“Travellers” - the Concept:
I have developed the idea of the “Travellers” exhibition / installation
about 6 years ago as an attempt to describe the lives of people exiled from
their homes, victims of historical events, refugees and I have “mentally” set
it in the landscapes of Dolny Slask (Lower Silesia region in Poland) which
in different periods of history served as a home to numerous people of various
origin.
In its philosophical sphere, the exhibition is influenced by the figure of
Kantor’s “eternal wanderer”, Nietzsche’s reflections
on the eternal homecoming and based on my own existential thoughts on the human
world of imagination: a never-ending journey, constant search for a place to
settle down, eternal journey “home”, like a mysterious cycle of
departure and return. I try to touch on such issues as: definitions of “home”, “leaving”, “meeting” another
person, “search”.
The installation takes on a form of a story about two people who undertake
a journey Home, their own, mythical, ideal Home. We - as viewers – bear
witness to the fundamental stages of this journey. From the most important
moment – taking the decision, through the first steps, then saying farewell
to the dearest, basic places in their lives, thinking it’s time to go
as they don’t belong there any more… Their journey ends at the
railway station where they are about to start their search for a better Home.
Their focus on the future made them forget about the present, their journey
is impossible – the train station is no longer in use.
In spite of similar obstacles, problems, the two people travel separately.
They don’t see each other, they don’t react to each other. Being
the only two people at the station, they never meet…
The exhibition consists of 30 black and white modified photographs arranged
in a particular sequence with a specific focus on a central image.
Biografie:
Artur Rychlicki – an artist-photographer, lives in Krakow, Poland,
studied Philosophy, has had numerous exhibitions in Poland (Krakow, Katowice,
Bielsko-Biala, Gliwice, Opole) and abroad (London, Bornholm).
