Motherland in Art

In today’s atmosphere of globalisation, it seems that the entire world is our motherland and we are all compatriots. Yet for many of us motherland remains a personal, traditional value: it’s where we grow up, where we belong and where we must protect from outsiders, sometimes at the cost of our own lives. This makes it something of a stronghold where everyone speaks the same language, worships the same god and respects traditions as equal to religious rites. We reflect on what the concept of the motherland – often overused and overburdened with emotion – means today by exploring works by contemporary artists presented by curators of the exhibition Motherland in Art at MOCAK. The authors speak a universal language of art, move freely between countries and always find inspiration for their creativity. Such an unregimented global model of a motherland remains a utopia for many of us, yet it’s worth exploring in our search for answers to what the concept means to us personally. After all, problems of being a stranger in someone else’s motherland and accepting strangers in our own homes are relevant to us all. The exhibition forms a part of Kraków’s programme of celebrations of the centenary of Poland’s independence “Liberated_1918”. (Dorota Dziunikowska, “Karnet” monthly)