Participants` biographies

"Otwock"
Season 3: Nothing about that. Fictional narratives
BIOGRAPHIES OF THE PARTICIPANTS
Wojciech Bąkowski (b. 1979) is the author of experimental animated films, drawings, video art,
music, performances, and sound installations. He is the a leader of KOT, Czikita and Niwea music
bands. In 2007, he co-founded the Penerstwo art group in Poznan. He won the Spojrzenia prize in
2009 and the Paszport Polityki award in 2010. In 2009, his works were part of the exhibition "The
Generational: Younger Than Jesus" at New York's New Museum. He also writes poetry, showing
influences by Miron Białoszewski, who was a frequent visitor to Otwock. In his texts, he explores the
experience of banal reality, everyday reality and language. He lives and works in Warsaw.
Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys (b. 1965/1966) have been working together since the mid-1980s
They are authors of films, photographs, sculptures, installations, performances, and texts. Their works
have been shown at many international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 2013 and the
Berlin Biennale in 2008. In 2013, their first retrospective exhibition "Optimundus" was held at MHKA in
Antwerp. In 2014, their individual shows are planned, among others, in Kunsthalle Wien, MCA Chicago,
and Wattis Institute in San Francisco. Their work is characterized by black humour, a sense of the
absurd, and irreverent simplicity that create a depressing portrait of the contemporary society. The
characters in their films are played by non-professional actors or puppets and dummies made by artists.
Fiction in their work is intermingled with reality, and movie characters and objects filter into the real
world as sculptures. The artists live and work in Brussels.
Maciej Maryl (b. 1982), Assistant Professor in the Historical Poetics Department of the Polish
Academy of Sciences Institute of Literary Research. He is a literary critic, sociologist, translator, author
of radio plays. He graduated from the Warsaw University College of Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in
the Humanities, Artes Liberales Academy, and the School of Social Sciences of the Polish Academy of
Sciences Institute of Philosophy and Sociology. Fellow of the Foundation for Polish Science and the
Polish-US Fulbright Commission. The author of numerous texts and translations published both in
Poland and abroad. Member of the Editorial Board of "Teksty Drugie." In 2013, he defended his
doctoral thesis on the literary life on the Internet. He is interested in literary communication, the new
media, multimedia literature, electronic editing, digital humanities, and the relationship between
technology and culture. He is also the author of the thesis "Literatura jako symulacja. Doświadczenie
fikcji w procesie lektury." [Literature as simulation. Experiencing fiction in the process of reading].
Marek Pąkciński (b.1960), historian of Polish literature, science fiction writer and translator. PhD,
Assistant Professor in the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and lecturer
at the Institute of Polish Philology of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce. His research focuses mainly
on modernist literature. He grew up in Otwock, where he graduated from K.I.Gałczyński Secondary
School. As a science-fiction writer, he debuted at the age of 16 with a short story "Turniej" in the July
edition of "Młody Technik" monthly and, next, with a collection of short stories Owadzia planeta
(Czytelnik 1976). He is the author of several novels, including "Ogród pamięci" (1985), "Monada"
(1989), "Skarb Hittinu" (1991), "Policje tajne" (1993). He also wrote several short stories, published
regularly by "Fantastyka" monthly. He lives in Toruń.
Joseph Rykwert (b.1926) – art historian and architecture critic, professor of architecture emeritus at
the University of Pennsylvania. Born in Warsaw, he emigrated to England in 1939. He lectured at
many prestigious architectural schools, his students include Daniel Libeskind and Alberto PérezGómez. Since 1996, he has been President of the International Committee of Architectural Critics
(CICA). Laureate, among others, of the Bruno Zevi prize (2000) and "The Gold Medal Bellas Artes"
(2009). In 2013, he was awarded The Royal Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to the world
architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) upon approval of the British Queen. He
is the author of many seminal publications on architecture, such as: "The Dancing Column"(1996),
"The Judicious Eye"(2008), and "The Seduction of Place"(2000), his first book translated into Polish.
Before the war, the Rykwerts had a summer home in Otwock.
Renata Senktas (b.1979), poet, graduate in English at the University of Warsaw, author of
translations and essays published in journals such as "Studium", "Czas Kultury", "Kwartalnik
Artystyczny", "Dziennik Portowy", "Literatura na świecie", as well as of the women's poetry anthology
"Solistki" [Soloists]. She debuted in 2010 with a volume of poetry, "Bardzo", nominated for the 2011
Silesius Poetry Award. She lives and works in Otwock.
Szczepan Twardoch (b. 1979) is a writer, journalist, and columnist. He studied sociology and
philosophy at the Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in the Humanities at the University of Silesia in
Katowice. He has published five novels, including "Wieczny Grunwald," which was awarded a
distinction of the Józef Mackiewicz Literary Prize and nominated for the Gwarancja Kultury Prize, as
well as several collections of short stories, including: "Tak jest dobrze", nominated for the Gdynia
Literary Prize. In 2012, Wydawnictwo Literackie published his novel "Morfina", awarded the 2012
Polityka Paszport Prize and also nominated for the Nike Literary Award. He lives in Pilchowice in Upper
Silesia. He is preoccupied with the problems of identification with one's birthplace, as well as national
identity: Polish, German, and Silesian.
Aleksandra Waliszewska (b. 1976) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She is a
painter. She has won several scholarships of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Her works
have been published by: "Timeless Edition", "My Dance", "The Skull", "Fukt", "United Dead Artists",
"Les Editions Du 57", "Drippy Bone Books", "Editions Kaugummi", and her paintings were used as the
covers of records by Chicaloyoh, Scarcity of Tanks, Mike Doherty and the Populista series published by
Bolt Records. In 2012, her works were the inspiration for Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari to
make the movie "Capsule", co-written by Waliszewska, and in which she appeared in a supporting
role. The film premiered at dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel. In 2013, she won the AECA award for best
foreign artist at the ARCO art fair in Madrid. She lives and works in Warsaw.