Thank you

Testimony – a panorama of the time during the pandemic

This is an action that aims at creating a virtual archive of the state of isolation. Social action in spite of the imposed isolation is to become a unifying action around the main goal of thanking the crowds of people around the world, thanks to which this seemingly apocalyptic time paradoxically becomes a source of hope.

Thank you - a portrait of hope.

As a result of the public collection of photo and video materials, a panorama of hundreds of sent photographs and registrations will be created - portraits of specific people, often our neighbors, thanks to whom we can get through this tough time. It is to be a collective portrait building a sense of faith in man and giving us hope for the future. Isolation is conducive to reflection: if what constitutes our humanity is solidarity, sacrifice, dedication and empathy, let us thank those who embody these qualities. Let's create this panorama together.

The action is public and ultimately widespread. The first step was to create a trailer.

So far they have supported the action with a voiceover: Olga Bołądź, Adam Ferency, Joanna Fidler – Sierzputowska, Janusz Gajos, Olga Szostak Janicka, Mateusz Janicki, Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska, Marek Kondrat, Robert Makłowicz, Takakuwa Masatsugu, Aleksandra Pisula, Anita Sokołowska, Wiktor Loga-Skarczewski, Borys Szyc, Jerzy Trela, Grzegorz Turnau, Hanna Turnau, Piotr Vienio Więcławski.

Trailer was animated by: Tomek Głodek, Mateusz Barski, website was created by Mirosław Sznajder and the amazing music with the palimpsest of the words "thank you" was created by Marianna Janicka.

The trailer uses a fragment of the film by Adam Ustynowicz '' Chopin. The Space Concert '' and the photos are taken by Soichi Noguchi, JAXA, a member of the 22/23 expedition to the ISS International Space Station, 2010 (photos courtesy of NASA) who in space was listening to... Chopin.

Now it's your turn - we invite your cooperation!

Isolation / action: registration

Option 1

We invite you to send a photo, series of photos or a short video recording in the form of a portrait of people who you want to honor to aptekagallery.com. From healthcare professionals to neighborhood volunteers. We are looking for photos or videos, taken with a smartphone or a regular camera. The technique doesn't matter here - it's about emotion. The material sent to the site will become a part of the mosaic creating an extraordinary panorama, which will be presented on the web, but also, ultimately, is to be a fragment of a spectacular mapping and large-format projection on the largest town square in Europe - on Rynek Główny in Krakow, Poland, when the public space will finally be made public again. Hopefully very soon.  

Option 2

If the isolation does not allow you to register a particular hero, we suggest taking a picture or recording a few seconds long video of a TV or laptop. The situation or a photo is to present a story from Poland or from anywhere else in the world, the subject of which is the sacrifice of people in the fight against the pandemic. Important: the fragment of the image recorded from the monitor is to be the author's, which precludes operations such as “print screen”. The portraits of the heroes of these stories will become another element of the mosaic - this time that of a metaphorical nature. It is supposed to be a documentation mediated by the medium, thereby emphasizing the state of isolation, in which mass media become part of the natural environment, a kind of a pandemic microcosm, a time-capsule of the plague. 

Testimony – a panorama of the time during the pandemic – virtual gallery

The action accompanying the panorama is the creation of a virtual gallery. A gallery of works documenting reflections on the time in isolation. It is supposed to be a kind of a "selfie in a state of seclusion" although in this part of the project the choice of artistic expression, form and content is entirely up to the creator.

The purpose of the virtual exhibition is to create a chronicle of our time woven from a mini-narrative regarding the state of isolation. The aptekagallery.com website will gather works sent by all those willing to share their thoughts, memories, fears and hopes. The exhibition in a hybrid, virtual form will gather works made in any technique: from photography, through animation, virtual sculptures in 3D, VR technology - virtual reality, musical etudes, short literary forms like essays, mini-reportages, etc.

The submitted works will then create a virtual gallery affecting the emotions of viewers who will be able to enter a virtual structure and interactively experience the gallery's resources.

The exhibition will be created in a manner similar to exhibitions in real-life gallery spaces. From the submitted works a collection will be selected, it will then create a kind of a meta narrative moderated by the curator. The exhibition - a virtual exhibition of individual works exhibited as in a real gallery with the names of the creators, will be a collection of works related to existence in isolation as seen from different perspectives.

This hybrid form combining what is personally experienced with what is mediated will create a mosaic that is a testimony to modern experience in which reality mixes with what is virtual.

The action is to have an international character, thus being a reflection of our times, symbolically building a panorama of the present in an individual, private, local and global perspective.

Technical data

In this category all forms of artistic expression are allowed: photography, video, photojournalism, animation, musical and literary works: essay, poem, quote, etc.

The number of photos implemented into the database is a maximum of 5 per person;

Video material, essay, music piece cannot last longer than 3 minutes, text (if read) maximum 3 minutes, written text: 1 A4 page.

The material created on the web is to be broadcast on the Apteka Janicki Gallery website and on social media.

The trailer accompanying the campaign can be viewed at aptekagallery.com or YouTube: https://youtu.be/hMy2fejIphc and on social media.

You’re all welcome to join us!