{"id":16277,"date":"2022-07-15T18:32:06","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T16:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ggm.spinacz.com\/?p=16277"},"modified":"2024-07-23T09:02:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T07:02:40","slug":"they-call-me-gypsy-but-thats-not-my-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/16277\/they-call-me-gypsy-but-thats-not-my-name\/","title":{"rendered":"They call me Gypsy but that\u2019s not my name"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Dates: <\/b>July 16 – September 26
Opening: <\/b>July 16, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Venue:<\/b> Gda\u0144sk City Gallery 1 (GGM1), Piwna 27\/29 Street, Gda\u0144sk
Gda\u0144sk City Gallery 2 (GGM2), Powro\u017anicza 13\/15 Street, Gda\u0144sk
Curator: <\/b>Ania Batko
Artists: <\/b>Tomasz Armada, Olaf Brzeski, Ewa Ciepielewska, Andrzej Onegin D\u0105browski, Wojciech Fangor, Jerzy Flisak, Krzysztof Gil, Zuza Goli\u0144ska, G\u00fcnter Grass, W\u0142adys\u0142aw Hasior, Marcin Janusz, Kunegunda Je\u017cowska, Stanis\u0142aw Ka\u0142uziak, Tadeusz Kantor, Leszek Knaflewski, Edgar Kovats, Ignacy Krieger, Dawid Mazur, Jan M\u0142odo\u017ceniec, Joanna Piotrowska, Tadeusz Rolke, Stanis\u0142aw Rychlicki, Adam Rzepecki, Walery Rzewuski, Feliks Sadowski Feliko, Slavs and Tatars, Janek Simon, Aleksander Sovtysik, Stanis\u0142aw Witkiewicz, Paulina W\u0142ostowska, Stanis\u0142aw Zamecznik

<\/p>

This exhibition is not about the Roma, Romani culture or history. They call me Gypsy but that\u2019s not my name <\/i>is a story of a \u201cGypsy\u201d, an imaginary and make-believe figure that has never existed. A story of a construct with its peculiar iconography, of the mythical Orient, Bohemian appropriation and the dialectics of cultural colonialism derived from hybrid mythology and PolishRomani identity. Rather than building a narrative outside the affirmative and narrow imagery, we construct the story from within, disrupting its phantasms and dreamed up revolutions.\u00a0 Yet the meaning of a narrative is not to be found in its core: it surrounds the story like a fruit surrounding the stone. Therefore, in addition to old art, archival pieces, photographs, documentaries, books and recordings \u2013 a plethora of creations bordering on political pornography \u2013 we are going to show works of modern artists.

<\/p>

***<\/p>

\u201cIt is evident that they have learned nothing from us and admired none of our exploits. Have they been blind and insensitive to our achievements for the last six hundred years or so? One can hardly believe that our world might be so uninteresting.\u201d<\/i> (Andrzej Stasiuk)

<\/p>

The poet and songwriter Agnieszka Osiecka wrote that the real Gypsies are gone<\/i>. Perhaps they have never been here. Or perhaps they were here tomorrow, as the Polish word for \u201ctomorrow\u201d is jutro<\/i>, and that means \u201cyesterday\u201d in Romani. Yesterday equals tomorrow.

