia Foka (GR), Chloé Galibert-Laîné (FR), Marta Giec (PL), Wojciech Gilewicz (PL), Dimitris Gkikas (GR), Niklas Goldbach (DE), Rodrigo Gomes (PT), Jérémy Griffaud (FR), Ben Grosser (US), Laura Grudniewska (PL), Krystian Grzywacz (PL), /Kurt d’Haeseleer (BE), Frank Vigroux (FR)/, Darsha Hewitt (CA), Hui Ye (CN), /The Internet of Dead Things Institute: Benjamin Gaulon (FR), Jerôme Saint-Clair (FR)/, Kazuhiro Jo (JP), Matt Kenyon (US), Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau (GB), Eline Kersten (NL), /Jakub Lech (PL), Martyna Maja (PL), Łukasz Twarkowski (PL)/, Kasper Lecnim (PL), Sasha Litvintseva (RU), Robin Lopvet (FR), Gretta Louw (AU), Nicolas Melmann (AR), Martin Messier (CA), Matteo Messina (IT), /Mikro Orchestra: Paweł Janicki (PL), Mariusz Jura (PL), Jarosław Kujda (PL), Małgorzata Kujda (PL), Tomasz Procków (PL)/, /Mŏk_pang_: Aleksandra Sarna (PL), Tomasz Kmiecik (PL)/, Rebby Montalvo (US), Ben Morris (GB), /Amy Muhoro (KE), Weronika Wysocka (PL)/, Horacy Muszyński (PL), Olena Newkryta (AT), /panGenerator: Piotr Barszczewski (PL), Krzyszof Cybulski (PL), Krzysztof Goliński, Jakub Koźniewski (PL)/, Dario Di Paolantonio (IT), Yorgos Papafigos (GR), Lorenzo Papanti (IT), Ivan Petkov (BG), Liliana Piskorska (PL), /Post-Bio-Internet Collective: Sofia Braga (IT), Fabricio Lamoncha (ES), Matthias Pitscher (DE)/, Tivon Rice (US), Vera Sebert (DE), Susan Silas (US), Alexandr Sokolov (RU), Yana Suslovets (UA), Tytus Szabelski (PL), Iza Szostak (PL), /Telcosystems: David Kiers (NL), Gideon Kiers (NL), Lucas van der Velden (NL)/, /Total Refusal: Robin Klengel (AT), Leonhard Müllner (AT), Michael Stumpf (AT)/, Paul Turano (US), Beny Wagner (DE), Przemek Węgrzyn (PL), Piotr Wyrzykowski (PL)
REVERSO is a call to look at what is happening now in art from the underside which, until recently just peeking through, is now becoming increasingly visible, from the reverse of a suddenly upended side, as well as being a device that saves the lives of climbers in case they suddenly fall off the rock, helping them convert an inevitable crash into a controlled rappel.
If the discovery of cyberspace as a social territory in the 20th century is compared to great geographical discoveries, the dissemination, development, and utilization of the internet of the 21st century follow the colonial logic, with its patterns of imposed locality, which is accepted on condition that it yields to imperial globality. It takes processes analogous to those initiated by postcolonial theory to forge new relationships capable of altering their trajectories and changing attitudes to subjectivity, agency, the production of valuable knowledge, unfettered creativity, and the fair space of freedom.
As the Media Art Biennale, dating back to the transformation of the dichotomous world picture in 1989, we cannot but consider it imperative to take part in and represent the currently ongoing shift. We withdraw from the notion of building relevance through incessant growth – of the funding we raise, of the audience attendance figures, of the quantity of works on display, of the number of participating artists, of the range of exhibition venues, of the environmental footprint. In search of a quality path and a redefinition of development: we call for REVERSO.
Technological changes have already become entrenched, and the fields of conquest have not only been outlined but also already seized. There is no going back, unless as a result of a breakdown; change will not be effected by negating technology, yet insistence on change is vital. Advancing of technology must not entail continuing to knock down our globe, yet at the same time new ecology cannot be expected to emerge from “back-to-nature” appeals alone. Similarly, there is no going back to the origins of media art, but it is time to examine current matters and adopted solutions. To combine change with transformations in culture requires the same thoughtful exploration. Hence our call for REVERSO. The shift requires to revise the status quo, to see what lies underneath, study things inside out, be inquisitive, and display sensitivity. This is the function of media art; its chance to operate with the values that are specific to art, and through its capability of fostering unobvious relations while looking not for one method – but for a multiplicity of visions, concepts, and practices.
