“PoKuSa” – gallery for contemporary Polish art in Wiesbaden

Synergies
 

For several years, the “PoKuSa” gallery has been a valued partner and player when it comes to art events in Wiesbaden. In 2002, the curator Ewa Hartmann, together with the gallerist Reinhard Berg, created the “Wiesbadener Fototage” (“Wiesbaden photography days”), during which various galleries in the city simultaneously showed works by contemporary photographers, at first annually, and now every three years. Ewa Hartmann was a member of the jury for the “Wiesbadener Fototage” until 2015. Participants in the event included well-known photojournalists and photographic artists such as Chris Niedenthal, Tadeusz Rolke, Ryszard Kapuściński, Maciej Osika and students from photography schools across Poland. Two Polish artists have been the recipients of the public award: Agata Wieczorek (2007) and Ol Skoczylas (2011).

In 2007, to mark the 20th anniversary of cooperation between the partner cities of Wrocław and Wiesbaden, the project bureau in the city museum presented works by students of the School of Photography in Wrocław as part of the “Wiesbadener Fototage”.

In 2012, the “PoKuSa” was also one of the main participants in the celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the city partnership between Wiesbaden and Wrocław. The initiator and organiser of the show entitled “Der Raum zwischen uns” (“The space between us”) in the Kunsthaus Wiesbaden gallery was Ewa Hartmann, with Professor Norman Smużniak and Professor Katarzyna Koczyńska-Kielan as curators. The exhibition was opened by the heads of the partner cities, by the mayor Wiesbaden, Dr. Helmut Müller, and the mayor of Wrocław, Rafał Dutkiewicz.

The “PoKuSa” brings people together who are interested in cultural exchange between Germany and Poland. The “Deutsch-Polnische Gesellschaft Mainz-Wiesbaden” (“German-Polish Society in Mainz-Wiesbaden”) was active for nearly 30 years until 2022. Other organisations in the area were the “Deutsch-Polnische Verein Wiesbaden-Wrocław e.V.” (“German-Polish Association of Wiesbaden-Wrocław”) and the “Mainzer Polonicum”, which is known for its activities as part of the University of Mainz. The paths of many people in these circles cross in the gallery or at concerts in the city’s main theatre organised within the scope of the city partnership, at events with Polish writers and authors in the “Literaturhaus” in Wiesbaden, or at guest lectures in the Polonicum. The “PoKuSa” also hosts poetry evenings, with readings by Rosemarie Bronikowski, Marek Pelc and Joanna Manc from Frankfurt, among others.

Ambassador of art
 

At the “PoKuSa”, the artists are always at the forefront. Ewa Hartmann and the members of the association are all volunteers. As well as acting as curator, she is also responsible for the transportation of the artworks, the gallery service during exhibitions, preparation of opening events and cleaning the gallery. Her work also involves having artists to stay in her home, and preparing the exhibition space with them as well as showing them the sights in the city and surrounding area. For many years now, journeys to Poland on gallery business or visits to the art academies and studios there have at the same time been visits to friends who share the same passion. For years, the “PoKuSa” has collaborated with the highly respected “Galeria M” in Wrocław, among others. The head of “Galeria M”, Maria Dziedziniewicz, regularly inspires the artists who exhibit in the gallery and once curated one of the shows herself. 

The gallery is known in Wiesbaden for its welcoming, open-minded attitude. The curator Ewa Hartmann knows the value of offering visitors to the gallery an insight into the world of Polish art through face-to-face conversations that are not limited to the opening events. During opening hours, anyone interested in the works will have the opportunity to talk to Ewa Hartmann and the “PoKuSa” team in person. The art events in the gallery attract a large number of regular visitors. Over the course of two decades, the “PoKuSa” has become an ambassador for contemporary Polish art in the region, with the curator Ewa Hartmann and the “PoKuSa” team playing a leading role.

Joanna de Vincenz, October 2022

My thanks to Ewa Hartmann and Barbara Ahlfeldt for providing the detailed information.

Editorial note:

“Pokusa” also literally means “temptation/seduction” in Polish.