To Be Real #4 – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

To Be Real, the performative-musical program of the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporry Art, examines club culture and its emancipatory potential, and it explores the relationship of politics, nightlife, and contemporary art, from the queer roots of electronic dance music in the 1970s to recent techno-protests on the streets of metropolises worldwide. What is dance for freedom and why do we need it now more than ever?

The past of club culture can be understood as a history of community building based on radical acceptance of the Other, as well as experiments with the ways of relating to each other different to those connected to ideologies dominant in normative societies. Today’s artists, DJs, producers, and promoters engaged in club activism work towards turning the club scene into a safe space, fighting sexism, racism, trans- and homophobia at parties and within the structures of club culture itself. They also strive to use it as a tool for political mobilization and resistance.

As part of the project, three groups of artists create events centered on bodies dancing together to electronic music. The space of the art institution is thus transformed into a dance floor, following the tradition of Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, which once hosted Warsaw’s 1990s rave scene. To Be Real #4 is the last installment in this series of events. A public display of work by artists invited to take part in this edition – the Swiss artist Nils Amadeus Lange, the queer-feminist music collective Oramics, and Polish visual artist Sebastian Sebulec – is scheduled for 8 August 2020. The event will take the form of an all-night performative installation with DJs and performers’ participation, which will take place in front of the Ujazdowski Castle.

• Artists
  • Nils Amadeus Lange, Oramics, Sebastian Sebulec
• Curators
  • Michał Grzegorzek, Mateusz Szymanówka
• Coordination
  • Joanna Manecka, Anka Kobierska