In the year dedicated to celebration of the 100th anniversary of Polish avant-garde, Cricoteka wishes to focus on the exhibition of the work by Tadeusz Kantor and the artists associated with Cricot 2 Theatre that took place in 1979 at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. The show was part of L’avanguardia polacca 1918–1978. S.I. Witkiewicz, costruttivismo, artisti contemporanei (Polish Avant-Garde 1910–1978. S.I. Witkiewicz, Constructivsts, Contempoary Artists), an exhibition organized by Ryszard Stanisławski and the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź.
The immediate impulse to recall those events was provided by hitherto unknown drawn plans of the exposition, kept in Achille Perilli’s archive. Kantor and Perilli – a Rome-born painter, drawer, theatre artist, publisher and researcher of avant-garde – first met in 1968 on the Yugoslavian island of Korčula when they attended a session on the art of mosaics. They soon developed an intellectual bond and lasting friendship. As a keen admirer of Kantor’s work Achille Perilli set out to promote it in his own country with a boundless zest. He also became – along with Konstanty Węgrzyn – a curator of the Rome exhibition, at which works by Maria Jarema, Maria Stangret-Kantor, Zbigniew Gostomski, Kazimierz Mikulski, Andrzej Wełmiński and Roman Siwulak were presented. The concept and arrangement of the show was designed by Tadeusz Kantor himself. The programme also featured a performance of the cricotage Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear.
The organizers of the Rome exhibition counted Tadeusz Kantor and Cricot 2-related creators among the leading Polish avant-garde artists. Appreciating their gesture Cricoteka has decided to stage an exhibition inspired by the 1979 show, based on the plans of the previous exposition as well as photographic and film documentation. The Kraków display contains artworks selected from those exhibited almost 40 years ago in Rome. A different arrangement and new focal points reveal a fresh approach of the project’s authors to Kantor’s conception and establish new relationships between the works. How far was it possible to be faithful to the premises of the Rome exhibition; when and why did they have to be waived? By hosting this exhibition Cricoteka is paying homage to the creators of the show Le opere di Tadeusz Kantor. I pittori di Cricot 2. Il teatro, and at once constitutes a creative reworking of the diverse collection, attempting to view it from the perspective of today.
In autumn Cricoteka is going to put on a solo show by Achille Perilli, offering an exciting opportunity to explore the creative output of this Italian artist.
