Marek Grygiel:
    HOW THE PICTURE COMES INTO BEING...
 

    Octóber 16th, 1999. Budapest.
    Lódz Kaliska is performing in the Liget Gallery: during the opening of "Lofasznamurze" exhibition they  realize their performance entitled "Married woman unclothed by her bachelors, even". The title is taken from wellknown work of Marcel Duchamp, the spiritual father of the group. During the performance which lasts for dozen or so minutes two (not only one as the original title suggests) young women dressed in traditional wedding dresses one being unclothed by two bachelors who are cutting out with scissors pieces of wedding dress piece after piece. Two other bachelors walk around this event with a big mirror "transmitting" thus reflection of the models being stripped to the people who came to the opening and accidental passerbys who grouped themselves on the street and observe the event through gallery's windows. After unclothing the models completly long strips of the wedding dresses are being hung on ladder which stand on the one of gallery's walls denying thus laws of physics. There are fish thrown out of cans scattered around - what causes specific smell. Closely stands a bucket with dozens of swirling catfish, inhabitans of nearby Danube. On the walls there are - besides of the ladder with remnants of wedding dresses - photographs of former performances of Lódz Kaliska. One wall is completly covered with identical Adam Rzepecki posters showing a naked model with three breasts.

October 17th, 1999. Zala.
    Small town south west of Budapest, close to the Lake of Balaton. Only a few know it as place of the Museum of Mihaly Zichy, one of the greatest Hungarian painters of 19th century. At this very place Lódz Kaliska makes its next performance which purpose is to make photograph. The museum is set in original mansion surrounded by a picturesque park. The main object being inspiration and background for planned performance is the huge painting of Zichy entitled "The Triumph of the Genius of Destruction" (1878) which is placed on the wall of artist's studio. Lódz Kaliska do not pays attention to the groups of Hungarian and German tourists and follows its schedule of taking pictures. In this project participate also group's Hungarian friends: Tibor Várnagy, curator and director of the Liget Gallery and Levente Lehel Sütõ renown artist and etnographer from Transylvania. Everything goes smoothly and thanks to sympathy of Museum's staff the session is over less than two hours.

    October 19th, 1999. Budapest.
    Two showings of Lódz Kaliska films from 1982-1997 are presented in the BBS-Toldi Cinema at Bajcsy Zsilinszky street as a part of Budapesti Õszi Fesztivál. Before the second (evening) show there is a presentation of Lódz Kaliska and the well known Hungarian critic Miklós Peternák who also presented Lódz Kaliska films ten years ago in TIT Kossuth Klub cinema ten years ago delivers his introduction.*
    After the showing of films the artists have meet with spectators.
    This very short report deals only with factual elemets of these few October days of Lódz Kaliska in Budapest. The result of these days was undenied artistic succes. But it also important to report what was "in between". The journey to Budapest went with some troubles (car accident of Malgosia /"Pynio"/ and Piotr D. in Slovakia), a fine had to be paid for subway ride without ticket, precious and expensive photographic equipment was lost. And there were long night talks in many languages with Hungarian friends (super goulash of Zsuzsi Ujj's), looking for the "old traces", revitalizing old contacts ("refreshing" - to use Levente's word), interviews for local press (e.g. Magyar Hírlap), plans for new artistic enterprises. Wonderfull meeting at Gyuri Durst place who together with his wife Vacskamati, daughter Macsi and son Peter treated Lódz Kaliska tasty fish soup and fine white wine from his own vinyard.

    This way a picture comes into being... the partial picture of a few October days of Lódz Kaliska visit to Hungary.
 
 

(Lódz Kaliska: HOW THE PICTURE COMES INTO BEING / COATS NOT COATS - catalogue of the Mala Galeria; Warsaw, December 1999)

*Lódz Kaliska presented its works and performances in the Liget Gallery and the TIT Kossuth Klub in March 1989