<\/p>

Zagraj mi pi\u0119kny Cyganie (Play for me, my handsome Gypsy<\/i>) is the title of the compact cassette issued by the pop band Szarotka at the dawn of Poland\u2019s political transformation in the late 1980s. The cover showed a hauntological portrait of an elephant man. Earlier, writer Jerzy Ficowski wrote about Gypsies as he discovered the Romani poet Papusza (although rumour has it that he was the author of her poems while she, the embodiment of whimsical inspiration, was his muse). Wilhelm August Stryowski painted Gypsy men lounging on the beach among ruins of the ancient culture, while Henryk Siemiradzki asked his models to soot their pale faces and wear colourful dresses (not much different from dresses worn by average nineteen-century bourgeoises) to pass for Gypsies. The flashy clothes of Gypsies adorned with glass beads and field flowers and evoking a futuristic vision were described by the 19th<\/sup> century novelist J\u00f3zef Ignacy Kraszewski in Chata za wsi\u0105<\/i> (The Cottage outside the Village<\/i>), a novel tackling the problem of Gypsy community discrimination. Equally fanciful were the dresses worn by Duchess Izabela Czartoryska who inspired and played the part of Gypsy Javnuta in the comic opera Cyganie<\/i> (Gypsies<\/i>) written by Franciszek Dionizy Knia\u017anin. A century later, Knia\u017anin\u2019s libretto caught interest of the composer Stanis\u0142aw Moniuszko. While Knia\u017anin focused on assimilation of the defiant Gypsies, Moniuszko was attracted to the romantic idea of their unfettered spirit. \u201cMy dear Stach, why aren\u2019t you a Gypsy?\u201d<\/i>, says Javnuta\u2019s foster daughter to her lover. Exclusion and affirmation are two sides of the same coin.

<\/p>

Gypsies play the part of con men who can tell fortune from coffee grounds and wrung hands, demons casting their evil eye, or singers. Usually, they just sing cheesy disco polo. Herbalists, horse whisperers and bear charmers, they are the sheer embodiment of the Orient, the first true Bohemians, nomads and vagrants living in a suspiciously utopian union with nature. Gypsies are the prototypes of migrants and artists. Or tourists, as referred to by a Gda\u0144sk politician who called for eviction of the Roma from the city\u2019s squats. Gypsies are the neighbours who light fires in their homes and play the accordion under other people\u2019s balconies. Their skin is always too dark and they are always too dirty and too colourful, to quote the poet Adam Mickiewicz. Even the 2013 film Papusza<\/i> was shot in black-and-white as if to avoid ethno-kitsch reconstruction.

<\/p>

We explore stories of Gypsies told from a non-Gypsy perspective, often unconsciously clich\u00e9d, as well as stories where a Gypsy plays the role of a non-Gypsy. We are fascinated by folk masks of traditional carol singers, where alongside the stock figures of the Devil, Stork and Goat comes a grotesque hominid with a straw bear on a rope \u2013 the same bear that appears in the communist era comedy Mi\u015b<\/i> (Teddy Bear<\/i>) responding to the urgent needs of the Polish society<\/i>. We recollect the story of Prince Karol Radziwi\u0142\u0142 \u201cPanie Kochanku\u201d, a patriot and Sarmatian, who brought Gypsies to the multicultural town of Mir, had bears trained to pull carts and allowed the Gypsies to gather for rallies in the fields of the Horeszkowski Castle (the very castle that was immortalised in Mickiewicz\u2019s Pan Tadeusz<\/i>). The exotic elections of the Gypsy king in Warsaw\u2019s sports stadium in 1937, as reported by the Tygodnik D\u017awi\u0119kowy<\/i> weekly. The painting by Antoni Kr\u00f3likiewicz showing a Gypsy woman with a watermelon, which was later printed in foreign newspapers as a portrait of an Indian girl. Writer Witold Gombrowicz, who wanted to be an artist and a Bohemian, and a nobleman among Bohemians. The Gypsy Bible dreamed up by Julian Tuwim, and the story of the 19th<\/sup> artistic group Warsaw Bohemia whose members used to pour soil onto the floors of bourgeois drawing rooms. The Gypsy man with a self-playing violin from Stanis\u0142aw Ignacy Witkiewicz\u2019s Nadobnisie i koczkodany (Lovelies and Dowdies)<\/i>, who cried and sobbed while performing for the keenly listening Death. The year 1968, when the Roma, like the Jews, were expelled from Poland, except that the Roma had no Israel to go to and were leaving Poland without passports or identification.

<\/p>

\u201cThe gypsies are a theme. And nothing more. I could just as well be a poet of sewing needles or hydraulic landscapes. Besides, this gypsyism gives me the appearance of an uncultured, ignorant and primitive poet that you know very well I\u2019m not\u201d<\/i>, complained the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca in a letter to his friend.

<\/p>

We are drawn to this aura. We want to immerse ourselves in this sticky and tricky Bohemian atmosphere colonised by live cultures. The cultural construct and folk amalgam. Like there is no tomorrow. Perhaps in the times of resurgent nationalism and deepening migrant \u00a0and environmental crises there really is no tomorrow. In the 1960s, G\u00fcnter Grass wanted to bring Romani camps to Berlin: he believed that this would have solved the Berlin Wall question. Because where there are Gypsies, the borders become leaky<\/i>.

<\/p>

Wo\u0142aj\u0105 na mnie Cygan cho\u0107 tak si\u0119 nie nazywam
Bo komu to przeszkadza, gdy imi\u0119 si\u0119 nie zgadza<\/i>*<\/p>

[They call me Gypsy but that\u2019s not my name,
The name doesn\u2019t match and no one\u2019s to blame.]<\/p>

*Kayah & Bregovi\u010d, Caje Sukarije, 1999

<\/p>

Content<\/span> cooperation<\/span>: Krzysztof Gil
Graphic identification: Marcel Kaczmarek
Cooperation: Andrzej Zagrobelny, Gabriela Warzycka-Tutak, And\u017celika Kli\u015b, Barbara von Zmuda-Trzebiatowska
Lending<\/span> institutions<\/span>: Pa\u0144stwowe Muzeum Etnograficzne w Warszawie, Muzeum Historii \u017byd\u00f3w Polskich, Fundacja Sztuki Polskiej ING, Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie, Muzeum Kultury Rom\u00f3w w Warszawie, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Centrum Sztuki Wsp\u00f3\u0142czesnej Zamek Ujazdowski, Muzeum Krakowa, Polska Akademia Umiej\u0119tno\u015bci (projekt PAUart), Agencja Gazeta, O\u015brodek Dokumentacji Sztuki Tadeusza Kantora Cricoteka, Filmoteka Narodowa \u2013 Instytut Audiowizualny, Biblioteka Cyfrowa Politechniki Warszawskiej, Ma\u0142opolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa, Bundesarchiv, Muzeum Narodowe Ziemi Przemyskiej, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Piktogram, Muzeum Tatrza\u0144skie im. Dra Tytusa Cha\u0142ubi\u0144skiego w Zakopanem,\u00a0Galeria Plakatu The Art of Poster Piotr D\u0105browski and private collections
Thanks: Adam Bartosz, Delain Le Bas, Aleksander Celusta, Piotr D\u0105browski, Adam G\u0105sianowski, Mariusz G\u0105sior, Piotr Grde\u0144, Andrzej Grzyma\u0142a-Kaz\u0142owski, Micha\u0142 Harat, Kamil Kuitkowski, Ma\u0142gorzata Kunecka, Pawe\u0142 Lechowski, Jakub \u0141apawa, Ewa \u0141\u0105czy\u0144ska-Widz, Martyna Sobczyk, Kola \u015aliwi\u0144ska, Natalia Zarzecka
Special thanks to Osman Djajdisaster for supporting the exhibition<\/p>

<\/figure><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dates: July 16 – September 26Opening: July 16, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.Venue: Gda\u0144sk City Gallery 1 (GGM1), Piwna 27\/29 Street, Gda\u0144skGda\u0144sk City Gallery 2 (GGM2), Powro\u017anicza 13\/15 Street, Gda\u0144skCurator: Ania BatkoArtists: Tomasz Armada, Olaf Brzeski, Ewa Ciepielewska, Andrzej Onegin D\u0105browski, Wojciech Fangor, Jerzy Flisak,…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[97],"class_list":["post-16277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ggm2-en","tag-single-photo"],"acf":{"data_rozpoczecia":"20210716","data_zakonczenia":"20210926","miejsce":"GGM2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16277"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26574,"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16277\/revisions\/26574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggm.gda.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}