ABOUT
Pop culture, creativity, freedom – these are the keywords behind the Courtyard Gallery’s curatorial concept. Stary Browar’s exhibition program is a year-round platform for cross-disciplinary projects combining fashion, art, technology and craft.
The idea
Pop culture, creativity, freedom – these are the keywords behind the Courtyard Gallery’s curatorial concept. Stary Browar’s exhibition program is a year-round platform for cross-disciplinary projects combining fashion, art, technology and craft. The Courtyard Gallery is an internationally renowned place aiming to encourage discoveries and boost the freedom of artistic expression among the visionary creators: fashion designers, artists, performers, inventors. The quality of the exhibitions held in Stary Browar’s space are defined not only by the uniqueness of the artifacts and ambitious curatorial concepts, but also by the creative, spectacular set design. Thanks to the unusual location in the heart of a stylish shopping mall, the Gallery attracts a varied, democratic audience of all generations. The Courtyard Gallery’s mission is to bring colors, beauty and a smile to daily life.
The story
In the early 2000s, ambitious entrepreneur and art collector Grażyna Kulczyk came up with a unique investment concept for her hometown, Poznan, Poland. She decided to build a place dedicated to art on a dilapidated old 19th-century brewery lot. To fund future artistic events and initiatives, she planned to combine art with business. She created a center where one could pop over for a bit of shopping as well as catch a play or visit an art exhibition. Stary Browar [‘Old Brewery’] opened in 2003. The architectural project by the Poznanian Studio ADS connected the historical network of structures of the Hugger brewery with new, functional, and agelessly beautiful buildings inspired by the 19th-century industrial round-arch style. Until today, Stary Browar is considered an architecture icon as well as a benchmark for mixed-use facilities worldwide.
Two buildings located at Stary Browar’s courtyard – The Courtyard Gallery and the Melt House – had been entrusted to the Art Stations Foundation. Between 2004 and 2016, the foundation held hundreds of exhibitions and events inspired by Grażyna Kulczyk’s collection. The collector’s second endeavor was dedicated to modern dance and experimental choreography. As she says, “I firmly believe you can make an impact on a person by giving them something beautiful.” After a change of ownership in 2015, Stary Browar’s artistic repertoire gained a more pop-cultural focus thanks to the long standing Gallery contributor and Curator Wojtek Piotr Onak ( W P Onak ). It became a place where you can expect the unexpected.
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The space
The Courtyard Gallery is a part of Stary Browar complex, located in the heart of the city of Poznan, Poland, halfway between Berlin and Warsaw. The Gallery is a 3-level detached building in a picturesque courtyard with historical structures of the 19th-century Huggers’ brewery. The exhibition space consists of three halls, one on each floor. Each room measures approximately 175 m2 and has an individual character, yet can be easily transformed and adapted for varied set design concepts. Functional spaces – corridors and a staircase – are often used for displays as well. All exhibition rooms are equipped with professional lighting. The Courtyard Gallery is run by an experienced
in-house production and technical team.