ALL THESE PARADISES, COMETS AND POLONIAS

The 20th century belonged to film. Both in terms of artistic exploration and in the context of being the most popular form of mass entertainment. For most of that century, film was inextricably linked to the cinema hall. In order to experience the power of moving images, viewers had to leave their homes and go to a specially adapted screening space.

For years, the landscape of cities, towns and even villages was shaped by single-screen cinemas – intimate, often family businesses, building the film identity of local communities. They were not only meeting places, but also spaces that strengthened social bonds and provided unforgettable emotions to successive generations of viewers.

The way in which film was received changed gradually – first due to television, then the video and DVD revolution, and finally under the influence of streaming platforms. Small cinemas began to be replaced by multiplexes, and the times when almost every town in Lower Silesia had its own cinema are gone.

Four artists – Gerard Lebik, Lech Moliński, Kamila Mróz and Jerzy Wypych – will take up the subject of the post-war fate of cinemas through various media: sound, text, installation and photography. The exhibition refers to the book All These Paradises, Uprisings and Dawns. About small cinemas in Lower Silesia by Lech Moliński and Jerzy Wypych, which will be published by Wydawnictwo Warstwy in July this year.