EXHIBITION CANCELED 29.09.2016
OBJECTS OF DESIRE - post mortem
A day before the opening we had to regretfully inform that the exhibition Objects of Desire was cancelled – to us this information should have been the final and definitive statement. Unfortunately, in reference to being publicly accused of censorship we are forced to expose the situation. This post is an answer to a statement published by the artists on the webpage of the Objects of Desire project after it’s exhibition at FWD: gallery, planed for 30.09 - 04.11.2016, was cancelled.
During the exhibition FWD: intended to present a joint project of Barbara Wilson and Rolf Alme, which poses a question if the social transition in perception of gender in Scandinavian countries is also visible in modern Polish society. The discussion between the artists and FWD: gallery about the prospective exhibition was in motion since October 2015. The vernissage was planned for September 2016.
In the meantime the scope of the project, initially approved by the gallery, was extended by the artists with extraneous elements - some of which, in our opinion, were of questionable quality, which was clearly communicated and explained in our correspondence, which we can easily procure. The changes that we were proposing expressed our concern for artistic quality of exhibited works and how they function in the space of the gallery, but did not change the message of the exhibition. We remained open and agreed to re-discuss the elements in question during their installation. However, our hope for a sober and mature dialogue was a mistake. Our suggestions were disregarded by the artists, and even provoked outrage. They made it clear that they saw the gallery as rented space, and not a place for artistic-curatorial experiments, repeatedly emphasized and relevant to the profile of FWD:,. The artists gave us an ultimatum - either we fulfill all their demands for how the exhibition should look like or they will cancel it. We chose autonomy.
We would like to strongly emphasize that our attitude had nothing to do with the current political situation in Poland, especially since FWD: is a private initiative, independent of government and state institutions. In the case of the project Objects of Desire it is difficult to even talk about the possibility for censorship in the context of the customs of our country, or politics. Contrary to the delusion exhibited by the artists the project is not touching on subjects recognized in our country as iconoclastic. Censorship restricts the freedom of public expression of thought and belief, controlling public communication. As the curators and owners FWD: we have a duty to care for the high quality of the presented works and the use of appropriate exhibition techniques, which is unrelated to the concept of censorship. We have a right to expect, from ourselves and from visiting artists, a certain standard of mutual respect and co-operation, both in the realization of their artistic vision, as well as a the curatorial program of our gallery. The artists showed a complete lack of understanding for important concepts and used them without any regard for consequences.
We are sorry that this dispute had to be made public. However, it is our duty to to respond to such a vulgar defamation.
We believe that claims made by the duo Wilson & Alme are nothing else than a promotion of xenophobia and an attempt to exploit the complex socio-political situation in our country. It was extremely inappropriate to refer to ongoing discussion on the abortion law and imply that by asserting our position we picked any sides on this issue. It is preposterous to reference this context in regard to the exhibition or the gallery, especially given the circumstances and reasons for the dispute. Furthermore, the statement published by the artists contained ungrounded speculations proposing that the gallery was under moral or government pressure.
We feel that the current situation was either provoked, or at least desirable by the artists. We hope that the marketing strategy, based on the desire for causing a scandal by publishing inaccurate information, will be properly interpreted by the public. Such provocation executed by the artists will likely give the project a wider, social circulation, however the message will be most trivial, superficial and, above all, inadequate its artistic content and built on immoral abuse of the public forum.
During the exhibition FWD: intended to present a joint project of Barbara Wilson and Rolf Alme, which poses a question if the social transition in perception of gender in Scandinavian countries is also visible in modern Polish society. The discussion between the artists and FWD: gallery about the prospective exhibition was in motion since October 2015. The vernissage was planned for September 2016.
In the meantime the scope of the project, initially approved by the gallery, was extended by the artists with extraneous elements - some of which, in our opinion, were of questionable quality, which was clearly communicated and explained in our correspondence, which we can easily procure. The changes that we were proposing expressed our concern for artistic quality of exhibited works and how they function in the space of the gallery, but did not change the message of the exhibition. We remained open and agreed to re-discuss the elements in question during their installation. However, our hope for a sober and mature dialogue was a mistake. Our suggestions were disregarded by the artists, and even provoked outrage. They made it clear that they saw the gallery as rented space, and not a place for artistic-curatorial experiments, repeatedly emphasized and relevant to the profile of FWD:,. The artists gave us an ultimatum - either we fulfill all their demands for how the exhibition should look like or they will cancel it. We chose autonomy.
We would like to strongly emphasize that our attitude had nothing to do with the current political situation in Poland, especially since FWD: is a private initiative, independent of government and state institutions. In the case of the project Objects of Desire it is difficult to even talk about the possibility for censorship in the context of the customs of our country, or politics. Contrary to the delusion exhibited by the artists the project is not touching on subjects recognized in our country as iconoclastic. Censorship restricts the freedom of public expression of thought and belief, controlling public communication. As the curators and owners FWD: we have a duty to care for the high quality of the presented works and the use of appropriate exhibition techniques, which is unrelated to the concept of censorship. We have a right to expect, from ourselves and from visiting artists, a certain standard of mutual respect and co-operation, both in the realization of their artistic vision, as well as a the curatorial program of our gallery. The artists showed a complete lack of understanding for important concepts and used them without any regard for consequences.
We are sorry that this dispute had to be made public. However, it is our duty to to respond to such a vulgar defamation.
We believe that claims made by the duo Wilson & Alme are nothing else than a promotion of xenophobia and an attempt to exploit the complex socio-political situation in our country. It was extremely inappropriate to refer to ongoing discussion on the abortion law and imply that by asserting our position we picked any sides on this issue. It is preposterous to reference this context in regard to the exhibition or the gallery, especially given the circumstances and reasons for the dispute. Furthermore, the statement published by the artists contained ungrounded speculations proposing that the gallery was under moral or government pressure.
We feel that the current situation was either provoked, or at least desirable by the artists. We hope that the marketing strategy, based on the desire for causing a scandal by publishing inaccurate information, will be properly interpreted by the public. Such provocation executed by the artists will likely give the project a wider, social circulation, however the message will be most trivial, superficial and, above all, inadequate its artistic content and built on immoral abuse of the public forum.