Nomad s trvalym bydlistem - Lech Majewski

Abstract

If the figure of a pointlessly wandering flneur is agreed to be recognized as an emblem of postmodemity, or — in other words — if the wandering itself is its own goal, then the figure epitomizing postmodemity is that of a nomad. Such a concept, obviously opposite to the views of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, finds its foundations in Zygmunt Bauman’s thought. The sociologist observed that the nomads never choose their route at random; they do not plan it anew every day. The common characteristic shared both by nomads and by pilgrims (which makes representatives of both groups prominently different from the postmodern man) is the unalterability of the course once taken. Lech Majewski is a nomad in a double sense of the word. Firstly, he endlessly wanders in the space between the media he uses for the sake of his peregrinations. Poetry, prose, essay, painting, film, music, theater, opera — all represent the rich inventory of means the artist employs to exercise fully authorial expression. Secondly, Majewski has worked (and still works) in various locations, including Poland, England, America, Brasil, Germany, and Lithuania. These creative rovings could possibly be offered as the most powerful proof of his nomadism, or perhaps of his lack of rootedness in one place functioning as some “personal center of Universe” of paramount importance. Yet, paradoxically, such reasoning could lead one astray: Majewski’s recent work — especially the film and stage versions of his autobiographical opera Pokój saren [The Room of the Does] and two film productions, WOjaCZEK and Angelus — clearly disprove the “nomadic” intepretations of the artist and his work. The central locus of the artist, who is perfectly capable of successful functioning in a variety of geographical and artistic contexts, is the city of Katowice, the city of his birth, which, in the year 1953 (when Majewski was born) was called Stalinogród. The present article strives to synthetically present the (to-date) artistic achievement of Lech Majewski, one of the most versatile of contemporary Polish artists, who has proven to be successful in creating art of universal dimensions, and yet art tinged with the uniqueness of his own “little province”.