“In the life of every human being, there is a need for magic and enchantment, but not always: at certain moments, we should disenchant the world, moments, situations, negative emotions and paradigms. Selecting a few related to the representation of Romani people in a stereotypical and stigmatising way, I try to disenchant and demythologise them by reversing how we are being seen.” – Małgorzata Mirga-Tas
Titled Re-enchanting the World, the Polish pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale was a manifesto on Roma identity and culture. Showcasing work by Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, the first Roma artist to ever be shown in a national pavilion, the exhibition drew inspiration from the Renaissance frescoes of the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, Italy to reinscribe a Roma perspective into art historical discourse. Through the patchwork tapestries that made up the show, the artist carried out—both physically and metaphorically—the work of repair, the craft of narrative, and the experience of Aby Warburg’s nachleben, or life after life of images.
In this program, pavilion co-curator Joanna Warsza was joined by Ana Janevski, Curator, Department of Media and Performance, Museum of Modern Art, to discuss the concept of re-enchanting the world as realized in the Polish pavilion. The conversation examined the themes of interdependence, transnationality, and cyclicality that informed both Mirga-Tas’s exhibition and the curatorial process of bringing it to Venice. Warsza also offered a glimpse into her upcoming show, And Warren Niesluchowski Was There—Guest, Host, Ghost, co-curated with Sina Najafi, which opened at Cabinet NYC on October 11 and dealt with the topic of ontological homelessness.
A version of the video with ASL interpretation is available here.
