Social portrait of Wroclaw

Mariia Yakymenko will come to Wroclaw for a month-long residency, during which she will conduct a series of workshops on November 15, 22, 26 and 29, inviting new residents of our city to create a common story through collages. The resulting works will become the next pages of the zine. Through memories and individual experiences recorded in paper mosaics, Mariia, together with the participants, will create a unique social portrait of Wroclaw. A city whose history has been created over the years by new generations of newcomers seeking refuge, home, work and a future here.  

~ zine, magazine, publication, art book ~ 

As an independent art form, the zine is unique. It allows for the promotion of content that, for some reason, does not have a chance to appear in official circulation in large numbers. It is often the language of groups that, with their joint efforts, want to convey an important message to the public. It can be said that today it is one of the most important means of artistic expression and freedom. Focusing on objects, specific situations, individual stories, the artist invites you to look at a piece of paper and newspaper clippings in a completely different, somewhat therapeutic way. Another inspiring aspect of the meetings is to show the audience how important a role collage plays today. Its development has been greatly influenced by the overproduction of printed materials, i.e. books, magazines, flyers, posters lying around in many magazines, stores or cultural institutions. Artists have seen the potential in these layers of paper and often give them a second life. This makes it possible to implement ecological approaches to the production of recent artworks. As Pavel Zoubok, owner of a New York’s gallery specializing in collage, assemblage and mixed media techniques, points out: “collage is the most representative of where we’ve been for the last 100 years”. 

Collective actions, local stories  

One of the elements of the workshops will be the creation of a custom portrait topping the zine, the appearance of which will be decided by the participants together with the artist.  Making artistic determinations together will certainly contribute to community building. During the artistic residency, Mariia will collaborate with local artist Małgorzata Grączewska and a Wroclaw-based letterpress printer – Drukarnia Otwarta 12, where we will print the cover of the zine and stitch the “Portable House” original publication created during the workshop in Barbara.   

Workshop schedule:  

For the meetings, which will be held on November 15, 22, 26 and 29, registration is required through the form: https://forms.office.com/r/0x2rQwXkx9 or by email: airwro@instytutkultury.  

All meetings take place at the headquarters of the Wroclaw Institute of Culture – in Barbara, at Świdnicka Street 8b, near Wroclaw’s Market Square. 

About a resident 

Mariia Yakymenko is an Ukrainian artist working with collage and analogue photography. She currently lives and works in Warsaw. Mariia graduated from the English philology department of the Social Academy of Sciences and is currently a student of the Sociology Department. She is interested in sociological analysis when working with social media. The subject of her works are personal experiences and experiences, as well as nature and its relationship to man. She treats art as self-therapeutic. 

MagiC Carpets 

Mariia Yakymenko was invited to Wrocław by the Wrocław Institute of Culture for an artistic residency within the framework of the MagiC Carpets platform, co-financed by the European Union “Creative Europe” programme.