Soft Power of Concrete – discussion accompanying the exhibition "Jasmina Cibic. The Palace"

At the exhibition titled "Jasmina Cibic. The Palace", which is on view at Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź until the end of August, Jasmina Cibic recalls buildings erected when Europe was experiencing economic and humanitarian calamities. Architecture originating from the interwar period, years of reconstruction after World War II or the turbulent 1980s portrayed by the artist creates an opportunity to take a closer look at how the 'national style' evolved and how culture can be used as a political tool.  

We will be discussing Jasmina Cibic's interests and practice put in a broader perspective with architectural historians Łukasz Stanek and Vladimir Kulić and an artist, Natalia Romik.   

The discussion will be held in English.

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Panelists:

Magdalena Rekść – doctor habilitatus, a lecturer at the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Łódź. Her research interests focus, among others, on the history of the Balkans from the 20th to the 21st century, political ideologies and utopias, social values in post-communist countries, and the ethnic landscape of Southern and Eastern Europe. Rekść is a member of the Committee of Balkan Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences,  Polish-Albanian Society, Polish-Austrian Society, and Polish-Kosovan Society. She authored the following publications "Mity narodowe i ich rola w kreowaniu polityki na przykładzie państw byłej Jugosławii" [National Myths and Their Role in Policy-Making on the Example of the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia] (Łódź 2013) and "Wyobrażenia zbiorowe społeczeństw byłej Jugosławii w XXI wieku" [Collective Imagination of the Societies of the Former Yugoslavia in the 21^st Century] (Łódź, 2019).

Natalia Romik – a graduate of political sciences, a designer, an artist and a member of SARP. She received her PhD from the Bartlett School of Architecture UCL - the title of the thesis: "Post-Jewish non-memory architecture in old shtetls". Currently, a scholarship holder of the Gerda Henkel Stiftung program. The main field of her artistic and scientific activity is the interface between art and architecture, as well as post-Jewish architecture of memory, both of which were tackled, among others, in her projects: "Stardust" as part of the "The Knot" festival in Warsaw and Berlin, a performance titled "Predator", a performance "What Makes You Horny and Itchy in Architecture?" presented at the "PARADE. Critical Practice" in London, "Nomadic Archives of the Shtetl" or "Dreamcatcher - Mobile Sauna" during two editions of the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. She received scholarships from scientific programs, incl. the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture 2012 for the project "Jewish architecture of (non) memory in Silesia" and London Arts and Humanities Partnership for doctoral studies. Within the framework of the Nizio Design studio (from 2007 to 2014) Romik acted as a consultant for the design of the permanent exhibition at POLIN, Gallery of the 19th century, co-author of the revitalization of the synagogue in Chmielnik. Designer and curator (together with Justyna Koszarska-Szulc) of the temporary exhibition "Estranged: March’68 and Its Aftermath" at POLIN. Member of  SENNA architectural collective.

Łukasz Stanek – a professor of architectural history at the University of Manchester, UK. Stanek authored "Henri Lefebvre on Space: Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory" (University of Minnesota Press, 2011) and "Architecture in Global Socialism: Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East in the Cold War" (Princeton University Press, 2020), which won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion awarded by the SAH GB and the RIBA President’s Award for History & Theory Research. Besides Manchester, Stanek taught at the ETH Zurich, Harvard University GSD, and the University of Michigan.

Vladimir Kulić – an associate professor of architectural history at Iowa State University. He obtained his PhD in architectural history from the University of Texas in 2009 and then joined the Faculty in Architectural History and Design at Florida Atlantic University’s School of Architecture. Between 2010-12, he directed the project "Unfinished Modernisations—Between Utopia and Pragmatism: Architecture and Urban Planning in the Former Yugoslavia and the Successor States" (with Maroje Mrduljaš), which brought together thirty international scholars. His publications include "Modernism In-Between: The Mediatory Architectures of Socialist Yugoslavia" (co-author, 2012) and "Sanctioning Modernism: Architecture and the Making of Postwar Identities" (co-editor, 2014). Kulić has received the Bruno Zevi Award for Critical/Historical Essay in Architecture (2009), two grants from the Graham Foundation (2007, 2014), and the ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowship (2013-14). He was the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Visiting Senior Fellow at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

The event is organized in cooperation with the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning: