Central Eastern European Communities in Newham Commission by Paulina Korobkiewicz

Rosetta Arts in collaboration with Centrala Gallery and Culture Within Newham, World on Our Doorstep commissioned me to reach out to local communities of Newham, with the focus on the Central Eastern European members, to share ideas, brainstorm new ones, pull on their own heritage to design new activities, and, critically, talk in safe space about the stresses they feel today and what creative, cultural activity they could attend or take part in that will bring them joy.

I have been walking around Newham and talking with people I met in the streets about their experience of the area. I have been visiting shops, cafes and community centres; asking people what activities would help improve their life, what they would like to see more of. I met some great people and will continue documenting this area.

Together with Rosetta Arts we held coffee morning where people could come and share their ideas, as well as having their photo taken if they wanted to.

Community Event @ New Art Exchange by Paulina Korobkiewicz

Homeland - Celebrating Communities, is the second community event part of my artist residency at Centrala, in partnership with Arts and Humanities Research Council - AHRC and Humanities Research Council - AHRC Nottingham Trent University). The event is free and open to everyone.

29th April 2023, New Art Exchange, 1 - 4 pm

collage and craft workshop + photo booth + showcase of works by Central European Photography Club participants + food for everyone

Live music from MUHA band

39-41 Gregory Blvd, Nottingham NG7 6BE

Free entry

Homeland - Celebrating Communities @ West Bromwich Town Hall by Paulina Korobkiewicz

Community Event as a part of my artist residency at Centrala, in partnership with Arts and Humanities Research Council - AHRC and Humanities Research Council - AHRC Nottingham Trent University)

22nd April 2023, West Bromwich Town Hall, 1 - 4 pm

For the last 15 months I have been working between West Bromwich, Birmingham and Hyson Green, Nottingham to develop a photographic project focused on local communities as a part of my artist residency at Centrala, Post-Socialist Britain.

This Saturday we are celebrating those who took part and inviting new people to join us. There will be different mixed-media workshops, collage activities for the entire family, photobooth and portrait printing, food and music. We will be showcasing works by the participants of the Central European Photography Club, which had been taking place parallel to my commission. I will speak about my new body of work - Homeland - which will go on display at Centrala in September this year. Please come along and tell your friends! It will be a fun day!

High St, West Bromwich B70 8DJ

Image courtesy of Angela Grabowska

HAPAX Magazine Issue 03 by Paulina Korobkiewicz

The new third issue of Hapax Magazine (Winter 2022/23) is out now!

Featuring my freshly commissioned series For You, among wonderful works by Amin Yousefi, Immaculata Abba, Alexander Mourant and Helen Sear, as well as new curation from Rica Cerbarano, bringing together work from Anthony Luvera, Gohar Dashti and Mentalgassi.

Cover design by Ania Nałęcka-Milach

Get your copy here.

spaces of (dis)connection - Art 27, Edinburgh by Paulina Korobkiewicz

Following the exhibition at Centrala Space, Birmingham and Clapham Library, London, spaces of (dis)connection: migrant essential workers show is travelling to its final destination, Art27 in Edinburgh.

The group exhibition follows a pioneering project conducted by researchers across the UK to investigate how the pandemic has affected the everyday lives and settlement plans of Polish workers in the UK. This exhibition combines newly commissioned photographic work by Małgorzata Dawidek, Paulina Korobkiewicz, and Sylwia Kowalczyk alongside anonymous testimonies given by Polish essential workers across the UK.

The exhibition launch will be on Thursday 27 October at 7PM, and will be on display until 8th November.

Art 27, 40-42 West Crosscauseway, Edinburgh EH8 9JP, Scotland

Community, Collectivity, Photography panel Discussion by Paulina Korobkiewicz

I am looking forward to speaking as part of this panel discussion on Friday with photographers Anka Gregorczyk, Łukasz Szamałek and Stephen Burke.

This panel asks the question: what is the value of the artist-collective? And how does collaboration benefit the socially-engaged photographer?

Through the photographer’s lens, we will be speaking to current exhibitors Anka Gregorczyk and Łukasz Szamałek (FOTSPOT Association), Stephen Burke (Grain Projects), and Paulina Korobkiewicz (Centrala's Artist in Residence) to gain a greater insight into the world of collective practice and socially engaged photography. This discussion promises to be an insightful exploration of the international benefit of the artist collective.

