The Wild West. A History of Wroclaw’s Avant-Garde

Wroclaw (Poland) — a city in the “Recovered Territories,” which before the Second World War had nearly one million inhabitants, for decades could not be rebuilt after being destroyed in the Siege of Breslau. Out in these fascinating wild fields situated at the edge of a communist country where various cultures met, in a spirit of freedom and independence, artists have created their own original microcosm with bold experiments and international cooperation with partners from both sides of the Iron Curtain at its heart. The exhibition presents works of art, films, documentary photographs, objets d’art, and recordings—nearly 500 works of visual arts, architecture, urbanism, theatre, film, design, and everyday life of Wroclaw since the 1960s until the present.

The exhibition organized by Wroclaw Contemporary Museum held as a part of the European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016 programme has been already shown at: Zachęta — National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (June 19–September 13, 2015), Kunsthalle/Hala umenia, Košice, Slovakia (October 6–November 15, 2015), and Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany (March 5–May 8, 2016). After presentation in Zagreb the exhibition goes to Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary (September 29–November 27, 2016).