Exhibition “The Untamed Has No Words: Michał Korta”

April 25 –June 2 2024

Opening: April 24

The exhibition is a collection of intriguing nocturnal photography and a story of crossing boundaries, of the senses, and the world of animals (and people). Can the night-time encounter between humans and animals lead to a symbiotic understanding? How to reflect on wild nature in a posthumanist world?

At the exhibition, Michał Korta will show “The Shadow Line” project (2012–2024), where he explores the animal world, photographing animals after dark in their natural environment. These are portraits of night hunters traversing forests, fields, and villages in search of food or shelter, and of wild creatures that had to adapt to living in an environment dominated by people.

On show at the ICC medieval cellars, Korta’s series of photographs will offer a record of experience skilfully translated by the artist into a visual language. The exhibition will consist of several elements: granular, “moved” shots of animals and fragments of nature, as well as situational freeze-frames made during night wandering will be intertwined with precise studio photos of animal skulls. Photographed on an ultra-black background, they change into almost sculptural forms and at the same time provoke reflection on transience. In the face of our finiteness, we are all animals.

In his work, Korta uses both analogue and digital equipment and even a mobile phone. His photographs taken at night or in very dark conditions are characterised by a specific, disturbing mood. They required precision in the camera settings and creativity in the use of limited lighting, which makes them a fascinating field for exploration. These are photos filled with emotions – peace and violence, things that sting and move. Blurred, “spectral”, some almost abstract, the outlines demand from us to focus and “listen closely” to black and white images.

The ICC’s previous exhibition of the artist’s work – “Balkan Playground” – took place in 2017. Korta, an attentive observer of the Balkan reality, tried to capture the complicated identity of the region and the atmosphere of the world suspended between the past and the present.

Exhibition organised by the International Cultural Centre

The ICC programming

Agata Wąsowska-Pawlik, Dr Łukasz Galusek

Curator

Natalia Żak

Exhibition design

Patrycja Ochman-Tarka, Paulina Ochman

Production

Dorota Kosiec

English translation

Sabina Potaczek-Jasionowicz

Polish version editing and proofreading

Paulina Sweet

Installation

Emanuel Mróz, Jakub Wójtowicz

Lighting

Mariusz Gąsior, Michał Warmusz

Visual identity and photobook design

Kuba Sowiński

Cooperation

Joanna Biegacz, Olaf Cirut, Ewa Czarnecka, Magdalena Grabias, Joanna Hojda-Pepaś, Robert Karwowski, Agata Klejzerowicz, Dorota Korohoda, Daniel Krawczyk, Paulina Małochleb, Antoni Michalik, Paulina Orłowska-Bańdo, Łukasz Pieróg, Agnieszka Sachar, Anna Sawłowicz, Klaudia Słupek, Karolina Wójcik

Exhibition supported by

Exhibition partner

Exhibition media patronage

The ICC media patronage