Rafał Milach: Refusal

The starting point of the exhibition in Atlas Sztuki entitled Refusal was made by Rafał Milach by the fact that "in 1971 Soviet television broadcast a popular science programme presenting the mechanisms by which human consciousness can be effectively manipulated. The young people invited to the studio were subjected to experiments that were supposed to make viewers aware of the extent to which suggestion and conformism affect the perception of reality, eliminating even the most obvious facts from it. It would not be a particular abuse to say that this painting (although not directly) exposing the techniques used on a daily basis by the Soviet authorities. At that time, no one saw the subversive potential of this work - the regime's propaganda tube presented it as a scientific curiosity unrelated to reality". In the further part of his statement, the artist states that "Modern autocracies, and in particular those from the post-Soviet area, have successfully adopted the techniques presented in the programme for the collective management of citizens' consciousness. They have created a gigantic laboratory in which, regardless of the consequences, a model of a model social structure is created.

Rafał Milach sees his latest exhibition as "an attempt to visually present various control and pressure systems". He adds that "The process of formatting and shifting meanings and creating new ideologies includes both innocent gestures and proven socio-technical treatments. Depending on the region, they differ in intensity, scale and methods, while they all serve a specific utopian vision imposed by the apparatus of power. The only case of disruption of this pattern recorded here was an incident in the Belarusian collective farm Krejwancy, where the plowman Valery, a local leader of work, despite the clear recommendation of his superiors, refused to cooperate with the photographer.

In our publication, I recommend reading three texts created especially on the occasion of the Łódź presentation of the artist's work: an interview with the artist by Leszek Jażdżewski, the artist's conversation with Adam Broomberg, to which the author gave a special form, and the text by Maciej Pisuk.

Rafał Milach's refusal in Atlas Sztuki is one of the exhibitions accompanying the 16th edition of the International Photography Festival in Łódź. This is the sixth photo exhibition prepared by Atlas Sztuki, which is presented during the Photo Festival. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Katarzyna Sagatowska for her help in organising the exhibition.

I cordially invite you to see Rafał Milach's photograph in Atlas Sztuki.