in the city of Katowice, Poland. Thank you Galeria Szyb Wilson
for having me at the 12th Art Naif Festival!
Photo by Bernie Walker
VICTORIA TUCHOLKA |
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I love traveling. Surprisingly, painting became a great opportunity to go there where I would probably not decide to go or I would choose to go last. This time I realized that I would surely miss a lot if I had not visited the city of Katowice before I die. Katowice turned out to be not such a disaster as they paint it in media. It is even much more green than I have imagined, but what is most important, I met so many nice people here that I think it would have been a great loss to Poland, if Ślązacy, the people of Śląsk, became an independent nation. On the other hand, I do perfectly understand their desire for recognition and independence after years of prejudice better than anyone on this earth probably. My grandma was born in Poznań in 1911. The official language in schools at the time of her childhood was German. The occupant did his best to germanize young minds and erase all knowledge of national, cultural, but also family identity. Fortunately, in vain. We do still learn and speak Polish in Poland today. We do know our roots. We slowly revive our culture in this neoimperialistic era. The war might be over, but it does not mean the end of the struggle to speak up one's mind in one's own language and be recognized as an independent human being, woman, artist, not a slave to any system, doctrine or fashion. Me against the wall with my paintings during the opening of the exhibition of naif art 12th Art Naif Festival in Galeria Szyb Wilson in the district of Nikiszowiec in the city of Katowice, Poland. Thank you Galeria Szyb Wilson for having me at the 12th Art Naif Festival! Photo by Bernie Walker Eva, my fellow artist, had good intentions and tried to inspire me to accommodate in one of the hostels, which she personally found good standard for a good price. At first, I told myself: "Sorry, sweetie, Katowice is no wilderness. Forget about camping under the stars!", but when I saw the concrete box of the hostel, I had no doubt that I will simply feel like a prisoner, how can I help? I am just a gypsy type, so I made a desperate research and finally found an ideal camping site. What a relief to finally camp in my beloved Golfie! What's more, the camping was located by the ponds, oh! I just cannot do without water, in a green area and it was the highest standard that I had to do with ever in my camping adventure. The only inconvenience was the noise from the highway, but then I guess it would have been too much of a paradise. Thank you Camping 215 for having me! You are surely my top camping destination in Katowice! And the Artist goes to... Golfie! At the beginning they joked Golfie will not run a year, but he is here with me five years now and was probably the one and only thing in this world which never let me down. Without him I would have never become rich in so many new experiences. I am a truly wealthy person today, though I am possibly penniless according to today's standards. If all the investments I made in this car during the past five years were objectively a waste of money for me they often turned out to be my last resort from going insane, losing motivation and contact with reality. Golfie, you became my place on four wheels in this world! Hope we will go on rollin' together this art of life another five years! Years of camping experience made me practically independent of eating out in restaurants, canteens or bars! If I do it, I do it only for pleasure. Generally I cook by myself. Even if I feel like a coffee on the way, I do not buy it at the gas station, just stop by wherever I want, take out my camping gas and boil water. I'm lovin' it and I love camping gas! The one who has invented it was a true genius! Exclusive camping for exclusive European guests, but I guess none of them had such an exclusive breakfast as I made that morning. All home or self made, no cheap food from shopping networks, only farmers or small local sellers. The egg pasta I made tasted even better the next day, but together with all the other delicacies it would surely not survive the Sahara heat without the portable second hand refrigerator. A new gadget in my Golfie's equipment! My plan for Saturday morning was to take a short walk around Nikiszowiec - the historic district of red window frames in Katowice. I was looking for inspiration for the open air painting which will take place during the Art Jarmark in July. If I get accepted, of course. One of the rose ornaments on the facade of the post office building in Nikiszowiec. If you take a closer look you will discover it is actually an example of a stunningly intricate mosaic. Archways, backyards and of course red window frames are the most characteristic elements of the