The exhibition project “Beyond Eden” was born with a view to presenting a set of works acquired for the museum’s collection in December 2018. Originally, they made up the Silesian Collection of Contemporary Art which, in a way, defined the existence of the Foundation for Silesia, established in Katowice in 2001. The long-term activity of the Foundation allowed to gather the works of both mature, well-known and valued artists, as well as young talented authors who are just starting their artistic careers. The exhibition allows you to see the richness and level of one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Silesia, which can be classified as representative reviews on a national scale. Due to the limited space of permanent exhibitions, most of the works are shown for the first time.

The paintings, photographs, graphics, sculptures, video-art and installations testify to a great inventiveness and formal freedom of two generations of Polish artists. In its thematic and aesthetic layers it is an intellectual and sensual art at the same time, diverse in content and visually. There is a lot of discord, opposition, open or euphemized shouting, as well as other states and attitudes defining man in the era of political and moral transformations.

In critical art, which sets the tone for the presentation of more than a hundred works, neither beautiful hills, nor inspired birds, nor the reassuring sun remain. On the contrary, it is the dark, confused, unbridled face of the reality of the “here and now”, most often completely alien to the biblical Eden. If the “garden of heavenly delights” really lasts, even as far away, it is, from the perspective of a citizen of the earthly globe, a paradise lost or unreachable. Living outside of Eden means mortality, experiencing knowledge and ignorance, good and evil, momentary euphoria, pain and suffering, and longing for an optimum, justice, harmony.

The structure of the exhibition is based on eight problem sections: THE SIGN STUDY, THE HORIZON PERCEPTION, THE POWER MACHINERY, THE TENUOUS STEREOTYPE, THE TREATISE ON FOOD AND DRINK, THE COLORING A CLICHÉ, THE TICK OF MEMORY AND THE DISEMBODIMENT.

Curators: Joanna Szeligowska-Farquhar, Ph. D Michał Burdziński

January 2022 – January 2023

Muzeum Śląskie w Katowicach
ul. Dobrowolskiego 1