mgr Paweł Korbus

P Korbus .jpg [64.10 KB] ORCID: 0000-0002-8410-811X

The topic of my dissertation is „Visual and performative field research in the multicultural landscape of Subcarpathia“

The main goal and the foundation of the project is artistic work in the multicultural landscape of Subcarpathia and the neighbouring regions – artistic mapping and a series of works nested within the context of specific places. I am interested in Subcarpathia because of its unique character. From an outsider’s point of view, it seems a conservative monolith far away from the centre, understood as a point where new progressive ideas and trends meet. The region is burdened with numerous cliché mental images and mythologies: the painful historical events, conservatism and nationalist backlash coexist in our collective mind with a number of positive myths about the region being multicultural, multiethnical and multireligious. I am interested in investigating the situation from inside by means of on-site artistic activities and building relationships with people, which will lead to a confrontation between the status quo and the projections. I would like to create new artworks in the landscape of this authentic, living and breathing melting pot, refer to the cultural phenomena functioning in the region using the language of art, talk about diversity, tensions and non-inclusion that are found in popular narrations and everyday life. I am also considering the social contexts that are in various ways (not) present in the art of Subcarpathia, such as environmentalism (activity that borders on art with the aim to protect the environment and prevent climate change),  feminism, promotion of equality in order to support disadvantaged groups, and other inclusive initiatives. There is also the question of the ways in which cultural institutions operate and the audiences’ tastes (i.a. regarding modern art) are shaped. I understand multiculturality as a non-uniform network, a perfect interweave of the traditions of different ethnical, religious and social groups against the background of historical events and migration flow. I am interested in the resulting moods and attitudes towards the future in the times of post-optimism. I am going to create site-specific artworks within the area outlined above utilising various variant forms and configurations of such media as performance, video or installation. My personal experience of being, working as an artist and functioning in Subcarpathia will be included in the general reflection on the nature of art and artists.

Subcarpathia is the region with the largest number of entries in the register of monuments, which evidences that the area is abundant in cultural resources. I want my works to fit in the continuous processes. Compared to the other regions of Poland, Subcarpathia is the leader in the participation of the population in cultural life generated by community and cultural centres. Meanwhile, it has the fewest number of art galleries. Such (im-)balance prompts me to create a project of grassroots actions completed during a series of artistic residencies and works embedded in towns and villages away from the centre of the region. The methods of field research and site-specific artistic activity applied in an unexplored area will path the way for further such projects. It is vital that ephemeral performative actions and installations will be used as powerful tools during the research on the region’s unique character. Centres which have not actively participated in artistic life so far will be engaged in the flow of modern art. Low-emission techniques and materials will draw attention to the environmental aspects of artistic work, which is not a common concern among artists. Local actions will increase the visibility of regional artists and rebalance the access to knowledge and culture.

Selected artworks and projects:

  1. Post-Optimistic Contemplation performance, a series of visual and performative actions, Center for Independent Culture Zahrada, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, 2021
  2. Could you arrest me? performance, part of Performing (In)visible Borders project prepared in collaboration with Antakya Performative Collective and Nahnoo Foundation, Horsh Park, Beirut, Lebanon, 2019
  3. Things that belong to no one, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland 2016
  4. Places – non-places, performance, video, installation, series of works in the city public space, Lublin, Poland 2017
  5. How to get red?, performance, series of actions in the city public space “ID Influence Diagram”, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, 2016
  6. A Few Simple Words in a Foreign Language – protest song, video performance, Performance Voyage 7, Helsinki, Finland, 2016
  7. It’s All Good But We Are a Bit Afraid of Love/War, installation, The Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art, 2015
  8. Game Over, installation in public space, Studio of Socially Engaged Art “Rewiry”, Lublin, 2014

Awards and stipends:

  1. Art Scholarship of the President of the City of Lublin 2021
  2. Medal of the President of the City of Lublin for contribution to popularization of culture, 2018
  3. Scholarship of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange “International scholarship exchange of PhD candidates and academic staff” 2021
  4. Scholarship of the Visegrad Artist Residency Program 2016, and
  5. Art Scholarship of the President of the City of Lublin 2017
  6. Scholarship of the President of Lublin 2017 for the program Lublin – Istanbul – Antakya – Performance Presentations in Turkey

Degrees/Titles:

2002–2007 – Master’s studies in Plastic Arts Education from Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin

20.06.2007 – graduation with a MA degree; thesis advisor: Professor Adam Myjak, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin

01.10.2020 –  beginning of studies in the Doctoral School of the University of Rzeszów in fine arts and art conservation