local architecture. Archways open new dimensions of personal stories of locals living in this area. The red brick walls may seem apparently all the same, but if you look carefully, you will notice different patterns of colorful brick on the facades of the buildings. This is just one example of diversity in local architecture. If you take a longer while of a walk you will realize that buildings differ from one another in terms of doors, shape of the window frames, finishing of the facades and many other details. Each street possibly has its own peculiarities more or less historic or temporary. This can hanging down the window made my day. First I have noticed a dog, a husky sleeping on the windowsill, then I saw the can with a note: "I collect money for snow and sleigh... and the bonies as well :)" Of course, I could not pass without dropping a few pennies inside in that scorching heat! I have to think of installing a similar can on Golfie, for example: I collect money for going solar! :) The bonies reminded me of another part of my mission impossible - finding one of the regional products. After supplying in a pack of regional herbal anise candies kupalnioki in a local shop (I generally prefer chocolate, but these candies turned out absolutely fantastic in taste), I am back to the gallery in a totally new outfit for the Industriada event! Thanks for the photos to my Australian fellow artist and friend Bernie Walker. Meeting an Australian or rather an Australian meeting me in Katowice - that was the last thing I could imagine. The world is so small! So... whenever you think you have to take someone with you to be your photographer or even worse you think you need one of these selfie photo tools, forget it! Go alone, get rid of all hi-tech and find an Australian, mate! No worries! If you fail, he will surely find you. If you ever end up in Katowice, do not be surprised that his name will be Bernie. Photo by Bernie Walker This time it is not my car, so I could not sit behind the wheel, but maybe thank God, because if I were to drive this historic Mercedes, his owner would probably suffer from a heart attack. In Poland we have this black humor: no star, no ride! Thank you NEOKLASSIK for this fine ride and chat! A piece of jewellery for Golfie! I lost his Singapore tiger keyring a year ago and promised to make up for the loss. So here we go with a hand made coal drop! Yes, it is a piece of Polish coal polished up by me during a creative workshop in making coal decorations and jewellery - one of the attractions of the Galeria Szyb Wilson program for the event Industriada in Katowice. Fortunately I managed to clean up my black hands before the next stop. If I were to go to the end of any part of this or any other world and not have a taste of regional cuisine, it would have meant that I am sick or at worst seriously depressed. A visit to Katowice, to Śląsk would not be fully satisfactory without a regional dish composed of kluski śląskie (Silesian dumplings), rolada (best-quality beef-meat roll) and modra kapusta (red cabbage). The rolada could have been slightly less salty, but maybe that is the way Ślązacy like it. The dumplings and cabbage, for instance, were mild and balanced the saltiness of the whole dish. Hopefully, the chef of this most respected luxurious restaurant in Nikiszowiec did not go mad with me ordering only one, main dish without even a glass of water. Indeed, I truly regret not trying one of the non-alcohol refreshing drinks with hibiscus, but it would have meant a real food debauchery then. Thank you for this regional delicacy Śląska Prohibicja. You made my dish of June! Initially, I also planned to stop by one of the rocky nature reserves on the way back, but I guess it was an example of a totally wrong way of thinking in my case, a person who hates planning. It could mean only failure. I prefer to be unpredictable to everyone, even myself. Besides, I hate rushing. I need time to explore to relax. I am also a short-distance companion, because I always try to be 100% engaged, so I get tired of people easily and fast, especially at bigger events. I need loneliness and wilderness to reload batteries to go on functioning anyhow in social context. After driving in heat to Katowice, all I dreamt of was wild water. I would love to drive straight to the other end of Poland to my beloved lake Hańcza, but I have already exceeded my monthly budget for traveling, so Hańcza will have to wait, but it does not mean that a river will not do! I even had five minutes by the bank all by myself on this busy Sunday! Strangely, the photo I took reminds me of the painting Luncheon on the Grass by the French impressionist Edouard Manet. Its reproduction was painted on one of the walls in Galeria Szyb Wilson.
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VICTORIA TUCHOLKA
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