Unit 4, Minerva Works 158 Fazeley Street, Birmingham 

www.centrala-space.org.uk

Synergy @ the Cube Microplex by Paulina Korobkiewicz

Synergy is on display during Young Echo All Dayer event at the Cube Microplex in Bristol; a day of music and films screenings.

Copies of the zine are available at the event.

01.10.2022, 2PM - 1AM

Synergy Screening, Cinema: 5.50 PM

Cube Microplex

Dove Street South
[off top-left of King Square]
Kingsdown
Bristol
BS2 8JD

spaces of (dis)connection - Group Show by Paulina Korobkiewicz

SPACES OF (DIS)CONNECTION: MIGRANT ESSENTIAL WORKERS

02/09/2022 - 24/09/2022

Launching at Digbeth First Friday 6PM 02/09/22, details to follow.

spaces of (dis)connection follows a pioneering project conducted by researchers across the UK to investigate how the pandemic has affected the everyday lives and settlement plans of Polish workers in the UK. This exhibition combines newly commissioned photographic work by Małgorzata Dawidek, Paulina Korobkiewicz, and Sylwia Kowalczyk alongside anonymous testimonies given by Polish essential workers across the UK. The respective works speak to the changing public and private landscapes that resulted from the various lockdowns implemented by the English and Scottish governments. In exploring how spaces have transformed, through depopulation or increased habitation, the artists have produced uniquely insightful and intimate works. Be they spaces of connection or disconnection, these photographs evidence an environment affected by uncertainty and isolation. 

 

The Migrant Essential Workers project has been developed by Prof. Sharon Wright, Dr Anna Gawlewicz, Dr Kasia Narkowicz, Dr Aneta Piekut and Dr Paulina Trevena, advised by Prof. Robert Gawłowski, Alicja Kaczmarek, Prof. Rebecca Kay, Prof. Majella Kilkey, and Dr Sarah Kyambi, with support from the Polish Social and Cultural Association, Polish Expats Association, Fife Migrants Forum, and PKAVS Minority Communities Hub, and funding from the UK Research and Innovation via the Economic and Social Research Council. spaces of (dis)connection has been curated by Centrala Director Alicja Kaczmarek and Arts Programme Coordinator Alice Reed.

Image by Paulina Korobkiewicz.

This exhibition is touring between Centrala, Birmingham [02-24.09.2022]

Clapham Library, London [30.09.-14.10.2022]

Art27, Edinburgh [Dates TBC]

Hapax Magazine Issue 3 by Paulina Korobkiewicz

I am really happy to announce that I am one of the recipients of the curatorial commission of third issue of Hapax Magazine, to be published Winter 2022/2023. Following a call-out for submissions of interest, the editors have selected five artists and one curator who will create new photographic projects or curated sections for publication in the third issue of this semiannual magazine.

Artists:

Immaculata Abba is a Nigerian portrait and documentary photographer. All her work is an effort to enrich our imagination of the beauty, abundance and care possible in our lives. Her projects and commissions have been published in The Photographer’s Gallery, Saraba magazine and GIDA Journal, among others. Her documentary project 'Dusty Hill Drive' explores the built environment in South-East Nigeria and part of it was published in 2021 as a zine by Another Place Press. She is an inaugural African Arguments Journalism Fellow and a film artist under the 'Creating Black Joy' project sponsored by The Antipode Foundation. She is a member of the Black Women Photographers and Indigenous Photograph collective.

Paulina Korobkiewicz is a photographer and visual artist whose work deals with trauma of post-communist states, politics of identity, home and belonging. In 2016 she self-published her first photo-book Disco Polo. The project was shortlisted for Bar Tur Photobook Award 2015 organised by The Photographers’ Gallery and Belfast Photo Festival Open Submission 2017. In 2016 she won Camberwell Book Prize, and as a result she created and published her second photo-book in collaboration with Camberwell Press titled Perspectives.  Paulina has shown her work in the UK and internationally, was nominated for Magnum Photos Graduate Photographers Award 2017 and Prix Pictet 2018. Her latest solo exhibition ‘Udarny trud’ exploring the idea of labour and propaganda presented by Centrala gallery in Birmingham was shortlisted for Athens Photofestival Open Submission and International Format Festival 2021. She lives and works in London.

