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The author analyzes Isadora Duncan’s ideas expressed in her lecture “The Dance of the Future,” setting them against the backdrop of the manifestos and concepts of Adolphe Appia, Edward Gordon Craig, and Konstantin Stanislavsky, who shared her interests and/or knew her personally. The marginalisation of Isadora Duncan in theater history is interpreted in the article as resulting from the patriarchal character of twentieth- and early twenty-first century theater, based on the cult of great masters. Revisiting Duncan’s ideas is thus a step towards revising historical narratives and speculatively expanding the choice of traditions. Referring to feminist theories, institutional critique, and disability studies, the author identifies the progressive elements of Duncan’s thinking that correspond to innovative trends in contemporary theater and performance practices.

In the essay, the author, Łukasz Ronduda, relates his own work as an artist, a film director, an art historian and curator, discussed in the light of the cinematic turn and the formation of common ground between cinema and contemporary art in both artistic and institutional sense. Ronduda looks closely at his two full-length feature films: Performer (2015) and Serce miłości (Heart of Love) (2017) and highlights their wider context. The first frame of reference spans from experimental films to contemporary full-length productions dedicated to wide audience. The second reference is his own work involving academic research, curating, writing a novel and the creation of a found footage film. In this self-presentation, Ronduda discloses his different attempts to find the right medium to speak about and analyze contemporary art. The full-length film turned out to be particularly effective medium in its ability to express the truth by means of fiction, placing him between creation and institutional structure. Film as a medium of interpreting art seems to productively question fixed boundaries between research, criticism and art.

The paper is a reminiscence of my first meeting with the colleagues from the Institute of Art History of Adam Mickiewicz University, which took place at an annual conference of the Association of Art Historians in 1974, titled “Reflection on Art.” Choosing an unusual title, I wanted to convey the impetus with which a group of young art historians from Poznań entered the decent and somewhat stagnant stage of Polish art history. The critique they presented was directed against Polish academic institutions, the problematic of the conference, the empty rituals of academic life, etc. Even though I did not accept all their objections, the heated debate suddenly turned out for me to be a liberating factor, stimulating continuous critical thinking which is an antidote for spiritual and intellectual captivity.

The paper is a reminiscence of my first meeting with the colleagues from the Institute of Art History of Adam Mickiewicz University, which took place at an annual conference of the Association of Art Historians in 1974, titled “Reflection on Art.” Choosing an unusual title, I wanted to convey the impetus with which a group of young art historians from Poznań entered the decent and somewhat stagnant stage of Polish art history. The critique they presented was directed against Polish academic institutions, the problematic of the conference, the empty rituals of academic life, etc. Even though I did not accept all their objections, the heated debate suddenly turned out for me to be a liberating factor, stimulating continuous critical thinking which is an antidote for spiritual and intellectual captivity.

In her article the author analyses the activity of Liberate Tate collective, which was founded in 2010 with the aim to end sponsorship of Tate Gallery by BP oil company. This example of alliance between art and activism may be considered in two ways: in the context of the relationship between the institution and the artists who attempt to transform the museums, and also through the art of protest against the oil corporation responsible for environment exploitation. The activity of Liberate Tate is compared with others forms of protest, such as Occupy Wall Street or the fight against Dakota Access Pipeline. The framework of interpretation is indicated by the complex reliance between art, activism and neoliberal capitalism. The ideas of delirium and resistance proposed by Gregory Sholette appear to be particularly useful in explaining the given relations, as well as the notion of practicing deindividualization by activists, who build various alliances and communities of those engaged in creating the envisioned museum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In publications of recent years, embedded in the discipline of management studies and regarding the issue of image, it is pointed out that one of the most frequent mistakes of modern organizations is the lack of coherence between communicated values and everyday practice. In the article, I propose to look at image crises in polish institutional theatres (those caused by phenomenon mentioned above), in a way that recognizes and appreciates their positive aspects. They can be treated as „tools" that inspire system change. On the examples from recent years, I argue that the vast majority of image crises in art institutions are caused by the lack of coherence between the declarative sphere (mainly shaped by artistic program of institution) and intra-institutional practice. I also show that thought on the discussed subject matter has developed in art thanks to the evolution of the concept of criticism and critical attitude, and not, as one would suppose, in relation to the achievements of management studies. I will also discuss the determinants of contemporary institutional critique, in which the thought on relations between the declarative sphere and practice develops, and which affects the perception of the crisis itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the phenomenon of theatre performances as well as the curator practices focussed on the organisational/production/administrative dimension of a theatre which is reserved for theatre employees or experts with specialist knowledge and thus usually unavailable to a wide audience. We will treat the selected practices as a tool shaping the future of the institution (and the people employed in it). The most important questions which we will try to answer include: To whom and what do these practices give the floor? On what problems do they shed light? Are they a self-diagnostic tool, and if so, to what extent? How do they deal with the subject of the future? The first part is devoted to the phenomenon of institutional critique. It examines its specific nature and development in the activities of Polish directors and curators. In the second part, we show the most salient examples of the Polish “self-diagnostic” theatre. In part three, we are deliberating on the four problematic areas in which theatre institutions are to operate (hierarchisation, precarity of working conditions, capitalist model of “production,” and illusions that support the status quo) and the possible scenarios indicated by the theatre performances and curator practices described in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]