In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation

In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation is a Polish cultural organization established in 2004 by the artists Bożenna Biskupska and Zygmunt Rytka. Its work combines contemporary visual art, performance, film, music, education, and public-space practice rather than operating as a conventional commercial art brand. The foundation has presented exhibitions, supported artistic projects, and created recurring festivals intended to connect artists and audiences across Poland and internationally. A major part of the foundation's activity has taken place in Sokołowsko, a historic locality in southwestern Poland associated with the childhood of film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. The foundation organizes the annual Hommage à Kieślowski film festival there, which has been held every September since 2011. The event combines screenings of Kieślowski's films with contemporary cinema that engages with related themes or methods. Its wider program includes conversations with directors and actors, panel discussions, concerts focused on film music, exhibitions, workshops, and outdoor screenings. The festival has involved figures from Polish cinema and music, including Katarzyna Figura, Agnieszka Holland, Zbigniew Preisner, Zbigniew Zamachowski, and Philip Rappold. Sokołowsko is also the setting for Contexts, an international festival devoted to ephemeral and performance-based art. The event presents performances, live actions, documentation, monographic projects, installations, films, lectures, workshops, conferences, and discussions. Its first edition in 2011 focused on conceptual art and the legacy of the avant-garde, using Jan Świdziński's 1976 formulation of contextual art as a guiding reference. A subsequent edition examined the work of Zbigniew Warpechowski and brought together more than sixty artists, critics, and art historians from different countries. The program also became notable for presenting what was described as Jerzy Bereś's final performance. The foundation's urban program includes Passengers, a public-art festival launched in 2007. Passengers places artistic projects within everyday city environments and has examined mobility, access to public space, privatization, economic crisis, and alternative forms of social interaction. Its first edition used a tram converted into a camera obscura, allowing passengers to view an unusual moving image assembled from city views. Other projects included temporary architectural interventions. Later editions addressed fenced and privatized urban areas, gated communities, and responses to financial crisis, while the 2012 edition featured balcony concerts and historical-photography displays in shop and café windows in Warsaw. In Situ has also organized and supported exhibitions outside Poland. Projects described in its record include The Polish Connection, a Polish-British exhibition shown at Warsaw's Royal Castle and London's Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2009; Meta-Weiss, presented at Berlin's Freies Museum in 2011 as part of cultural programming connected with Poland's presidency of the European Union Council; and Ceremonial, a 2012 presentation of contemporary Polish art in Saint Petersburg. The foundation also participated in the 2011 Miami Art Fair, supported exhibitions by Zygmunt Rytka and Józef Robakowski in Lisbon in 2006, and organized an Abraham Ravett exhibition in Sokołowsko in 2010. Its positioning is therefore that of a nonprofit cultural platform for experimental, interdisciplinary, and socially engaged art, with particular emphasis on temporary events, artistic exchange, and the relationship between art, place, and collective memory.

In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation was founded in Poland in 2004 by Bożenna Biskupska and Zygmunt Rytka. From its beginning, the organization developed as a cultural foundation rather than a commercial gallery or consumer-facing brand. Its activities have centered on contemporary art and have extended across exhibition-making, performance, film, music, education, public-space interventions, and international exchange. One early international activity was support for an exhibition by Zygmunt Rytka and Józef Robakowski in Lisbon in 2006. In 2007, the foundation began Passengers, an urban-art festival in which artistic projects were placed within the lived environment of the city. The inaugural program used a passenger tram transformed into a camera obscura, designed by Simon Lee, alongside a temporary architectural project by Raumlabor Berlin and Plastique Fantastique. In 2008, Passengers examined the enclosure and privatization of public space through performances and interventions, including work associated with Folke Köbberling, Martin Kaltwasser, Heath Bunting, and San Keller. Its 2009 edition responded to the financial crisis through the theme “Money for Nothing: Manifesto,” while the 2012 program used balcony concerts and window-based historical-photography displays to activate Warsaw's urban fabric. The foundation's connection with Sokołowsko became particularly important. In 2010 it organized an exhibition by Abraham Ravett there. The following year, it launched both the Hommage à Kieślowski film festival and the Contexts festival. Hommage à Kieślowski takes place each September and draws on Sokołowsko's association with Krzysztof Kieślowski, who spent part of his childhood there. The festival presents the director's films alongside contemporary works and includes discussions, concerts, exhibitions, workshops, and meetings with film professionals. Contexts established an international setting for ephemeral and performance art, with programs incorporating live actions, documentation, installations, screenings, lectures, and debates. Its 2011 edition addressed conceptual art and contextual art, while the 2012 edition focused on Zbigniew Warpechowski and included a large international group of artists and researchers. In Situ also pursued cross-border exhibition projects. The Polish Connection, part of the Polish-British Polan!Year program, was shown simultaneously at the Royal Castle in Warsaw and Dulwich Picture Gallery in London in 2009. Antoni Malinowski's work created a conceptual link between Polish historical imagery and contemporary views of Warsaw. Meta-Weiss was presented at Berlin's Freies Museum in 2011 and explored whiteness, balance, and new cultural spaces through works by artists from different generations. The project was connected with cultural programming surrounding Poland's presidency of the European Union Council and included music and performance components. In 2012, Ceremonial brought contemporary Polish art to Saint Petersburg in a collaboration with the Krasnoye Znamya Cultural Center. Curated by Marcin Krasny and Katya Shadkovska, it examined the private and public rituals surrounding the deaths of public figures. The foundation also participated in the 2011 Miami Art Fair, where it presented conceptual works from the 1960s by artists including Józef Robakowski, Zygmunt Rytka, and Ryszard Piegza, together with performances. Across these projects, In Situ's historical role has been to create contexts for experimental and interdisciplinary practice, often outside conventional museum settings. Its programming links local places such as Warsaw and Sokołowsko with international artistic networks, while recurring festivals provide continuity for performance, film, and public-art activity.

