HARUN FAROCKI FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WARSAW
Exhibition and Film Retrospective

May 12 – August 19, 2012

Exhibit opening: May, 11, 2012, 19.00
The Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle

Retrospective opening: May, 12, 2012
Kinoteka Theatre, Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN)

Harun Farocki exhibit and film retrospective initiator:
Artur Liebhart - director of Planete+ Doc Film Festival
Exhibit curator: Antje Ehmann
CSW Ujazdowski Castle Curator: Katarzyna Boratyn
Exhibit and retrospective coordinator: Renata Prokurat, Goethe-Institut


 
Harun Farocki and Antje Ehmann, exhibit curator, will take part in the opening.
Retrospective opening: 12 May 2012 Kinoteka Theatre,
Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN) pl. Delfilad 1

"Harun Farocki For the First Time in Warsaw. Exhibit and Film Retrospective" is the first show in Poland which comprehensively exhibits the work of Harun Farocki from Germany, who is amongst the most fascinating contemporary artists. He has been making documentary films since the ‘60s while simultaneously being an critic and theorist. From 1995 on he has created video installations exhibited in the most prestigious art galleries of the world. His work focuses on an analysis of reality which is linked to his reflection on the contemporary visual. While under-appreciated in the beginning, Harun Farocki reached world fame in the ‘80s as an exceptional documentary filmmaker and constantly retained a high continuous presence in the most important film festivals. From the mid-‘90s on he started to work in the new context of galleries and museums with multi-screen projections which are as unique as his films. Harun Farocki concentrates on the critique of reality through the observation of images from contemporary visual culture. He doesn’t only create new ones, he also takes advantage of images which already exist. He is interested in social mechanisms such as: science and control, observation and power, production and destruction and finally images and their function in warfare as well as the social consequences and determination. Farockis films and installations are a continuous dialogue between film and its reference. The uniqueness of Harun Farocki’s creations lie in their originality. His films are influenced both by classic cinema as well as experimental film. However, in developing the field of film-essays and the found footage technique, Farocki has created his own, distinctive style.
Beginning on May 11, the exhibition and film retrospective will be the flagship events which will kick-off the 9th Planete+ Doc Film Festival, the most important film event in Poland and the third largest documentary film festival in Europe.

The “Harun Farocki For the First Time in Warsaw” exhibition is the first presentation of the artist’s work in Poland on such a scale, displaying a cross-section of the his interests. The main element is "Deep Play" (2007), a 12-screen installation made for „documenta 12” in which Farocki uses television footage from the football World Cup finals creating a multidimensional documentation of the spectacle. The exhibit also includes works from the "Serious Games" series ("Ernste Spiele", I, III and IV, 2009-2010), devoted to the use of computerized simulations in trainings and therapy of American soldiers. The criticism of war is a recurring motif throughout Harun Farocki’s works. The installation made on the basis of one of his first films, "Inextinguishable Fire" ("Nicht löschbares Feuer", 1969), a protest against the Vietnam War, examines the relationship between production and destruction. Farocki’s latest installation "War Tropes" ("Tropen des Krieges", premiered in Berlin, November 2011), made jointly with Antje Ehmann utilizing the found footage method, is devoted to the analysis of film representations of armed conflict. An interest in the history of visual media also appears in the earlier work "On Construction of Griffith's Films" ("Zur Bauweise des Films bei Griffith", 2006), Farocki’s treatise on editing techniques used in D. W. Griffith films. The exhibition will also include the auto-thematic installation "Interface" ("Schnittstelle", 1995), Farocki’s first piece made for exhibition space, a reflection on the work of a documentary artist.
In addition, pieces related to Farocki’s editorial activities in the periodical Filmkritik will also be displayed as well as books on the artist's work.
The title of the exhibition, "Harun Farocki for the First Time in Warsaw"” is a reference to the first Polish film, "Antos for the First Time in Warsaw" (dir. J. Meyer, 1908); it’s meant not only to emphasize his first visit and presentation of his art work in the capital, but also refer to the significant role his work has played in the history of cinematography.

The catalogue accompanying the exhibit is the first Polish-language publication of Harun Farocki’s texts and the most important texts devoted to his work including those which have never been translated into Polish before.


HARUN FAROCKI'S DOCUMENTARY FILM RETROSPECTIVE

May, 12 – 20, 2012

12th May , the retrospective will be opened with the screening of „Images of the World and the Inscription of War” („Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges”, 1988).
Harun Farocki will be present at the screenings on May 12th and 13th in Kinoteka
Films shown at:
Kinoteka, PKiN, pl. Defilad 1
Kino.Lab, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, ul. Jazdów 2

The Harun Farocki film retrospective is composed of 14 documentary films which were made in the last 40 years. The most important and well-known films were chosen, including "Videograms of a Revolution" ("Videogramme einer Revolution", 1992), a unique account of the events in 1989 Bucharest; "Workers Leaving the Factory" ("Arbeiter velassen die Fabrik", 1995), inspired by the hundredth anniversary of cinema and an analysis of the relation between cinematography and industrialization; and "Images of the World and the Inscription of War" ("Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges", 1988), which examines the mental phenomenon of “blind spots”. The program would be incomplete without one of Harun Farocki’s first anti-Vietnam War films "Inextinguishable Fire" ("Nicht löschbares Feuer", 1969). The issue of war, a central one in the artist’s work, is brought up in two other films of the retrospective: Farocki deals with the Nazi past solely using scraps of archival film materials in "Respite" ("Aufschub", 2007), while "War at a Distance" ("Erkennen und Verfolgen", 2003) is a reflection on the documentary photos taken directly by participants of armed conflicts. Films from the direct cinema genre will also be shown: "An Image" ("Ein Bild", 1983) is the outcome of observing a Playboy photo shoot, "How to Live in the FRG" ("Leben – BRD", 1989) is a unique documentary about the lives of East Germans right before unification, and "The Appearance" ("Der Auftritt", 1996) and "The Interview" ("Die Bewerbung", 1997) analyze business training methods. Film essays will also be shown: "Still Life" ("Stilleben", 1997), on the commercial production of how food is displayed in the context of art history; "As You See" ("Wie man sieht", 1986) which reminds one of a philosophical treatise, and "Prison Images" ("Gefängnisbilder", 2000) an insightful analysis of the methods to control individuals. In Comparison ("Zum Vergleich", 2008), Farocki’s newest film, will also be shown. It examines various cultures by looking at methods of production and construction.
 

The Harun Farocki exhibition and film retrospective is organized by: PLANETE+ DOC FILM FESTIVAL, Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Goethe-Institute and Okonakino Foundation.

Patron of the Festival: Bank Millennium



Partners: PLANETE+ HD, Canon

Support from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Germany,  the City of Warsaw, Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation

Thanks: Chateau Lapinette

Media Patronage: TVP2, TVP Kultura, Gazeta Wyborcza, Gazeta.pl, Trójka PR, Polityka, Stopklatka, empik.com, KINO, Aktivist, Exklusiv, Elle Decoration, STRÖER, PAP