Offer a Tear

Event Introduction

Tomasz Szrama will present his long durational and interactive performance of growing a plant from a seed in his hand. Audience members can join this process by offering their tears for the nourishment of the plant.

During the night of arts Szrama will be at Myymälä2 from 12:00–20:00.

Tomasz Szrama (b. 1970 in Poland) graduated in 1998 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland. Currently he lives in Helsinki, Finland. Szrama shifts between multiple disciplines, including photography, video, action and other time-based works. Regardless of the medium, a dominant thread, common in his work is the use of his own body and methods of performance art, which he has practiced since 1993. Characteristic features of his actions are the use of spectators, active participation of the audience and improvisation. Such a strategy embeds his presentations into the tradition of understanding performance art as a process art, where the very moment of creation is essential. His work touches on themes of nature, travel, trust in interpersonal relationships, and the ever present potential for personal failure.

Szrama has been regularly performing internationally in numerous events and festivals in almost 40 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, North and South America. He works both in institutional contexts, venues such as the Museum Reina Sofia, Göteborgs Konsthall, Scandinavia House NYC, Bangkok Art Centre, Adam Art Gallery in Wellington and in unique locations such as the deck of an aircraft, a ferry boat, a village in the Mexican desert, a yurt in the Mongolian steppe, an ocean shore in Greenland.

Further he has curated over 50 live art events and festivals. In 2008-2016 he worked as a producer, technical manager and was responsible for organizing live art events at Helsinki International Artist Project – HIAP.

He was a working grant recipient from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland for the year 2016, 2022, the years 2018–2020 as well as 2025–2029, from the Kone Foundation for 2017 and the Finnish Cultural Foundation for 2021. Currently gives lectures and offers workshops (i.e UNIARTS, SAMK, NOVIA, Art School MAA).

This event is a part of Tomasz Szrama’s ongoing exhibition called Postcards Dropped on the Way Home at Myymälä2 open until 24.08.2025.

This exhibition combines pictures from my numerous performances around the world, alongside the fresh analog records and objects used for the actions in the gallery.

tomaszszrama.com

Categories

Performance