Agnieszka Kalinowska

Hostipitality. Receiving Strangers

An international project co-organized by the Art Museum in Łódź, in which the artists use installations, video, sculpture, actions, interventions, and Internet strategies to approach the situation of immigrants, or, more broadly speaking, foreignness. It seems to display migration – presently one of the key factors in the transformation of life – as one of the most difficult issues that modern societies are trying to come to terms with. “Hostipitality” is a term coined by Jacques Derrida to show how intimately hospitality is combined with hostility. This bond means that it is easy to start treating our guests as enemies. Łódź is the ideal city to hold this exhibit: Jewish and German immigration had a significant impact on its coming to be.