Wim Vandekerckhove has fulfilled a 30-year-old dream and is organising an exhibition of amber works. It will be quite an unusual exhibition: he has invited artists to participate, most of whom have had no prior experience with amber. What was the point of this \u201eexperiment\u201d and what is its effect?
<\/b>
You are a co-organiser of the exhibition \u201eFossilised Tears\u201d, where artists who create jewellery will showcase their works made of amber. From a Western European perspective, this is quite an unusual project.<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b>I have great affection for both Poland and amber. From 1981 to 1987, I was a member of the now-famous Henryk Tomaszewski Wroc\u0142aw Pantomime Theatre. I was so captivated by a performance I saw in Belgium that, despite the obvious political and economic difficulties of the time, I decided to come to Poland. I met many artists here, including jewellery designers. It was in Poland that my fascination with this subject was born \u2013 I felt it would be my future. I remember I even swore to myself that I wouldn't do anything else in my life. And so it has remained.laughter<\/i>Why amber? The first person who impressed me with her approach to this fossilised resin was Maryna Lewicka-Wala, who focused on the beauty of natural pieces. This was at a time when good, artistically and design-wise interesting amber jewellery practically didn't exist. I really liked the amber in her work and thought that if I ever had the opportunity, I would gladly organise an exhibition of works featuring amber. <\/p>\n
Such an opportunity has just arisen, and the works of leading European creators will be presented there.
<\/b>
Her idea was born in May 2012 in Gda\u0144sk during a conversation with S\u0142awek Fija\u0142kowski, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and a well-known Polish jewellery designer. Well-known European artists were invited to participate, the vast majority of whom had never worked with amber before. In total, 20 people were tasked with looking at the stone with as \u201eunspoiled\u201d an eye as possible and being inspired by it. From our side, this was of course a very risky move, as we didn't know what the final result would be. But that was also incredibly fascinating: this uncertainty and anticipation of how the artists would cope with this challenge. I admit I only breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the works \u2013 I think the vast majority of them are really very good. Our aim was achieved: new creations and ideas were born, but new artistic sensibilities also came to the fore. <\/p>\n
And how did the creators comment on their participation in this \u201eexperiment\u201d?
<\/b>
Generally, they were very curious about this new material for them, and I think that's why they agreed to take part in the project. Afterwards, they highlighted the artistic qualities and ease of working with amber. Some regretted that they had discovered it so late \u2013 so I infer that this is not their final word on the subject. I am pleased with these positive reactions, especially as I dream of further editions of this project, naturally with different artists each time. I hope that this first exhibition will initiate collaborations with creators who have a completely new perspective on amber, and that my gallery will play a significant role in this. I believe that this amber dream of mine will also come true.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is titled \u201eFossilised Tears\u201d \u2013 is this a reference to local legends about amber?
<\/b>
Not only. Of course, it includes a reference to the myth of Jurata mourning the death of her beloved, or the Heliades, turned into poplars, shedding amber tears over their dead brother Phaethon. But for me personally, these \u201epetrified tears\u201d are primarily associated with Gda\u0144sk, and even in a broader perspective, with Poland: if they were once a symbol of sad historical events taking place in this country, then today they are tears of joy enclosed in a typically Polish material, which is amber. The works of artists invited to participate in the project provide many interesting interpretations of this theme in both dimensions \u2013 mythological and historical. This makes it even more interesting.<\/p>\n
More about the exhibition \u201cPetrified Tears\u201d:<\/strong> Wim Vandekerckhove has fulfilled a 30-year-old dream and is organising an exhibition of amber works. It will be quite an unusual exhibition: he has invited artists to participate, most of whom have had no prior experience with amber. What was the point of this \u201eexperiment\u201d and what is its effect?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Tw\u00f3rcy \u201enieska\u017ceni\u201d bursztynem \u2013 rozmowa z Wimem Vandekerckhove - Amber Portal","description":"Wim Vandekerckhove has fulfilled a 30-year-old dream and is organising an exhibition of amber works. It will be a rather unusual exhibition: he has invited"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"sekcja":[245],"class_list":["post-16166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wywiady","sekcja-ludzie-opinie"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16166"},{"taxonomy":"sekcja","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sekcja?post=16166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Artistic sensitivity expressed in amber<\/a>
S\u0142awomir Fija\u0142kowski: Petrified Smile<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"