June 15-17, 2023
Collegium da Vinci / Centrala Gallery
Program
15.06.2023 lectures by Xavier Bermudez, director of the International Poster Biennale in Mexico; Klaus Welp, a graphic artist and activist from Finland; Grzegorz Myćko, graphic designer, lecturer and culture animator from Poznań; Agata Kulczyk, graphic designer, lecturer and organizer of cultural events.
Exhibition
12-18.06.2023 Klaus Welp’s exhibition at the Centrala Gallery
17.06.2023 artist talk and finissage of Klaus Welp’s exhibition “Design Political Activism”
The Poznań Art Week Poster Days program focused on the question of the social and causative role of graphic design in relation to various formats of organizing cultural events. The axis of the lectures, presentations and discussions was the question of the need to create an institutional framework for graphic activity in the service of social activism.
Xavier Bermudez introduced Joseph Renau, a Spanish artist who was also associated with Mexico. Although he is known primarily for his propaganda work during the Spanish Civil War on the side of the communists, his achievements also include the creation of photo wallpapers for the Spanish Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937, a series of photomontages entitled “Fata Morgana” and – probably the most famous in his achievements – “The American Way of Life”, as well as murals and paintings made in Mexico, such as “Tropic”, dated 1945. Xavier Bermudez talked about the artist’s poster work dedicated to the film industry, unknown in Poland. Renau’s posters were included as an accompanying exhibition to the program of the International Poster Biennale in Warsaw. Telling the story of these posters, Bermudez drew attention to the artist’s collaboration with his wife, Manuela Bellester, who developed the typography on all his poster projects. In the discussion, he also drew attention to the positive trend in the number of participants in the event he organizes, which is approaching 50% at the level of the number of applications.
Klaus Welp, graphic artist and activist of Finnish and German nationality associated with, among others, with Greenpeace and Amnesty International, he presented his work, explaining the main motivations for his actions. The creator studied various fields of visual communication at Aalto University in Helsinki, Xalapa University of Fine Arts in Mexico and at the University of Arts in Berlin. During his four-year stay in Mexico, he founded the “Tabu” bar and organized exhibitions, dance and theater performances and concerts. After living in Berlin for two years, he worked for eight years as art director and photographer for the Finnish cultural and political magazine Voima. He also ran the parody ad group “Adbusters Finland”, publishing monthly subversives in Voima magazine and online. The project culminated in the book and exhibition Louserit Vuittuun (F***k the loosers) and was awarded the Salli Journalism Award.
In the field of visual journalism and illustration, he has collaborated with all major Finnish newspapers and magazines and designed over 100 postage stamps in Finland. Welp has participated in many projects of NGOs and also implemented various projects for Greenpeace Finland. He has been awarded numerous times both internationally and nationally for his work in illustration, graphic design, stamps and film. Welp has taught illustration and culture jamming at Aalto University Helsinki, Tampere University and Kauniainen University of Applied Sciences. He sat on the jury of many national and international competitions, e.g. Lahti International Poster Biennale, Mexico International Poster Biennale and TISDC-Taiwan. Welp has made music videos, trailers for film festivals, commercials for cultural events and short documentaries for various purposes. Welp Productions is fully equipped for large-scale video production (camera, drone, sound, light), has a greenscreenstudio and a large network of professionals in camera, light, sound, set design, catering, post-production, etc. Studio Welp is located in Helsinki, former psychiatric hospital in Lapinlahti, which has been transformed into a socio-cultural center in recent years.
The third speaker, Grzegorz Myćka, presented activities undertaken independently, as part of artistic collectives and lecture groups he leads in public space. He focused on the implementation of murals and ephemeral activities in a public context. His work is characterized by a specific, abstract humor, a sense of irony, a casual use of color and an almost ascetically austere form, which build an unusual vision of the world in which their author lives. Contrary to his own artistic choices, the works created in collaboration with his students are full of color and optimism. An important message coming from the presented activities was creating relationships through creative activity.
Last but not least, Agata Kulczyk spoke, presenting the project “12 lessons about the constitution”, developed together with Lucyna Talejko-Kwiatkowska. It is a pro-social activity resulting from the cooperation of the Information Graphics Studio of the Faculty of Graphics and Visual Communication of the University of Arts in Poznań and the Department of Criminal Procedure of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań, dedicated to increasing legal awareness in the field of the so-called fundamental rights. The aim of the workshop is to create an opportunity for cooperation between graphic designers and lawyers and to find a graphic form of communication for content related to law. The assumption of each edition was to create 12 infographics, each of which will explain the essence of one of the constitutional rights, which will then be published in the form of a printed calendar. As part of the visit of Xavier Bermudez and Klaus Welp to Poznań, a joint tour of the exhibitions was also organized – Kenya Hara at the National Museum in Poznań and Grzegorz Marszałek at Stary Browar. The guests were warmly welcomed by Mrs. Anna Grabowska-Konwent in the Poster Gallery of the National Museum in Poznań. For the guests, getting acquainted with the work of a museologist in Poland’s largest collection of posters was a very important experience.
