Asian Stories

We invite you to the exhibition opening on December 18 at 6:00 PM at Sztuka na miejscu.

Asian Stories is a title of an international group exhibition presenting the works of Saitip Majewska from Thailand, Aqeel Abbas from Pakistan – both are PhD students at the Doctoral School of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, Pudji Utomo – an artist from Indonesia and Małgorzata Kaczmarska, born in Poland, a professor at The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw and a curator of the exhibition as well as an interdisciplinary artist. The presentation is a spatial composition composed of selected works by these artists, complementing each other and resonating with each other in the vision of the modern world and the current human condition. The works have clearly visible common threads, both through reference to similar traditional techniques and through the subject matter. Parallels are also visible in the visual layer through the colors and the specific fragility and aesthetic subtlety of all the presented works. These features can be generally described as a Far Eastern atmosphere, even though they are characterized by a very universal, contemporary narrative.

Saitip Majewska's works are a return to the roots, an attempt to save tradition by combining them with technologies such as ceramics, glass and fabric. At the same time, the artist focuses on the mental state of a person, caring for their well-being, which is why her works are intended to be therapeutic. Her works are composed of spherical elements and create soft forms without sharp edges. Such shapes create the impression of protection, balance and perfection; they promote a sense of unity and connection; they connect the viewer with the space in a gentle way, and even make the space seem friendly to him/her.

In the works presented in the exhibition, Aqeel Abbas combines the technique of Mughal miniature painting with modern subject matter. The artist uses classic methods such as tea wash – a technique of layering using diluted tea to create a warm, subtle background, and pardakht – a laborious, delicate technique in which the brush enhances the detail and precision of the representation. The artist uses traces of tea and coffee as symbols representing a mixture of cultures or ideas, conveying the interaction between Eastern and Western influences in shaping new identities. By combining these traditional techniques with modern materials and subjects, the work creates a dialogue on the transformation of identity in an increasingly globalized world.

Pudji Utomo's work also refers to a situation of migration, but one that is a drama. He expresses it through an art installation. The refugee is represented by thousands of imaginary figures of antelope made of paper foil waste from cigarette packs (in Indonesia locally knows as "grenjeng", the use of waste is an ecological aspect of the work). Antelopes are social creatures and partially endangered with extinction. The artist notices that many women and children become refugees and lose hope in their own homes and migration is a way to save themselves and their families by finding new places to live and hope. Many animals are looking for new places, their habitat is damaged and destroyed, due to natural causes, and also due to the terrible actions of people towards them.

Małgorzata Kaczmarska presents works created during her artistic residency in Indonesia. There, she took up topics related to her sensitivity to ecological problems, which deepened in the context of the place, and to considerations regarding physical and abstract traces of human presence and existence. In her works, she used a personalized version of the traditional Indonesian technique of batik.

Artists:  Aqeel Abbas / Pakistan, Małgorzata Kaczmarska / Poland, Saitip Majewska / Thailand, Pudji Utomo / Indonesia;
Curator: Małgorzata Kaczmarska
Patronage:The Doctoral School of the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław