MAREK TOMALIK – AUSTRALIA – WHERE FLOWERS ARE BORN OF FIRE

The exhibition is a photographic record of the artist's numerous expeditions into the unknown world of the smallest continent.

Australian Aboriginal culture turns our Western notion of land ownership upside down. For Aboriginal people, it is the land that owns the individual. Moreover, certain parts of the landscape exert a metaphysical magnetism, drawing one in, even from a great distance. This philosophy carries with it a deep-rooted transcendental duty to return. Otherwise, the inner self withers and dies. Walkabout, the Aboriginal spiritual journey in the desert, is the equivalent of a pilgrimage, a rite of passage. Here is a mythical, ancient Aboriginal land of red sands, desert singing paths, strange creatures, boundless plains, unusual vegetation. The Totemic Ancestors did not create the world with spells, but through their actions. At the same time, they were part of it. Aborigines feel they are an integral part of nature, unlike most white people who perceive themselves better than animals, plants or rocks.

The exhibition is a photographic account of Marek Tomalik’s expeditions in off-road vehicles into the unknown world of the smallest continent. It brings you closer to the centre of the Australian outback – the Gibson Desert, the Great and Lesser Sand Deserts, Simpson Desert, Strzelecki Desert and the treeless land of the Nullarbor. The drive routes lead through some of Australia's toughest bush, through endless deserts, in areas completely isolated from civilisation, including the Canning Stock Route (the world’s most challenging off-road route), the Gunbarrel Highway, Ernest Giles Road, Oodnadatta Track, Strzelecki Track. The vehicles had punctures, seized bearings, broken axles, flooded alternators and... caught fire. It was an endurance test for man and machine. A struggle for survival in harsh desert terrain. An attempt to commune with unspoilt, primeval nature across such a vast swathe of land.

The opening of the exhibition, on Friday 12 January 2024 with the participation of the artist, will be accompanied by a multimedia performance of “Aborigines, the Indigenous Australians” with live music by the quartet Czerwie.

Read about the show at www.australia-przygoda.com  >>

The exhibition “Traces and Signs – Aboriginal paintings from Central Australia” opens at 6 p.m. in the lower hall of Galeria Bielska BWA.

Read more about the exhibition >>

 Marek Tomalik – traveller, press and radio journalist, geologist by training, resident of Bielsko-Biała. He is an ardent admirer of Australia, where he has been travelling regularly since 1989, including the organization of expeditions to the Outback (www.wsednosprawy.pl); founder and organiser of the 23rd “Three Elements” Travellers Festival and many other artistic events; manager of rock bands, regular contributor to the National Geographic and Jazz Forum magazines; author of articles and books on music and travelling. Two-time winner of the Kolosy awards. Currently hosts a radio travel show on RMF Classic (Bright Side of the World). Although Australia is his "place on earth", he always returns to his native Beskidy mountains.

Author of books about the fifth continent: “Australia, my love”, “Lady Australia”, “Australia, where flowers are born of fire” and “9 FIRES”.

More at >>

 The CZERWIE Quartet  – hailing from the Beskid Mały region, and more precisely from the environs of Andrychów, is one of the best Polish bands playing music to silent films live. They offer alternative sounds from the fringes of jazz, ethno, the absurd scene, theatre and film. They have composed music and played for many theatre, film and art projects, including the play “Albośmy to jacy, tacy” based on “Wesele” by St. Wyspiański (directed by Piotr Cieplak, Teatr Powszechny, Warsaw 2007), many silent films and documentaries. Among them was a film about a children’s concentration camp in Łódź “Nie wolno się brzydko bawić” (directed by Urszula Sochacka, TVN/PISF). Xawery Żuławski made an etude about them for TVP Kultura.

The lineup:
Piotr Bogunia – bass, Jew’s harp
Maciej Kudłacik – strings, drums and synthesisers
Wojciech Zaborowski – keyboards, accordion, ethnic instruments
Paweł Zawarus – percussion and electronics

www.czerwie.art

 
Marek Tomalik – Australia – where flowers are born of fire
Cafe Club Aquarium
12.01-25.02.2024
Opening and concert by Czerwie (tickets):
Friday, 12 January, 2024 at 7 pm