Alexander Mourant is an artist based in London. His work has been included in publications such as FT Weekend Magazine, British Journal of Photography, Photograph, Unseen Magazine and The Greatest Magazine. Solo shows include Aomori at The Old Truman Brewery and Unseen Amsterdam, alongside group shows at Edel Assanti, Saatchi Gallery and Peckham 24. Mourant is a recipient of grants from ArtHouse Jersey, Jersey Bursary and Arts Council England. He has won the Free Range Award and was nominated for Foam Paul Huf Award. In 2020, Mourant became a member of Revolv Collective. He is also a Visiting Lecturer and Tutor on BA (Hons) Photography at University of Westminster. In 2022  he designed and led A Place to Call Home, a landmark schools collaboration project with Wandsworth Council’s Children’s and Arts Service.

Helen Sear is an artist whose practice focuses on the co-existence of human, animal, and natural environments and is rooted in an interest in Magic Realism, Surrealism and Conceptual Art. Her photographic works became widely known in the 1991 British Council exhibition, De-Composition: Constructed Photography in Britain, which toured extensively in Latin America and Eastern Europe. Sear was the first woman to represent Wales with a solo exhibition at the 56th Venice Biennale 2015 presenting a suite of new works ‘…the rest is smoke’. Two major pieces were acquired by the James Hyman British Photography Collection in 2019 and Dewi Lewis published her Photobook Era Of Solitude in November 2021.

Amin Yousefi lives and works in London. A native of Abadan in the province of Khuzestan, Iran’s most oil-rich region and the scene of Iran’s bloody war with neighbouring Iraq, Yousefi works with ideas related to history, social-political landscape and effects of war and how the act of photography can conceptually mirror the structures of these relationships. His works have featured in numerous national and international group exhibitions and awards and a recent solo exhibition ‘Life, Death and other Similar Things’ at Ag Galerie, Tehran.

Curator:

Rica Cerbarano

Rica Cerbarano is a curator, writer and coordinator of projects related to photography. She is a regular contributor to Vogue Italia and she has been project assistant of Photo Vogue Festival since 2016. She writes also for the Italian monthly magazine Il Giornale dell’Arte, one of the most renowned publications about arts and culture. Alongside editorial collaborations, she works as an exhibition designer and producer for several institutions and nonprofit organisations. Rica is also the manager and co-founder of the collective Kublaiklan, which explores accessible ways of interacting with photography through the design of exhibitions and educational activities.In her curatorial research, Rica focuses on the mechanisms of production, diffusion and reception of images, looking especially at projects that adopt a cross-disciplinary approach or involve collaborative practices. She is a member of the Artistic Direction Board of Photolux Festival 2022.

Artist Residency @ Centrala Space, Birmingham by Paulina Korobkiewicz

The Artist Residency at Centrala Space in Birmingham, as part of the Post-Socialist Britain: Memory Representation and Political Identity amongst German, Polish, and Ukrainian Immigrants research project, comprises an 18-month-long commission. The research project, serves as a starting point for a photographic exploration led by photographer Paulina Korobkiewicz, which will culminate in exhibitions held at Centrala Space in Birmingham and in Nottingham.

Furthermore, a series of audience engagement events has been curated to complement this multifaceted project and exhibition. These events encompass photo walks, workshops, seminars, and cultural celebrations, all designed to foster a deeper connection between the project and the community it serves.

Synergy Zine Launch by Paulina Korobkiewicz

Me and painter Jack Martyn Richardson are launching our collaborative zine Synergy at this year’s edition of Art Bibuła artist book fair.

The zine consists of spray paint prints and polaroids of the process behind them. The project explores how two creative approaches allow each other to exist in unison investigating the idea of artistic collaboration and exchange. The zine comes in a transparent plastic sleeve. This edition has two cover variations to choose from. Each version includes a limited edition postcard, two posters and two stickers.

KWAS Magazine #2 by Paulina Korobkiewicz

Take-away is published as a part of the second issue of KWAS Magazine, issue KLOPS.

Created entirely inclusive on the basis of an open call by Agnieszka Sejud and Karolina Wojtas. Everyone was selected. The magazine is comprised of 2020 memories of 65 participants.

Published in edition of 500 copies, 160 pages, size - 21 x 33 cm.