Delegation of Slippery Affairs

Delegation of Slippery Affairs is an invitation to participate in a nomadic rave, a bewitching celebration of the passage between the old and new incarnations of MSN Warsaw, from the apartment building on ul. Pańska to the museum structure at Marszałkowska 103. The delegation takes place at a special moment, when the museum is no longer exhibiting at its existing location but has not yet moved into its forever home. The event is an element of the move, in which we want to carry over what we can migrate: the relationships building our program.

Bambí van Balen and nat skoczylas from the artistic and activist collective Tools for Action are responsible for the shape of the performance, along with invited artists. The idea for the delegation is an allusion to the context of the site, Plac Defilad (i.e. Parade Square), where the social and the political have often encountered art. Taking the form of a propaganda parade, examining with both irony and curiosity the various marches and processions here and the accompanying decorations, is our starting point. Delegation of Slippery Affairs combines official representation with an ironic distance from officialdom, seriousness with perversity, a less formal approach to the official, ceremonial opening. 

Therefore, in October, the MSN Pavilion on the Vistula (ul. Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie 22) will be transformed into a workshop studio, where the artistic objects involved in the event will take shape, along with the agenda for the delegation itself.

We invite you to take part in open artistic and post-artistic activities, where you can learn the ABCs of creating the inflatable sculptural objects of protest of the Tools for Action Building Workshop. Meanwhile, we encourage you to prepare your own set of props to bring with you to the delegation to the museum. These could take the form of banners, costumes, objects, wishes, spells, and so on. For this purpose, you can use the space of the Pavilion on the Vistula, functioning as an open studio. You can also show up with your items at ul. Pańska 3 on the day of the event. During the preparations, Lea Asche and Beciu Cyruchin will create costumes out of secondhand clothing.

The open studio activities are free of charge—you just need to choose the days (October 20, 21, 22 or 23) when you want to use the pavilion. 

Various objects (artistic and otherwise) taking part in this unique parade will settle into the new building overnight and become one of the museum’s first exhibitions. Then they will be included in the archive of the MSN Warsaw opening. This will make them part of the collection building the history of the institution. 

The uncertainty of the new, stepping on a slippery surface where it’s easy to fall down, requires the right preparation. Jagna Nawrocka, an artist and choreographer, will be responsible for this aspect. To dance rhythms, and with music spun by DJ Asidron, our carnival crowd will pass through Park Świętokrzyski. One of the steps along the route will be the stage in a fountain next to the Palace of Culture, where nyio kunt will execute a queer performance piece. The choral element of the procession is the responsibility of Gaba Kunert, who will orchestrate several ensembles, and Agnieszka Piotrowska. The compositions will solemnize the farewell while hailing the new.