This exhibition summarises Musical Images, a one-year project whose participants were students from one of Warsaw’s secondary schools. During meetings in the Zachęta National Gallery of Art, they became acquainted with new instrumental techniques, contemporary composers and works, in contrast to visual arts history and works of contemporary art. The paintings in the Zachęta Gallery served as a reference for discussing terms such as rhythm, texture, word, time, interpretation, and their meaning was analysed in the context of both visual arts and music. Each meeting ended with a recording of the students’ own musical compositions, which now, collected in a sound catalogue, form a gallery of musical interpretations of art works from the Zachęta Gallery.
At our exhibition, paintings from the Zachęta collection have been juxtaposed with their musical interpretations, created by the project’s participants. The integration of the visual and acoustic spheres is complemented by the unique comic-like interior design created by Jacek Świdziński, an award-winning author of comics and murals.
The title The Endless Register was borrowed from a painting by Jan Tarasin, which during one of the meetings triggered a discussion about rhythmic composition in visual arts and in music. Choosing the title of this particular painting also suggests that the project Musical Images will be continued.
Presented as part of Little Warsaw Autumn, the exhibition demonstrates how seemingly divergent disciplines of art can influence each other. We also wish to encourage audiences of every age, beginning with our youngest visitors, to look at contemporary art and music in a new light, seeking inspiration and using their imagination.
Musical Images project author: Dagna Sadkowska Authors: Maria Kosińska (art historian and educator at Zachęta), Karolina Iwańczyk (cultural studies graduate and educator at Zachęta)
Project supervision and coordination: Anna Zdzieborska (education department of Zachęta) and Dagna Sadkowska (Przymierze Rodzin High School no. 2)
