2 - 13 June 2019
Finissage of the show: 11 June 2019 6:00 p.m.

SARP
Foksal 2, Warszawa

Jikihitsu. The Signature of the Artist.
In Japanese jikihitsu means the signature of the artist.
The signature is understood here very broadly – not only as the artwork’s unique identifier, the artist’s mark, but also as a metaphor of creative path and the shaping of the author’s artistic individuality in the face of the influence of a dissimilar culture and tradition.
We discuss the admiration for Japanese art and culture which has not faded in Poland since the end of the 19th century. We show how modern Polish-Japanese relations within the field of art look like in the age of globalisation and new means of communication. We ask a question: where the border falls today between the mutual influences and where the cultures naturally permeate each other.
The contact between two different cultures bears fruit in the shape of new creative activities, concepts, technique solutions, research topics and inspirations. By putting together artists from Poland and Japan who work on different subjects and with the use of different media we want to show a place where tradition and contemporariness meet.
The exhibition is interdisciplinary and multimedia in character. One can find there both works executed in traditional techniques: painting on canvas, wood, paper, silk, woodcuts, and in contemporary techniques: manga art, photographs and videos. We also present spatial installations, artistic textiles and monumental sculpture forms.
The exhibitions showcases the artworks of 46 Japanese and Polish artists of different generations. These are artists who in vast majority also have scientific and educational achievements and who lecture at universities in Poland, Japan and France.


The exhibition is presented at the Pavilion and Mirror Hall of SARP (2-12 June) and at Stara Galeria ZPAF (7-21 June 2019). It is an event accompanying the international conference entitled Jikihitsu. The Signature of the Artist. The Presence of Japanese Tradition in Contemporary Polish Art, which will take place on 10­­­­­-12 June.
The events are included in the celebrations of the centenary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and Japan.

The exhibition has been created with the works provided by courtesy of the artists from Poland, France and Japan as well as museums and galleries, i.a.: Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź and Manggha Museum in Cracow.

Participants of the exhibition at SARP (Association of Polish Architects):
Yui Akiyama, Stanisław Baj, Elżbieta Banecka, Bogna Becker, Fujioka Keiko & Michiko Sakuma, Toshihiro Hamano, Joanna Hawrot, Tomohiro Higashikage, Atsushi Hosoi, Daisuke Ischiba, Paweł Jasiewicz, Konrad Juściński, Maria Kiesner, Naomi Kobayashi, Shoukoh Kobayashi, Kazuhiro Korenaga, Aliska Lahusen, Ewa Latkowska, Rina Matsudaira, Grzegorz Mroczkowski, Małgorzata Niespodziewana-Rados, Nonki Nishimura, Małgorzata Paszko, Radosław Predygier, Wiesław Rosocha, Agnieszka Rożnowska, Koichi Sato, Michael Schneider, Jarosław Sierek, Joanna Stasiak, Magdalena Świercz-Wojteczek, Masako Takahashi, Emiko Tokushige, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Mieczysław Wasilewski, Józef Wilkoń, Jakub Woynarowski, Aleksander Woźniak, Joanna Zakrzewska.

Participants of the exhibition at Stara Galeria ZPAF:
Mirosław Bałka, Hiroo Kikai, Kazuhiro Korenaga, Monika Masłoń, Gabriela Morawetz, Stefan Paruch, Daniel Rumiancew, Agnieszka Rożnowska, Yasuyuki Saegusa

Project authors: Magdalena Durda-Dmitruk, Joanna Stasiak
Exhibition set-up: Joanna Stasiak, Grzegorz Mroczkowski