PROVISORY

The PROWIZORIUM exhibition, prepared on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Polish Szczecin, is an interdisciplinary art and research project that attempts to tell the story of a city built from memory, displacement and uncertainty. It is a reflection on Szczecin as a unique cultural space, shaped by one of the greatest migration and settlement processes of the 20th century. It is also an occasion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Museum of Szczecin History in the Old Town Hall. The starting point is the notion of provisionality - not as a temporary state, but as a permanent element of identity. This term, used by the first mayor of the city, Piotr Zaremba, to describe post-war reality, today becomes a symbol of profound social, cultural and mental changes. The exhibition shows Szczecin as a laboratory of identity - a place of clashing fates of displaced persons from different regions of Poland, repatriates from the Borderlands, autochthons and immigrant population. Their experiences, memory and daily rituals created a unique cultural mosaic, the traces of which can be seen in the architecture, language and art of the city. The spaces of the Old Town Hall present works by three generations of artists associated with Szczecin. A special place is occupied by the works of the Konik Studio duo (Kasia Zimnoch and Pawel Kleszczewski), which engage in a dialogue with the memory of the place through site-specific installations and spatial interventions. They are accompanied by Andreas Menhard, Mark Lawlor, Krzysztof Kuźnicki, Bartłomiej Hajkiewicz, among others, bringing an external perspective and emphasizing the relational nature of Szczecin's identity. The narrative is complemented by artifacts and historical documents provided by the National Museum in Szczecin, creating a material background for artistic reflection. Collaboration with historians, including Dr. Eric Krasucki, gives the project a research dimension - covering collective memory, the trauma of migration and the transformation of identity after World War II. PROWIZORIUM is also a voice in the debate about the marginalization of Szczecin - a city long overlooked in the national narrative. The exhibition not only revisits its history, but also shows it as a dynamic field of cultural experimentation, still redefining its place on the map of Polish culture.