Ola: I would still like to return to the long-standing cooperation with Alessandro Mendini that you mentioned. On the occasion of an exhibition of your designs in Wroclaw, which he curated, he said in beautiful words that it was you who brought him closer to nature, taught him about it. Elements related to nature appear constantly in your designs. Please tell us more about these inspirations.
Dorota: Nature has always been my source of inspiration, it has always been close to me. I love being in nature, I was born in the countryside, I believe that man has been drawing from nature since the dawn of time and it is an endless source of inspiration. I smile and shrug at the mention of Alessandro Mednini. Back in the studio, when we worked together, he always said: "you know what, I don't understand nature at all, I'm afraid of it". He was such a bourgeois! He was terrified of having to be in nature, he was so firmly rooted in what man had created. I mean here mainly art, he surrounded himself with the works of great artists and also great artists themselves. Alessandro was afraid of nature, but on the other hand, perversely, he was very wise about it and understood it.
Dorota Koziara and Alessandro Mendini
© Dorota Koziara
My work was very much related to nature, already my diploma was made of natural materials and concerned the processing of waste from the production of hemp fibers, flax or waste from the production of furniture. I also collected in the meadows and pressed dry plants from which I created new materials at our Academy of Fine Arts (University of Arts) in Poznan, but also in collaboration and in the laboratories of the Department of Wood Technology. So I also had quite a technical approach to nature. I am constantly inspired by it and make works from nature. Wicker, which I love, or birch branches, which in our country used to be used in brooms, are materials that I still use in my sculptures. For example, in two that were created this summer - one of them just went to Milan, I created it in Poland, in August, for an exhibition that Alessandro Mendini was planning while he was still alive. I didn't know about it, but his daughters decided to bring it to fruition. The exhibition will be inaugurated on November 25 at the Antonio Colombo Gallery, a prestigious gallery in the center of Milan. Its subtitle is "Alessandro Mendini and his artist friends." It was at this event that Sandro saw one of my sculptures, an angel, and I made such a sculpture.
Working on an angel for an exhibition in Milan
© Dorota Koziara
Ola: These angel sculptures, the "12 Angels" series, seem to be one of the turning points in your career....
Dorota: Yes, also for me. After time, as one looks at one's works, some get more boring, sometimes the creator thinks "I would have done it differently," "I could have done it better," or "this sucks." This installation, which won an international competition in 2000 and is now in Tuscany, is still relevant with me all the time, it has faced the test of time, I still like it as an author, it is something fresh for me. Maybe it's strange to say that about my own works, but I say it based on what time verifies - I all the time can boast of it, so this series has stood the test of time.
Ola: Let's go back to the exhibition at the Polish Pavilion at EXPO 2020 in Dubai, where you can see the exhibition of which you are the designer and curator - "Creative by Nature". So the theme of nature returns again... What elements of nature did you reach for when creating this exhibition? How did you select the designs for this exhibition? You mentioned at the beginning about very diverse exhibits, very innovative. I imagine that the selection of works required a huge amount of research....
Dorota: Yes, it did indeed require a lot of research, but I would start with the very keynote of the Dubai EXPO, which is let's put our minds together to take care of nature, let's put our creativity, our experiences together to take care of our planet. So it's not only nature that appears in our exhibition as a source of inspiration, but we also show things that are actually produced with respect for nature and the environment, also things that help take care of it. Of course, the selection of these works and what to show was a long process, but the choice was not mine alone - the organizer of the exhibition is the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, and who if not the Patent Office has the greatest knowledge of innovation and what is created in Poland, what is worth protecting by law and what projects deserve to be boasted about in the world. There are really outstanding specialists and enthusiasts working there, who want us to show the best of what we have, to support and promote Polish brands.
Cielo e Terra collection, EXPO 2020
© Tubądzin Ceramics
Among other things, at the exhibition we are presenting various devices that have emerged mainly from startups or existing brands, such as fetal heart rate or cough testing devices for asthma in children and adults. We also have the underwater drone I mentioned at the beginning. I'm fascinated by it, and I hope it can be developed as the creators have envisioned it - there are to be several anchored research stations with drones in the Baltic Sea, which would be powered by solar energy. We can't physically show such a device at the exhibition, but we have innovative LedLIVE brand led screens (both classic and lightweight translucent) that give us room for multimedia presentations, so I asked the company owner for, as I put it in an email, "some nice pictures" to show on the big screens how the product works. I got the answer: "Ms. Dorothy, you know, I can't send pretty pictures, because we don't study coral reefs. Of course, we could, but the purpose of creating this product is different, we have pictures from the Baltic Sea, where there is very high water pollution." And then, of course, I said that this is exactly the point, that through this exhibition we are also to talk about these problems and how much the products we show can help us solve them. At the exhibition we also have beautiful Lubiana porcelain, Boleslawiec ceramics made under my "Renaissance" project, but according to traditional stamp decoration techniques, in cooperation with the Boleslawiec Ceramic Works.
