AMBER & LEONARDO
The originator of the exhibition, Wojciech Kalandyk, and the curator, Giedymin Jabłoński, invited an international group of well-known artists asking them to make creative statements (works) inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, using amber as one of the materials used.
Karol Weisslechner
Amber and amber routes have been stimulants of contacts and dialogue between European cultures since time immemorial. The project's goal is to revive the best traditions of this dialogue. And the Renaissance period was an extremely significant moment in the history of Europe when it declared its cultural unity, both spatially and temporally. It was a period on the one hand, of a rapid revival of contacts between European intellectuals, on the other - the discovery and fascination with the culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Thus, the search for common features that connect the Renaissance with the Baltic Sea in the context of the European cultural history takes on a relevant meaning.
Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest creators of that period - a versatile genius unifying the world of art and science - is a symbolic person for the Renaissance. His countless talents and powerful creative energy are still known and admired throughout the world. Many of his projects and ideas overtook the era so much that it was realized only centuries later. His paintings, although only a few survived to the present day, remain among the greatest treasures of culture, and their never completely deciphered secrets and symbols inspire and are subject to constant research and guesswork of art historians, writers, philosophers, etc.
Wojciech Jerzy Bryłka
During the research work on the project a very interesting, additional amber trail was unexpectedly discovered. As can be seen from the artist's notes, he not only knew amber, but also knew how to prepare a special varnish from it, which he himself used.
Aleksander Gliwiński
Thus, the creators of the project dream of referring to the culture-forming role of amber and the European Renaissance era, of creating an international artistic event well embedded in the realities of contemporary, united Europe and globalization phenomena, as well as of initiating a current amber revival, that would flow from Gdańsk and become a source inspiration and humanistic ideas.
