Sudden Death of a Hero: Polish – Hungarian international exchange exhibition, Warsaw-Budapest


Sudden Death of a Hero I, April 2018, Polish – Hungarian international exchange exhibition with Jakub Ciężki, Bartosz Kokosiński, Ivo Nikic, Tomasz Piars, Dariusz Gwizdala, László Győrffy, Rami Pap, Aron Baráth and Polish curator Kaja Werbanowska, Kubik Coworking in Budapest/Mutargy.com
Sudden Death of a Hero II, June 2018, Polish – Hungarian international exchange exhibition with Jakub Ciężki, Bartosz Kokosiński, Ivo Nikic, Tomasz Piars, Dariusz Gwizdala, László Győrffy, Aron Baráth and Polish curator Kaja Werbanowska, Promocyjna Gallery in Warsaw
Curators: Patrycja Rup (PL), Kaja Werbanowska (PL)

le roi est mort, vive le roi!

In medieval France, after King’s death the marshal of the court used to announce the name of the new monarch immediately, in order to avoid quarrels and disputes over succession. “Le roi est mort, vive le roi!” (fr. ‘’the King is dead, long live the King!”) – this short announcement brings a double message. Firstly, the negative (death). On the other hand, it also dictates to celebrate the election of the new monarch instantly. The transition is rapid, but smooth: it does not leave the room for doubts as it guarantees continuity and safety. ’’Le roi est mort” itself, separated from the second consoling segment, has exactly the opposite effect: it arouses fear and anxiety because it can have serious and rather negative consequences.








Here we aim to imagine hypothetical situations in which good news never come. The main protagonist on whom we relied from the beginning, as we were pressed to follow his actions, fails and dies. There is no sign of a new hero coming to fight back and succeed. Lack of a new leader causes a crisis in the command center. Who is the protagonist? Who is the hero? Was he a typical predictable mixture of positive features and virtues, or maybe a converted drunkard and bandit? At this point it does not matter as we saw many of them, imposed or selected. Hence, this time we skip the hero. Is the world without leader/hero doomed to fail? Shall we call the vision of world without leaders ‘Utopian’?






Protagonist/leader/hero is the main construct: the figure that calls attention to himself constantly, as he is located in the center of events and plays a key role in the process, the development of the unfolding actions. The eyes of the crowds are focused on him: they follow his steps, talk and write about him and portray him. Finally, he becomes a representation for the collective interest, a face for the crowd and its main spokesman. But, the question arises: for whom he really speaks? Who helps him? Is there anyone else behind? Maybe he has become a victim of his own fate: by generating the course of events he turned into a remotely controlled mechanism himself. Let’s skip/remove the main hero, do not let him in. Let's look at the other actors: characters, animals and objects, in order to verify if the machinery of events is still working well.








Press info: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/kubik-coworking/sudden-death-of-a-hero-a-h%C5%91s-hirtelen-hal%C3%A1la/1521479127963537/

https://www.portfolio.hu/befektetes/mutargy/a-hos-hirtelen-halala-erdekes-kiallitas-nyilik.282852.html 

http://artmagazin.hu/artmagazin_hirek/ezt_nezd__tavaszi-nyari_szezon.4141.html?pageid=119

http://www.sdk.pl/2015-04-04-18-05-57/galeria-promocyjna/1263-nagla-smierc-glownego-bohatera

https://goingapp.pl/evt/1664155/nagla-smierc-glownego-bohatera-sudden-death-of-a-hero

http://cojestgrane24.wyborcza.pl/cjg24/Warszawa/1,43,585003,Nagla-smierc-glownego-bohatera.html

http://news.o.pl/2018/06/01/nagla-smierc-galeria-promocyjna-warszawa/