The Oxymoron of Normality

About

The Oxymoron of Normality, an exhibition which brings together artists from Poland and Turkey, is organized by the Arsenal Gallery (Bialystok, Poland) in the framework of the cultural program of the 600th anniversary of the Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations in 2014. The exhibition which aims to cover the condition of countries in the area of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans will be accompanied by a panel discussion involving artists and the curator.

This exhibition is directly inspired by the work of Alexander Kiossev regarding the condition of East-Central European and the Balkan countries. The suggestion to look for the sources of their problems with self-definition and discovering their identity further than the simple lack of continuity in the democratic process, caused by the communist era, seems particularly interesting. Although the situation of Poland and Turkey has not always been symmetrical, in both cases we can say that "We are Europeans, but perhaps not in a full sense". Both Polish and Turkish societies have historically experienced "peripheriality", whether social, economic or political. We would like to present artistic practices that will constitute a kind of diverse voices and opinions and simultaneously would avoid being trapped by the limitations of political or economic divisions.
The event is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. The event is a part of the 2014 cultural programme celebrating the 600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations