apexart :: New York City Fellow :: Maria Wasko
Fellowship Program
Maria Wasko
artist, filmmaker and co-founder of The International Artists' Museum, Lodz, Poland
May 1 - May 15, 2002
    Maria Wasko
"This Earth Is a Flower"
Maria Wasko is an artist and filmmaker, the co-founder of The International Artists' Museum and the co-organizer of all its events since 1981. Since 1990 she has been making video documentaries about the Construction in Process. Her films have been shown in Polish and German public televisions and in many places around the world, such as Cinematheque Israel, Akademie der Kunste Berlin, DuMont Kunsthalle Cologne, P.S.1 Museum New York, Footscray Art Centre Melbourne and National Gallery "Zacheta" Warsaw.

Maria Wasko will talk about the activity of the Artists' Museum and the 22-year history of Construction in Process. She will also present a video documentary of the last event (the 7th Edition of Construction in Process), which took place in 2000 in Poland with the participation of 120 artists from 30 countries. Construction in Process is a large-scale art event organized by the independent group of artists gathered around The International Artists' Museum. Each edition of the project allows up to 150 artists from all over the world to participate. Participant selection is made by artists: one artist selects other artist to take part in the event and the event organization is based on voluntary work. Construction in Process intends to be an inclusive forum, which opens art to other forms of human existence. It is a process itself that seeks to combine art and co-existence at the same time. It is an idea that continuously develops itself as a "clash of consciousness with time", where such elements like improvisation, emotions, energy, excitement, solidarity and cooperation are totally fundamental. Art works are created during the event, thus resulting in a climate of experimentation and dynamism. The artists are working in different disciplines and there's no division between young, old, emerging and famous artists. Construction in Process contains all forms of art activity, visual arts, video, performance, theater, concerts, literature, discussions, panels, public dialog etc. The working places are spread over the entire city and its natural surroundings and are accessible for the viewers.

Construction in Process events:
1981 Construction in Process - first Edition in the time of the historical "Solidarnosc" movement in Poland
1985 "Prozess und Konstruktion in Munchen"
1990 Construction in Process "Back in Lodz" - return after the democratic changes in Poland
1993 Construction in Process "My Home Is Your Home" - establishing of the Artists' Museum in Lodz
1995 Construction in Process "Coexistence", Negev Desert, Israel
1998 Construction in Process "Bridge", Melbourne, Australia
2000 Construction in Process "This Earth Is a Flower", Bydgoszcz, Poland

The honorary President of the Artists' Museum is Emmett Williams. Members of the International Artists' Board are a.o. Marcia Hafif, Sol LeWitt, Ken Unsworth, Ay-O, Micha Ullman and Lawrence Weiner. The originator of the idea and the main organizer of all the events is Ryszard Wasko.

"Construction in Process was remarkable as an initiative generated by artists and as a social and political project, carried out on a shoestring budget, which drew its strength from Poland's particular situation... If the crowds and the mood of celebration at the official opening of the exhibition were any indication, there was tremendous local support for the project and truly renewal of the optimism that had fired the first show." (Sue Cramer, Art in America", 1991)