Early Years

”Early Years” is an international exhibition prepared by curators from the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw for the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin – one of the most prestigious artistic institutions in Germany, organizer of the renown Berlin Biennale.

The exhibition focuses on the early years of the Museum’s activity, from its founding in 2005 to the planned opening in the new seat (a building of Christian Kerez’s design to be erected in the Parade Square) in 2014. It is a period marked by tensions, ideological clashes and antagonisms. The new institution is suspended between hope and disappointment, commitment and compromise. But there is also strong belief that the institution of a museum can be invented anew.

Most of the presented works were created in cooperation with the Museum and were a sort of study of Warsaw, its history and modernity. The new works of Yael Bartana, Tania Bruguera or Sanija Iveković are only a few examples. At this early stage, the institution is largely being shaped by the collaborating artists whose imagination, intuition and visions stimulate new directions of the Museum’s development.

”Early Years” is part of the project “The Promised City”, a cultural initiative between Berlin and Warsaw with performances in Mumbai and Bucharest. Artists, curators and academics from Germany, Poland, India, and Romania have developed various new creative productions, all of which are interdisciplinary and revolve around subjects of the dreams, illusions, and promises of modern metropolises.

Artists:

Wojciech Bąkowski, Yael Bartana, Tania Bruguera, Oskar Dawicki, Sharon Hayes, Sanja Iveković, Daniel Knorr, KwieKulik, Zbigniew Libera, Anna Molska, Paulina Ołowska, Agnieszka Polska, Joanna Rajkowska, Ahlam Shibli, Jan Smaga, Anna Zaradny, Artur Żmijewski