"Renaissance" collection, Boleslawiec Ceramic Works, EXPO 2020.
© Tubądzin Ceramics
We also have glass from Krosno, both contemporary and archival. In April 2019, I presented glass from the Krosno glassworks as part of the Salone del Mobile in Milan with "Interni Magazine." Before this exhibition, I had been to the Krosno glassworks many times, I found wonderful examples of Polish design in their archives, and I also organized a meeting with the designers, who are already retired. It was a very interesting experience for me. In Milan, we showed some of the glass from the archival collection and some from the contemporary collection. These archival designs have stood the test of time, they are beautiful, they look contemporary. In the years they were created, they didn't have a chance to show them on an international level, now we have this opportunity and we are showing them in Dubai as well. We present Pesa's hydrogen locomotive virtually. We show Tubądzin brand tiles - both my Cielo e Terra collection and the latest collections that Tubądzin showed at this year's Cersaie fair in Bologna. We are showing lamps from the Polish company Lena Lighting, which is also an impressive factory, has absolutely amazing laboratories for creating led light and testing lighting, and has a strong team of designers and technologists. Some of the brand's products were made especially for this exhibition. Well, and the LedLIVE company itself, which is lending us innovative led screens on which these multimedia presentations can be displayed. We also have an example of a yacht that is powered by solar energy through the fact that it has solar panels built into its structure, there is also a company presenting photovoltaic systems on facades, also a Polish manufacturer - ML System.
photos by Maciej Mankowski, EXPO 2020
© Tubądzin Ceramics
I have to admit that the most difficult exhibitions are the ones where we can't set up some furniture, nice lighting, a vase and so on, because they cover so many different areas of life. But in the end it is held under the auspices of the most important institution in this country, which has to talk about these inventions and original, innovative products. So there is something to brag about. It's all tied together by art. The screens will also show works inspired by nature, beautiful photos by artist Maciej Mankowski, who draws a lot from nature in his works. In Dubai, we are showing his macro shots of orchids on large formats. The second artist invited to the exhibition is Pawel Totoro Adamiec, an artist from Lublin, who in turn has created two very interesting series in recent years - "Kings of the Bug River." One is about black and white photos and these are old people dressed up in plants, dry leaves, branches, amazing expression, and the other series is about color photos - children dressed up in beautiful costumes made of live plants. I met Pawel on the occasion of the festival on the Bug River, which is organized by the Flying Fish Foundation and an excellent Polish artist - whose name is the same as mine, although we never got to the point of being family - Jaroslaw Koziara. This is an international festival, it has already had several editions, and Pawel was one of the invited artists. He had the idea of photographing old people, but dressing them in these strange costumes. I remember he went to the village of Old Bubel, there were three ladies sitting on a bench there, probably the oldest residents, and he said he was looking for a model and which of the ladies would agree. One of them, the oldest, said: "it might be me," Paul said that he would be very happy to invite her to the opening of the exhibition, "and when will it be?" - she asked, "in ten days" - he replied, "well then, if I live to see it, I'll come," she whined. These photos are very expressive, they are beautiful. But in Dubai we are showing the children with whom he made a second series, they are beautiful pictures.
"The kings of the Bug River," Pawel Totoro Adamiec, EXPO 2020
© Tubądzin Ceramics
It's always interesting for me to observe the reactions when something is done on an international level. For example, when we showed these photos of Pawel, old people and children, as part of the Night with Design festival in Wroclaw, where I was art director a few years ago. For me, art always has to be next to design, so there were exhibitions of selected artists there, too, next to design. A well-known artist came to the festival, a Dutchman, and so he looks at these photos, comes up to me and says: "Dorota, and this is how your ancestors dressed?" [laughter], as if they were photos of some Polish folklore... I'm curious about the reception of these photos in Dubai. The photos of the children are very romantic, set in the climate of our beautiful nature. I think the impact of these photos, both by Maciej Mankowski and Pawel Totoro Adamec, will be a kind of breakthrough, and at the same time a buckle connecting all the inspirations of nature, all the inventions and products that are in the exhibition.
Ola: Will the exhibition be seen somewhere else later?
Dorota: I would love to, because it seems to me that it is worth bragging about the exhibition in this form. Everything depends on the organizer, but there will certainly be various reports made of it, both photographic and film. I would love to, I'm thinking about it, and the closer we get to the end, we're finalizing all the things, the more often I think it would be nice to still show it in other places.
Ola: I'm keeping my fingers crossed towards that and thank you for the interview.
interviewed: Ola Kloc
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