The relationship between the culture and social life of a nation in Sylwester Ambroziak’s art project entitled “Mama, I’m coming home” The problem of Euro-orphanhood

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the active participation of culture in the social life of a nation on the example of Sylwester Ambroziak’s art project entitled “Mama, I’m coming home”. The main problem of this article is “Euro-orphanhood”, which is a result of the economic emigration of parents in response to a geopolitical situation. Sylwester Ambroziak’s “Mama, I’m coming home” exhibition is a reaction to the present-day problem of Euro-orphanhood and the related experiences of abandonment, exclusion and eradication. The research methods used to achieve this purpose are semiotic analysis and interpretation. Formal and content analysis of the exhibition are preceded by information concerning stagings of the exhibition in Biała Podlaska and Poznań. Individual elements of the exhibition are then described, and the modest but eloquent artistic means used by the artist are explained. The “Mama, I’m coming home” exhibition by Sylwester Ambroziak shows the current problem of Euro-orphanhood and the nonculpable (anti)social functioning of Euro-orphans. The experience of abandonment of Euro-orphans has psycho-social effects. An external expression of the mental state of Euro-orphans is these sculptures of “Minotaurs” with their “African-embryonic-alien” shapes with inhuman faces and more-or-less outlined eyes. Their physical ugliness reflects their psycho-spiritual condition. It seems that the behavior of the “Minotaurs” in the “Mama, I’m coming home” exhibition is the result of a hidden reaction to the breakdown of family ties. In their attitude, passivity, withdrawal and fear are visible. These figures–sculptures are alienated. Formal and content analysis of the exposition finally leads to the discovery of the essence and role of the family, and the value of close relations in the life of all family members, which cannot be replaced with any material goods.

Author Biography

Monika Kowalczyk, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow

Doctor of humanities in philosophy; she completed full-time master’s and doctoral studies at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin; her scientific interests: philosophy of culture and philosophical aesthetics.

Published
2018-10-20
How to Cite
[1]
Kowalczyk, M. 2018. The relationship between the culture and social life of a nation in Sylwester Ambroziak’s art project entitled “Mama, I’m coming home” The problem of Euro-orphanhood. Perspectives on Culture. 23, 4 (Oct. 2018), 97-108.
Issue
Vol. 23 No. 4 (2018): Images of Religion
Section
Varia

Copyright (c) 2020 Perspectives on culture

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Autor, zgłaszając swój artykuł, wyraża zgodę na korzystanie przez Wydawnictwo Uniwersystet Ignatianum z utworu na następujących polach eksploatacji:

  1. utrwalania utworu w formie papierowej, a także na nośniku cyfrowym lub magnetycznym;
  2. zwielokrotnienia utworu dowolną techniką, bez ograniczenia ilości wydań i liczby egzemplarzy;
  3. rozpowszechniania utworu i jego zwielokrotnionych egzemplarzy na jakimkolwiek nośniku, w tym wprowadzenia do obrotu, sprzedaży, użyczenia, najmu;
  4. wprowadzenia utworu do pamięci komputera;
  5. rozpowszechniania utworu w sieciach informatycznych, w tym w sieci Internet;
  6. publicznego wykonania, wystawienia, wyświetlenia, odtworzenia oraz nadawania i reemitowania, a także publicznego udostępniania utworu w taki sposób, aby każdy mógł mieć do niego dostęp w miejscu i czasie przez siebie wybranym. 

Wydawca zobowiązuje się szanować osobiste prawa autorskie do utworu.