The “gift economy” builds human relationships, but is also an obligation. It is giving, receiving, and reciprocating. These three categories are inextricably linked. The Gifts of Friendship creates a multidimensional portrait of the museum, conceived not as a neutral repository of objects, but as a living network of art exchange.

Ever since its creation, the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź has developed its collection through close cooperation with artists. Its foundation was the International Collection of Modern Art, made up of donations and initiated by Władysław Strzemiński, Katarzyna Kobro, and the other members of the “a.r.” group, first exhibited in 1931. The main aim of the historical avant-garde was to bring together art, life, and social change, with the “gift economy” being among its tools.

Today, in a world of geopolitical instability and uncertainty, it is the utopian formula of the gift that lets us cross national, political, and linguistic boundaries. Gifts of Friendship pays tribute to a new generation of artists working in the spirit of shared responsibility for the public role of art. This long-term project reanalyses and updates the historical model, showing how acts of solidarity and donations still shape the museum’s identity.

This exhibition presents work by artists tied to the Muzeum Sztuki for many decades, including Liam Gillick, K.ari.n Schneider, and R.H. Quaytman, as well as those whose work strikes up a dialog with the program of recent years, such as Jasmina Cibic, Veronika Hapchenko, Agata Ingarden, Nikita Kadan, wendelien van oldenborgh, Paulina Ołowska, Agnieszka Polska, Mykola Ridnyi, Julita Wójcik, and Anton Vidokle. Among those presenting their works at the museum for the first time are: Yane Calovski, Andrea Fraser, Josiah McElheny, and Jeff Preiss.

Covering both of our headquarters, ms¹ and ms², Gifts of Friendship is an exercise in institutional imagination. This exhibition examines the gift as a relational practice, exploring connections between artists, the museum, and the public. It consists of three poetic and political parts. The exhibition at ms¹ is focused on interpreting the avant-garde legacy with respect to the Neoplastic Room (on the 3rd floor); as well as collecting and reciprocity as holders of memory and identity, in response to the once-palatial museum interiors (6th floor). The works gathered in ms² (ground floor) display visions of the present and future with regard to the museum’s permanent collection: the Ways of Seeing exhibition.

Artists:

ms¹:

Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, Isabelle Cornaro, Jakub Czyszczoń, Anchan / Anna Daučíková, Cian Dayrit, Cécile Dupaquier, Morgan Fisher, Andrea Fraser, Barbara Hammer, Veronika Hapchenko, Adam Harrison, Liam Gillick, João Maria Gusmão, Agata Ingarden, Zuzanna Janin, Eduardo Kac, Nikita Kadan, Tomasz Kowalski, Jiří Kovanda, Susanne Kriemann, Kamil Kuskowski, Katalin Ladik, Diana Lelonek, Zbigniew Libera, Tomasz Machciński, Marcin Maciejowski, Yarema Malashchuk & Roman Khimei, Jumana Manna, Dóra Maurer, Josiah McElheny, Verena Melgarejo Weinandt, John Miller, Haroon Mirza, Deimantas Narkevičius, wendelien van oldenborgh, Paulina Ołowska, Angelo Plessas, Agnieszka Polska, Cezary Poniatowski, Jeff Preiss, Florian Pumhösl, R.H. Quaytman, Willem de Rooij, Wilhelm Sasnal, K.ari.n Schneider, Janek Simon, Marek Sobczyk, Viktor Timofeev, Suzanne Treister, Fernando Varela, Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor, Anton Vidokle, James Welling, Julita Wójcik, Tobias Zielony, Heimo Zobernig

selected works from The Richard Demarco Archive

ms²:

Agata Bogacka, Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Yane Calovski, Lou Cantor, Jasmina Cibic, Gelatin, Liam Gillick, Thomas Hirschhorn, Nikolay Karabinovych, Hassan Khan, Kitty Kraus, Ghislaine Leung, Ahmet Öğüt, Mykola Ridnyi, John Smith, Hito Steyerl, Gabriele Stötzer, Michael Stevenson, Iza Tarasewicz, Franz Erhard Walther