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Łódź Kaliska
An artistic group rooted in polish alternative culture of the late twentieth century. Established in 1979 by Marek Janiak and Andrzej Kwietniewski, it remains active until the present day and is considered one of the most important collectives in the history of polish performance and conceptual art.

Origins
The period of communism in Poland affected the development of culture mainly by splitting it into two fractions: one that could be accepted by the government and was therefore assisted by state - owned organisations, and second that was rejected due to ideological and political content. Łódź Kaliska is a controversial case, because it was situated in what was called "the third stream": artists and performers who rejected both the official, state - centered environment and oposition. In the summer of 1979, a group of young men got expelled from a photography workshop for not applying to its rules. They became the founders of the collective. Their forst exhibition took place soon after.

History
The early works of ŁK were rather conventional, but soon turned into more abstract experiments. Between '79 and '81 the group released ten manifestos. The texts were more of their reflection of modern understanding of art than an attempt to popularise some particular tendency. The group focused mostly on the question of photomedialism that explores the possibilities of perceiving reality captured on a picture. This lead them straight into what was called "the Dada period". ŁK's program stated from the very beginning that "All of Art is a Blague". Art always distorts the reality it tries to mimic, so it is this failure the performers from ŁK tried to emphasize and show in their work. '81 marks the beginning of what was called "the Dada Period" for the group. They strolled from simple satire to full - blown absurd. This year, the members opened a semi - formal art gallery called "Attic Łódź". Located in the attic of the building one of the performers lived in, for the next four years was an important spot on the social and artistic map of Poland. Later on, ŁK mastered the idea that made them recognizable - staged photography. Composing a photography as if it was a painting, but also allowing some dynamical interactions between the characters and setting them in theatrical and surreal surroundings - it all contributed to a vast collection of artworks like "Freiheit? Nein danke" from 1987. It was a paraphrase of Delacroix's "Liberte guidant le peuple".

Łódź Kaliska today
The changes of the beginning '90 were not groundbreaking for the artistic course of ŁK. Rarely politically engaged, the collective could continue its work with absurd, satire and paradox as main tools. For this subject it is important to mention the issue of mainstream. As time passed, the collective gained appreciation from the wide audience. In 2004 they became famous for the controversial project of a Playboy cover. Few years ago the members of the group open a club under the name Łódź Kaliska. They can be seen on the biggest exhibitions in Poland. Some people have asked questions about their reliability, as their attitude was distance that is hard to preserve when facing the media and being so widely recognized. Łódź Kaliska remains active until present day.

Sources:

 * "Szczerość i blaga. Etyka prac Łodzi Kaliskiej w latach 1979 - 1989" Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, 2010
 * "Znaczenia Modernizmu" Piotr Piotrowski, Rebis D.W 1999
 * "Republika bananowa. Ekspresja lat 80" p. r J. Ciesielskiej, Ośrodek Kultury i Sztuki, Wrocław 2008.
 * www.lodzkaliska.pl