Hestia Artistic Journey
Exhibition of the 15th edition of the contest

Hestia Artistic Journey

Exhibition presents works of the finalists of the 15th edition of Hestia Artistic Journey contest. 

The finalists of the 15th edition of Hestia Artistic Journey contest:
Jakub Danilewicz, Hanna Dyrcz, Baltazar Fajto, Paweł Franik, Maciej Gąbka, Natalia Jamróz, Barbara Kosakowska, Olga Kowalska, Monika Łuczak, Jan Moszumański, Teresa Otulak, Mateusz Piestrak, Iwo Rachwał, Maciej Rudzin, Michał Siarek, Katarzyna M. Sosnowska, Maria Stożek, Agnieszka Talaśka, Piotr Urbaniec, Bartosz Zimniak

Winners: Piotr Urbaniec, Olga Kowalska and Hanna Dyrcz.

414 young artists sent in their works this year. The number of applicants has never been this high before in the contest's 15-year history. The finalists’ works include video art, photography, sculpture, painting, graphics and installations. The winner of the main prize will have the possibility to go on an artistic journey to New York. The winner of the special prize will spend a month in Spain and take classes in Valencia. The program of both winner trips is filled with artistic work, gallery and museum visits and meetings with artists. One of the finalists will also be commissioned to do an artistic rendition of the ERGO Hestia Group's annual report. This year's 15th edition of the contest coincides with the company's 25th anniversary of entering the Polish insurance market. The finalists will also have the opportunity to have post-residency exhibitions at galleries in Warsaw, and the works of selected finalists will appear regularly at the ERGO Hestia Art Pavilion in Warsaw. The audience of the contest exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw will also have the opportunity to see the results of the year-long collaboration between ERGO Hestia and last year's winner. Katarzyna Kimak will present an artistic rendition of the group's annual financial report, commissioned by the contest's patron. The starting point for her neon installation was the artist's conversations with the company's employees.

The exhibition will be accompanied by free workshops open to the Museum's public. On June 1st, Children's Day, the Museum is holding a workshop titled “Become an art collector”. It will be a unique opportunity to try oneself in three different roles: as an art viewer, an artist, and a patron of the arts. The program also includes workshops for adults prepared by the Museum's educators, as well as a guided tour of the exhibition on June 4th.

The Hestia Artistic Journey contest is a program for the promotion of young Polish art and artistic education that began in 2002. It engages not only the artistic community, but also the business environment. The contest is addressed to third, fourth and fifth year students of all fine arts academies and art departments in Poland. The winners will be given an opportunity to take part in a residency in New York and Valencia. It is one of the longest-running art patronage programs in the country. In 2009 “Hestia's Artistic Journey” was awarded the "Sztuka cenniejsza niż złoto” (“Art more valuable than gold”) award by the Commitment to Europe arts & buisness foundation and the National Bank of Poland.

For more detailed information on the terms and conditions, as well as the contest's schedule, go to www.artystycznapodrozhestii.pl

Piotr M. Śliwicki – chairman of the jury, President of Sopockie Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń ERGO Hestia SA
Nathalie Anglès – curator, art critic, founder of the New York-based arts organization Residency Unlimited
Karen Gunderson – artist, art lecturer, US
Magdalena Kąkolewska – president of the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation
Bogna Świątkowska – president of „Bęc Zmiana” Foundation
Agnieszka Tarasiuk – curator at Xawery Dunikowski Sculpture Museum, a branch of the National Museum in Warsaw
Sebastian Cichocki – chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, sociologist and art critic
Jarosław Fliciński – artist
Paweł Sosnowski – art critic, curator, Propaganda Foundation and Gallery
Michał Suchora – curator, BWA Gallery Warsaw 

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