Karol Radziszewski. Mon chéri Soviétique

We invite you to Studio BWA Wrocław Gallery for an opening of Karol Radziszewski’s exhibition, in which the artist will present his latest film.

In his latest film, Radziszewski brings to life a particular find of the Lambda Association in Warsaw and, after fifteen years, returns to Lubiewo, Wrocław and military barracks. Once more, the focus of the work is the figure of a soldier — not a brave knight guarding the Polish border, but an unarmed young man taking off his uniform in front of a camera. The presented film is made of hundreds of colour photographs telling a story of the last Soviet soldiers leaving Poland. Yet it is also an attempt to save an uncomfortable, suppressed archive that was destined to destruction. An archive that builds queer memory.

The narrator of the film, an elderly, anonymous citizen of Wrocław goes back to the beginning of 1990s  to tell a story about an equally anonymous photographer and his life’s project — thousands of colour photographs showing Soviet soldiers stationed in Wrocław at the time. Young men flex their bodies in front of the camera with the city’s landmarks in the background, such as the Zoo or the monumental sedesowce („toilet seats blocks”). They willingly pose in their uniforms holding guns, but are as willing to unclothe and grab wild flowers instead of weapons. These are their last months in Poland. Soon, on September 17th 1993, the last of them will return to their newly-formed (after the collapse of the USSR) countries. The narrator describes a world in-between communism and capitalism through a lens of Polish gay’s relations with Soviet soldiers: through their queer friendships, thrilling love affairs, but also gossip and legends. Hence, the homosexual experience becomes a part of the social phenomenon of Soviet nostalgia.

For many years, no one except the Photographer had access to the photos, until one day the Narrator came across the collection and handed it over to the Lambda Archive in Warsaw. From there, they found their way to Radziszewski’s studio. Neatly arranged in plastic folders, stored in tightly closed boxes, they have been waiting for the right time and the right audience.

About the artist:

Karol Radziszewski (1980) – film, photography and installation artist, author of various interdisciplinary projects. Graduated from Painting Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Publisher and editor in chief of “DIK Fagazine”. Creator of  “Queer Archives Institute”. Winner of Paszport Polityki Prize (2009).
His works were presented worldwide, in such spaces as: Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Art Museum in Łódź, CoCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Kunsthalle Wien, New Museum New York, Whitechapel Gallery in London, VideoBrasil in Sao Paulo, Cobra Museum in Amsterdam and  PERFORMA 13 Biennial in New Yorku, 7. Göteborg Biennale, 4. Prague Biennale, New York Photo Festival and the 15th Art of Media Biennial WRO.

Curator: Michał Grzegorzek
Partners: Stowarzyszenie Lambda Warszawa, Queer Archives Institute.
Visual identity: Agata Biskup