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Dear Sun Tzu,

I decided to write to you seeing what is going on in the world right now. ‘What a great beginning of the new year – a looming war.’ A message from a friend popped up on my screen. And she was not the only one thinking that. But aren’t we already at war for a while? 

We should all (re)read The Art of War, the prominent book on military strategy that you wrote in China more than two thousand years ago. Today it seems more relevant than ever. ‘Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.’ 

The art of war. The war of art. If at present the world is in crisis, art must be too. I had heard of iconoclasm, Nazi pillage, ISIS’ devastation of Mosul’s museum artifacts and the call to destroy Dana Schutz’ painting depicting Emmett Till. But if something concerns you personally it feels different, don’t you agree? Coming back from a ‘cultural exile’ to my motherland I didn’t expect to be back in time. I wasn’t prepared for a country where art is in a state of cold war, fearing for its freedom of expression, anticipating and not knowing what will happen next. 

In March 2019 Rosary Crusades protested in front of the CoCA Znaki Czasu in Toruń reciting prayers for a ‘dangerous Satanist’: Marina Abramović. A month later, Poland’s National Museum in Warsaw removed works of Natalia LL and Katarzyna Kozyra from an exhibition. Its director Jerzy Miziołek wrote that ‘this is the National Museum and certain gender issues should not be explicitly shown’. Later that year the Polish art world held its breath when Piotr Bernatowicz (known for his misogynic and anti-Semitic inclinations) was appointed – without an open competition recruitment procedure – as the new director of Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. 

After the fall of communism in Poland some that belong to the history of art tried to fight in the name of freedom of creative power, in the name of sexual and religious expression. They fought so hard, and now all that is almost gone. Art is in a critical position. Art is in a state of war. However, it seems as if the cultural scene instead of stirring up a wave of open protests (and I am not talking about the criticism expressed in the alcoves of private interactions), silently surrenders to the prevailing oppressive system. I can’t help but think of this as ‘hypocritical schizophrenia’. I used to dream to be part of structures that I now avoid. It had never crossed my mind that I would be happy for not being associated with any institution. 

You never really wrote about how to accept capitulation. Similarly, here, as tempting as it may sound, withdrawal from art is not a solution. As much as we need more Marcels Duchamp, not everyone is destined to move from making art to playing chess. Instead, artists should build a strong force, protect the imagination. In art, revolutionary things happened because people acted, not because they waited or followed orders and trends. 

Well, in this situation it is only to hope that this passiveness is just part of the strategy, a preparation for defense. My biggest worry though, is that it’s not only a matter of learning how to survive in this relatively new situation, but that we should learn how to overcome and defeat it – and, by doing so, gain an understanding of what we can get out of it.  

I am not a pessimist (yet). Some people believe that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The battle should be creative. It should be an artwork. That’s why I am turning to you. Hopefully you’ll be able to help with a strategy for the survival of the freedom of creativity.  

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.