Project initiator: Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation

Partners: The Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation, Easttopics, MeetFactory and Björnsonova

Project curator: Agata Cieślak 

Project coordinator: Magdalena Majewska 

Project design and identification: Marcel Kaczmarek 

Website developers: Aleksandra Gajda, Franciszek Dąbrowski

Website edition: Zosiia Floeth, Iwona Łabuz, Justyna Michalska

Media strategy: Business and Culture 

Over 250 woman artists and one platform that turns the spotlight on statements of women from Central and Eastern Europe. Secondaryarchive.org is a unique, international project, representing three generations of artists from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Its aim is to help promote, discover, and rediscover women artists and the most valuable phenomena of contemporary art of our region from the female perspective. The project was created by the Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation together with international partners.

Women artists, marginalized and neglected for years, regain their  rightful place in the artistic world of Central and Eastern Europe. The name  secondaryarchive.org is a slight provocation and a play on words, referring to  the secondary role that was historically assigned to these countries, often  treated as the periphery of the so-called first world. Female artists working  in the times of the communist regime had a particularly difficult time due to  the barriers it introduced to the cultural and social emancipation of women. It  was more difficult for them to express themselves through creativity and earn  their reputation beyond the borders of Central and Eastern Europe.  

On the other hand, the name “Secondary Archive” refers to  the stereotype of women as representatives of the “other sex”, subordinate  to men. In the project, the artists speak with their own voice – both when  creating Artist Statements and presenting their works. Their voice in today’s  world, accentuated with the fight for women’s rights, is exceptionally topical  and important. This was especially demonstrated by the recent events in  Poland and protests against the tightening of the abortion law that have  been going on since last year, widely commented around the world. The  new generation of female artists is thus confronted with topics related to  sexuality, patriarchy and the freedom to decide about your own body.  

secondaryarchive.org is a virtual platform consisting of over 600  pages of artistic statements, created in collaboration with 30 curators from 4  countries. The project covers the creative endeavors of three generations of female artists, starting in the 1960s. It was then, that the first generation of  artists had to function in the most difficult period of communist regimes. The  second generation of artists emerged in the 1980s and 1990s and experienced  the effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union at the beginning of their  careers. Finally, the third generation, reaching the age of maturity during the  political changes that have shaped the face of today’s Europe. 

– The project concerns girls, women, our sisters, female art  practiced amidst generations, and from various standpoints. We are still  operating in a world built by men in their masculine logic of undeserved  primacy of the “first sex”, hence this concept of the second category  which appears in our context. We give voice to artists, known and unknown,  feminists and traditionalists, painters, installation artists and sculptors,  directors, performers or artivists. We are creating a platform for words here  – bringing together their Artist Statements. We want to connect the artists  with each other so that they can express themselves, get to know each other  better and feel how a strong community based on diversity can be created –  says Katarzyna Kozyra, artist and initiator of the project. 

Polish artists featured in “Secondary Archive” include amongst  many others: Alina Szapocznikow, Natalia LL, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Zofia  Krawiec and Agata Kus. Artists from Slovakia include Jana Želibská, Denisa  Lehocká, Mária Bartuszová, Jana Kapelová and Zuzana Svatik. From Czech  Republic: Adéla Součková, Alena Kotzmannová, Marketa Garai, Veronika  Bromova and from Hungary: Orshi Drozdik, Katalin Ladik, Marianne Csáky,  Sári Ember and Andrea Éva Győri. In addition, the platform will provide access  to previously unpublished research by curators working on the practices of  female artists in the region.  

The project was created by the Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation  together with its partners – Easttopics (Hungary), Björnsonova (Slovakia) and  MeetFactory (Czech Republic) and in cooperation with Zachęta – National  Gallery of Art in Warsaw. The project is co-financed by the Governments  of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from  International Visegrad Fund. In the future, it will be expanded to include more  profiles of female artists from V4 countries and other regions of Europe.

Czech Republic 

•  Partner: MeetFactory 

•  Project coordinator: Piotr Sikora 

•  Support: Zuzana Belasová, Daniela Šiandorová 

•  Curatorial Team: Katarína Klusová, Jolanta Nowaczyk, Kristýna Péčová, Marianna Placáková, Eva Skopalová 

•  Translation: Stan Barański, Lamija Čehajić, Alena Kottová, Glynis Hull-Rochelle

•  Proofreading (Czech): Zuzana Kolouchová 

•  Special thanks: Flash Art Czech & Slovak Edition 

Poland 

•  Partner: Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation 

•  Cooperation: Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw  

•  Project coordinator: Agata Cieślak 

•  Support: Paulina Bijoch, Magdalena Majewska, Gabriela Porada, Asia Tsisar,  Justyna Załęska 

•  Curatorial team: Magdalena Adameczek, Anna Ciabach, Maja Demska, Anna Kowalska, Ewa Mielczarek, Karolina Rojek, Joanna Ruszczyk,  Agnieszka Sosnowska, Bogna Stefańska 

•  Translation: Ewa Kanigowska (Polski), Iwona Łabuz (Angielski) 

•  Proofreading (Polish): Agata Cieślak, Iwona Łabuz 

Hungary 

•  Partner: Easttopics 

•  Project coordinator: Róna Kopeczky 

•  Support: Fruzsina Kigyós, Alexandra Nagy  

•  Curatorial team: Kata Balázs, Fruzsina Kigyós, Róna Kopeczky, Fanni Magyar,  Viktória Popovics, Andrea Soós, Mónika Zsikla 

•  Translation: Róna Kopeczky, Andrea Soós, Alexandra Nagy,  Gerda Szabó  

•  Proofreading (Hungarian): Andrea Soós, Fanni Magyar, Kata Balázs 

Slovakia 

•  Partner: Björnsonova 

•  Project coordinator: Lucia Kvočáková  

•  Curatorial team: Viktória Beličáková, Zuzana Kotíková, Lujza Kotočová, Michaela  Kučová, Miroslava Urbanová, Denisa Tomková 

•  Translation: Lucie Kolouchová 

•  Proofreading (Slovakian): Lucia Kvočáková  

•  Special thanks: Flash Art Czech & Slovak Edition, Kapitál, Gallery of Nitra,  Slovak National Gallery, SODA Gallery 

The project was made possible thanks to the International Visegrad Fund.