Wystawa Bartosza Kałużnego „DYWERS”. O różnorodności społecznej

DYWERS is a university-wide project that consists of several elements (go to the project website – in Polish). An exhibition of photographs that show social diversity is one of them. The exhibition presents over 20 photographs taken in cooperation with people who volunteered or were invited to take part in the project.

The portraits taken include an activist and a journalist Maja Staśko, Edmund Krempiński who is known to audience in Lodz from his production of "Dobrze ułożony młodzieniec” [The Well-Behaved Young Man] staged at Teatr Nowy and Weronika Tomiak, the founder of the Neuroróżnorodni foundation.

Students and lecturers from the University of Lodz, as well as people from outside the academic community who wanted to share their stories, also volunteered to participate in the project. DYWERS has been created from this extraordinary diversity of experiences translated into the language of photography.

Professor Marek Domański from the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, who is the curator of the exhibition, writes in the curatorial text:

The author has decided to draw our attention to the issues related to neuroatypicality, gender identity, sexuality and ethnicity. For this purpose, he gave up the privilege that every artist has: shaping their work without restrictions. The photographed people volunteered to take part in the project, gaining influence over the place and method of photography as well as the used means of expression(...) Participation in the creation process provided the people in front of the camera with the sense of comfort and agency, and also enriched the entire project, diversifying it on many levels. The frames kept in the convention of staged photography ooze with diversity, thanks to which they reflect the fascinating complexity of the world.

The values that guide the University of Lodz in its activities include: courage, cooperation and respect. This is where the form of the photographic project came from, which Bartosz Kałużny comments on:

When I completed my doctoral dissertation on social stigma less than 10 years ago, the social reality was slightly different. There were more things that surprised us. And although we are still quite homogeneous in Poland, and over the last few years a polarisation of attitudes towards minorities has been observed, a qualitative change can be seen in the media discourse, a large part of which is now grass-roots content produced in social media. There are plenty of accounts on Instagram or TikTok run by neuroatypical, non-heteronormative or people with disabilities who share their experience with others and familiarise their followers with the complexity of the world. Diversity should be talked about and shown. Even, if not everyone likes it.

The implementation of the DYWERS exhibition would not be possible without the assistance of institutions that supported the project by making the interiors available for the photo shoots: the Film Museum in Lodz, Art Factory in Lodz and the Palm House of the Botanical Garden of Łódź.

Edit and photos: Bartosz Kałużny (Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz)

The mission of the University of Lodz is to conduct reliable research and actively disseminate facts and research results so as to wisely educate future generations, be useful to society and courageously respond to the challenges of the modern world. Scientific excellence is always our best compass. Our values include: courage, curiosity, commitment, cooperation and respect.