Competition for posters devoted to Witold Gombrowicz's ideas
received 2003.12.10 from Magdalena Ciesielska, General Secretary IPB
Please see the official web site www.postermuseum-wilanow.home.pl/biennale.html
for more information and downloadable application forms.
Organisers:
Poster Museum at Wilanσw
Division of the National Museum in Warsaw
Polish Poster Foundation
Ateneum Foundation
Witold Gombrowicz (1904 1969)
Novelist, playwright and essayist. Born in old Polish nobleman's
family. In 1927 he graduated from law department of the Warsaw
University and went to Paris, where he studied philosophy and
economics. After returning to Poland he devoted himself
completely to literature. His debut, semi-fantasy collection of
short stories called Pamietniki z okresu dojrzewania (Diary From
The Growing-Up Period) was published in 1933. Since 1934 he cooperated
as critic with newspapers and literature magazines. In
1939 he left for Argentina. After a few years of free-lance jobs, he
was hired by the Polish Bank in Buenos Aires, where he worked
between 1947-1953. Fame of his books granted him in 1963 Ford
Foundation scholarship for one-year stay in West Berlin, from
where he moved in 1964 to Ryaumount near Paris, and then to
Vence, near Nice. In 1967 he received Prix Formentor Publishers
International Literature Award. Critics' attention was attracted by
the grotesque novel Ferdydurke (1937). In 1938 he published a play
called Iwona, ksiezniczka Burgunda (Iwona, Princess Of Burgund)
and then an unfinished thriller novel Opetani (The Obsessed).
During his stay in Argentina he wrote Trans-Atlantyk (Trans-
Atlantic), novels: Pornografia (Pornography) (1960) and Kosmos
(Cosmos) (1965). His last play was Operetka (Operetta). His
Dziennik (Diary), started in 1953, contains personal, sometimes
trivial philosophical reflections and is a peculiar self-portrait of the
writer.
Competition aim
Gombrowicz Year was proclaimed by the Lower Chamber of Polish
Parliament to mark the 100th anniversary of the writer's birth and
is included on the international UNESCO anniversary list.
The aim of the competition is to discover new views on the writer's
work and decipher universal thoughts it contains, readable also
from the point of view of poster creators. Vivid language of
Gombrowicz's writings, based mainly on parody and grotesque,
lends itself to be transferred in an interesting way to visual
language and serve as an inspiration to graphic designers.
Mottos for competition posters for selection
A characteristic of literature is its acuity (Diary)
Running away presupposes the will to run away (Ferdydurke)
For the right to pride you pay with humility (Diary)
Far more awful than Fear is Inability to Fear (Trans-Atlantic)
Participants are free to propose other quotes from Witold
Gombrowicz's writings as main mottos for their posters.
Competition conditions:
Entries may be submitted by individual artists and students. The
entries should consist of originals or print-outs prepared in any
technology, unpublished, size 50x70 cm, with the author's motto
on the back side. Author's personal data (name, surname,
address) should be enclosed in a separate, sealed envelope.
Entries should be sent to
Muzeum Plakatu w Wilanowie
ul. St. Kostki Potockiego 10/16
02-958 Warsaw, Poland
Entries must be submitted by 11 February 2004
Jury of the 19th International Poster Biennale
Philippe Apeloig (France)
Maciej Buszewicz (Poland)
Dorota Folga-Januszewska (Poland)
Daniela Haufe (Germany)
Anabella Salem (Argentina)
will choose the Best Poster of the Gombrowicz Year.
Prizes
Main Prize 7 000 PLN
Honour prizes or other prizes funded by official sponsors and
individual supporters are welcome by the organisers.
All works qualified for the exhibition will be published in the 19th
International Poster Biennale Exhibition Catalogue and exhibited
in the Ateneum Foundation Gallery, 51/53 Piwna St., Warsaw.
Exhibition curator: Katarzyna Matul
Competiton secretary: Malgorzata Niedzwiecka-Malecka