Anka Leśniak: Muses of Łódź Kaliska

Anka Leśniak's film "Muses Łódź Kaliska" was publicly presented for the first time during the Symposium "300 years of Łódź Kaliska", which took place in Darłowo in September 2009. The work aroused a lot of interest among the recipients. The author recorded conversations with eight women who at different times were Muses of the artistic group Łódź Kaliska. The muses tell an interesting story about their cooperation with Łódź Kaliska, and that this cooperation was non-standard, and all the Muses are intelligent and educated women (in the eight muses are: an architect, a psychologist, two journalists, an art historian, an accountant, a lingerie designer, a social worker), and creative and open to the world - a very interesting material was created. Anka Leśniak's film, in my opinion, is an important voice in the contemporary discussion about the role of women in art, as well as feminism. After watching the work in Darłowo, we decided, together with Andrzej Walczak, that it should be shown in Atlas Sztuki. 

It is obvious to me that not everyone will like this project. Wondering who could write texts about the artist's project, I turned to a few people. I only chose women. My proposal to write the text was accepted without hesitation by prof. Maria Poprzęcka, Ewa Gorzędek and Karolina Jabłońska. Three interesting texts about the project were created, very different in character.

Two declared feminists did not accept the proposals to write a text on the Muses Łódź Kaliska. I entrusted the interview with Anka Leśniak to Dr. Adam Mazur. I highly recommend reading texts about the film and interviewing the artist. This is a very interesting material that can lead to a broader discussion about the role of women in art. The catalogue comes with a DVD with Anki Leśniak's film. 

I cordially invite you to the Atlas Sztuki exhibition space, where we will show not only the film. I also cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition, in which, in addition to Anka Leśniak, Muses Łódź Kaliska and members of the Łódź Kaliska group will take part. You must visit Atlas Sztuki on the opening day of the exhibition to find out if the perverse thesis put forward by prof. Maria Poprzęcka: "Or maybe simply - Łódź Kaliska is a woman".