Krzysztof Wodiczko: The Art of Un-War
Krzysztof Wodiczko: The Art of Un-War, a film directed and produced by Maria Niro, explores the life and work of renowned artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. It delves into Wodiczko's powerful artistic interventions created as responses to the inequities and horrors of war and injustice. The artist’s interventions throughout the narrative become powerful examples of how art can be a catalyst for social change and healing.
The screening is followed by a Q&A session with Krzysztof Wodiczko and director Maria Niro, who will also participate in the discussion via Zoom.
Free admission! Sponsored by Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
About the Film
The Art of Un-War takes viewers on a captivating journey through the life and artistic interventions of renowned artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. For over 50 years Wodiczko has explored the profound impact of violence on humanity and the transformative power of art as a medium for public discourse. The film explores Wodiczko's monumental slide and video projections on architectural facades and monuments, which serve as powerful vehicles for addressing themes such as war trauma, displacement, history, memory, and public communication.
About the Artist
Krzysztof Wodiczko is renowned for his large-scale slide and video projections on architectural facades and monuments. He has realized more than 90 such public projections in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Northern Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. Since the late 1980s, his projections have involved the active participation of marginalized and estranged city residents. Simultaneously, and also internationally, he has been designing and implementing a series of nomadic instruments, vehicles and other cultural equipment with the homeless, immigrants, alienated youth, war veterans and other operators for their survival, communication and expression in the public space.
He received the Hiroshima Art Prize "for his contribution as an international artist to the world peace", and represented Poland and Canada in Venice Biennale (Canadian Pavillion and Polish Pavilions). He is also recipient of Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture, the Georgy Kepes Award, MIT, the Katarzyna Kobro Prize, and "Gloria Artis" Golden Medal from Polish Ministry of Culture. Krzysztof Wodiczko is a former Director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies and the head of Interrogative Design Group at MIT and since 2010 is a Professor and a coordinator of Art, Design and the Public Domain, a postgraduate (MDes) concentration at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.
About the Film Director
Maria Niro is a New York City-based artist and filmmaker who creates films that engage and inspire viewers to create social change. Her moving image work includes long-form documentaries and short art films. Her award-winning documentary, Krzysztof Wodiczko: The Art of Un-War (2023), which chronicles the life and political work of the internationally acclaimed artist Krzysztof Wodiczko, has been broadcast on TV Ontario (TVO) and screened at festivals and museums worldwide, including the New York Jewish Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center, Artecinema Teatro San Carlo, National Gallery of Art in DC, MIT, and Harvard Art Museums, among others. Niro’s short art films have been shown at the Whitechapel Gallery, Microscope Gallery, Queens Museum, and Anthology Film Archives, among other venues. Niro is a member of New Day Films, a filmmaker-owned and run distribution company providing social issue documentaries to educators since 1971.
Krzysztof Wodiczko: The Art of Un-War (2023 Trailer) from Maria Niro on Vimeo.