Day 2
The symposium is fully booked – registrations are no longer possible.
German and English, in the afternoon, students of the Conference Interpreting master’s programme at Leipzig University offer simultaneous interpretation
On the occasion of the exhibition Maria Pinińska-Bereś, a two-day symposium with lectures and artistic contributions will be held at the GfZK. The focus will be on the work of Maria Pinińska-Bereś and feminist art in Poland in the 20th century, including aspects such as the significance of performance, the influence of political reality on artistic work in the People’s Republic of Poland and parallels with the situation of women artists in the GDR. Additionally, the symposium will provide insights into the history of reproductive rights, feminist struggles and the queer movement in Poland today and the visual culture associated with it.
11 am
Welcome and introduction
11:20 am
Lecture Agata Jakubowska: Exhibiting Maria Pinińska-Bereś in 1970 and 1980 and the discourse on women’s art in State-Socialist Poland
In this lecture, art historian Agata Jakubowska speaks about two exhibitions – a 1970 solo show by Pinińska-Bereś, and the Women’s Art Festival in which she participated in 1980. Jakubowska shows how the artist’s work and position evolved over this decade, and how the discourse surrounding women’s and feminist art developed in Poland during the same period. (Online, English)
11:50 am
Lecture Dorothé Orczyk: Performance art as female resistance. On the performances of Maria Pinińska-Bereś
For her PhD project on performance art as resistance, Dorothé Orczyk looks into the artistic practice of four female Polish performance artists whose work revolves around the position of women: Natalia LL (1937-2022), Zofia Kulik (1947), Ewa Partum (1945) and Maria Pinińska-Bereś (1931-1999). In this lecture, scholar Dorothé Orczyk provides insights into her current research with a focus on Maria Pinińska-Bereś. (English)
12:20 noon
Dialogic tour of the exhibition Maria Pinińska-Bereś with Heike Munder and Jarosław Suchan (English)
Heike Munder and Jarosław Suchan are the curators of the solo exhibition currently on view at the GfZK, with important sculptures, objects and performance documentations by Maria Pinińska-Bereś. In this tour, they discuss the theses and questions that arose from lectures and discussions on the artworks presented. (English)
1:30 pm
Joint lunch at the GfZK Café
2:30 pm
Talk and reading with Magda Wlostowska, Verena Triesethau and Katharina Zimmerhackl from outside the box: Queer and feminist struggles in Poland
outside the box – Zeitschrift für feministische Gesellschaftskritik is a magazine collective founded in Leipzig at the end of 2008. It has published eight issues to date, combining art, theory and practice. The most recent issue, #8, was published in 2023, on the topic of “Struggles”. Together with political scientist Magda Wlostowska, editors Katharina Zimmerhackl and Verena Triesethau explore queer and feminist struggles in Poland. Among other things, they examine the history of reproductive rights and the feminist struggles that surround them, providing insights into the queer movement and the current situation in Poland. From this perspective, they also examine the growth of regressive tendencies worldwide, accompanied by increased struggles for sexual self-determination. They also read and discuss articles from recent issues. (German, with translation into English)
3:45 pm
Lecture Karolina Rosiejka: Visual Resistance. The Aesthetic Landscape of Poland’s Black Protests and Women’s Strikes
In this presentation, art historian Karolina Rosiejka examines the visual culture associated with the Black Protests and Women’s Strikes in Poland, movements that have persisted since 2016 in response to legislation restricting women’s abortion rights. The analysis will encompass artistic works, artifacts and visual practices linked to activist efforts. These elements share a common purpose: to critique the condition of Polish women under increasingly restrictive abortion policies, to articulate opposition to this reality and to envision an alternative future beyond the constraints of the prevailing socio-political order. (English)
From 16:30 pm
Performance and get-together with Alexandra Ivanciu and Jolanta Nowaczyk: About Flowers and Choice
The aim of the performance About Flowers and Choice is to initiate a discussion on access to abortion, bridging the gap between former healers and witches and contemporary activists through storytelling and shared experience. The donations gathered during the performance are used to buy morning-after pills, which are donated to collectives and distributed to individuals in countries where access to emergency contraception is restricted. The project represents a call for solidarity and an invitation to take action, providing a hospitable and welcoming space for existing ideas and actions related to reproductive justice. For more information on access to abortion in Central Eastern Europe, visit the Library of Collective Disobedience.
The GfZK Auditorium is located on the first floor of the villa and can be reached via stairs and an elevator. The toilets are located in the basement and can be reached via the staircase and an elevator. One toilet is equipped with plenty of space for a wheelchair and support elements.