• 2012

  Ceremonial in Saint Petersburg

  [1]In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation organizes Ceremonial, an exhibition of contemporary Polish art, with the Krasnoye Znamya Cultural Center.

• 2011

  Contexts and Hommage à Kieślowski begin

  [1]In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation launches the Contexts performance-art festival and the Hommage à Kieślowski film festival in Sokołowsko.

• 2011

  Meta-Weiss in Berlin

  [1]In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Meta-Weiss is presented at the Freies Museum in Berlin as an international contemporary-art exhibition connected with Polish cultural programming.

• 2009

  The Polish Connection

  [1]In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation participates in a Polish-British exhibition presented at Warsaw's Royal Castle and Dulwich Picture Gallery in London.

• 2007

  Passengers launches

  [1]In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation begins the Passengers urban-art festival, introducing temporary artistic projects into city space.

• 2006

  Lisbon exhibition support

  [1]In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation supports an exhibition by Zygmunt Rytka and Józef Robakowski in Lisbon.

• 2004

  Foundation established

  [1]In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Bożenna Biskupska and Zygmunt Rytka establish In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation in Poland.

A nonprofit, interdisciplinary platform for contemporary art, film, performance, public-space experimentation, and international cultural exchange.

• Film festival · 2011

  Hommage à Kieślowski Festival

  An annual international film festival held every September in Sokołowsko. It presents films by Krzysztof Kieślowski alongside contemporary cinema connected to his artistic concerns and includes screenings, outdoor cinema, discussions, concerts, exhibitions, workshops, and meetings with actors and directors.

• Ephemeral and performance art festival · 2011

  Contexts

  An international summer event in Sokołowsko focused on ephemeral art. Its program combines performances and live actions with documentation, installations, screenings, monographic presentations, lectures, conferences, workshops, and artist discussions.

• Urban public-art festival · 2007

  Passengers

  An urban festival that places artistic projects in public and everyday environments. Editions have addressed mobility, privatization and enclosure of public space, gated communities, economic crisis, alternative music, and the use of commercial or residential settings for cultural activity.

• Contemporary-art exhibition · 2012

  Ceremonial

  A 2012 exhibition in Saint Petersburg presenting contemporary Polish artists' responses to the ritualization of funerals and the public deaths of prominent figures. The project examined how death is represented through both private and social forms of ceremony.

• International contemporary-art exhibition · 2011

  Meta-Weiss

  A 2011 exhibition at Berlin's Freies Museum exploring whiteness, balance, and the search for new cultural spaces. It brought together artists from different generations and included accompanying concerts and performances.

• 2011Hommage à Kieślowski Festival

  Poland · International

  An annual Sokołowsko film festival combining Kieślowski retrospectives with contemporary films, professional discussions, music, exhibitions, and educational programming.

  Outcome. The festival became a recurring international cultural event associated with Sokołowsko and Kieślowski's legacy.

  Source
• 2011Contexts

  Poland · International

  The foundation established an international festival for ephemeral and performance art, beginning with a program focused on conceptual and contextual art.

  Outcome. The event created a recurring setting for performances, lectures, documentation, exhibitions, and international artistic exchange.

  Source
• 2007Passengers

  Poland

  The foundation launched an urban festival using public transport, temporary architecture, performances, and interventions to place contemporary art within everyday city life.

  Outcome. The festival developed into a recurring platform for artistic debate about public space and urban social conditions.

  Source

• 2011

  Expand recurring programming in SokołowskoStrategy

  Background

  The foundation used Sokołowsko as a base for sustained cultural programming connected with the locality's association with Krzysztof Kieślowski and its suitability for experimental art.

  Action taken

  It launched both the Hommage à Kieślowski film festival and the Contexts ephemeral-art festival.

  Aftermath

  Sokołowsko became a central location for the foundation's film, performance, educational, and international activities.

  Source

• 2007

  Create an urban public-art platformStrategy

  Background

  The foundation sought to connect contemporary artistic practice with ordinary urban environments and debates about how public space is used.

  Action taken

  It introduced Passengers, a festival of temporary artistic projects in city space.

  Aftermath

  Later editions addressed privatization, gated communities, economic crisis, alternative music, and historical memory in Warsaw.

  Source

1. 1In Situ Contemporary Art Foundationen.wikipedia.org