cinÉart
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION “URBAN STORIES”
Neimënster 8–25 October 2015 (see catalogue)
Complementing the CinEast festival’s thematic cycle Urban Stories, an eponymous photography exhibition will be presented to the public, bringing together works of 8 artists from Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, as well as Switzerland and Luxembourg, looking at the city as a phenomenon of social organisation interwoven in a specific architectural context, which is continually changing over time.
The selected projects mainly focus on interactions between people. They show an urban space, which, on the one hand, separates and can make you feel lost, but which, on the other hand, is a place of integration and social interaction.
Similarly to photographic film, urban architecture perpetuates the passage of time, of political regimes, and of different uses and conceptions of urban space.
The extensive project by the recently deceased photographer Zbyszko Siemaszko shows the vitality of the inhabitants of Warsaw in the 50s, 60s and 70s.. These historic photographs are accompanied by photographs by Mateusz Grybczyñski depicting contemporary Warsaw. Following in the footsteps of Siemaszko, he documents the massive changes taking place but also shows relics of the city from half a century ago.
The joint project by Katarzyna Majak and Boris Loder is an interesting photographic dialogue between a Polish and a Luxembourgish photographer. Both use a similar photographic aesthetic in trying to glean from the chaos of the urban space some characteristic and meaningful elements in their city.
The series "Walking Down a City" by Iza £apiñska* is a subjective photographic tale about several cities in Eastern and Western Europe. It is a photographic record of her personal experience of taking control of a new urban space by fixing a frame, a structure, some lines, light and shadows.
Olja Stefanoviæ Triaška’s project "Totalitarian architecture / totalitarian time" and "Socialist modernism" by Roman Bezjak present relics of overpowering communist architecture in cities and towns of Eastern Europe. These relics could tell many stories but we must be ready to hear.
Traces of the past are not just present in urban spaces, they are also drawn on the faces of their inhabitants. The Swiss photographer Thomas Leuthard went to explore these traces in several Eastern European cities and captured some very poignant and eloquent portraits. They may also have many 'urban stories' to tell.
The opening of the exhibition will take place on 8 October from 6pm.
Curated by Jagna Olejnikowska
Coordination: Radek Lipka
Consultation: Karolina Markiewicz
Organised by CinEast in collaboration and with the support of 
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION “WALKING DOWN A CITY”
Photographs by Iza £apiñska
Ancien Cinéma 9 October – 8 November 2015
The exhibition at the Ancien Cinéma will present a more extensive selection of the photographs from the series 'Walking Down a City'' by the Polish artist Iza £apiñska. The works are based on the artist’s impressions from various cities.
“The series "Walking Down a City" is an intimate story told by photographs about a particular place and a register of a personal experience. The idea behind it was to take pictures in a limited period of time, offering no return and no reconsolidation of space. It is a frozen moment and a short-lived emotion that is not rationally confirmed, analyzed or logically considered.”(Iza £apiñska)
The vernissage of the exhibiton “Walking Down a City” will take place at the Ancien Cinéma café-club on 9 October at 8 pm.
Organised by CinEast in collaboration with 
