As we can read in the encyclopedia: “plein-air” [fr.(en) plen air ‘under the open sky’] is simply painting outdoors, directly from nature, in open space. Outdoor painting was initiated at the beginning of the 19th century by the English school. It became popular at the end of the 19th century, thanks to the Impressionists and then included in the artistic education. Nowadays, plein-airs is also a term used for a stay of a group in one place, where they create artistic work. Fundacja Dom Kultury’s plein-airs refer to a post-war tradition of group outdoor painting, and at the same time, overcome one of their unfavorable features. Namely, they draw on thegroup-creative traditions – the people participating in the workshops simultaneously bond with each other, overcoming elitism. The workshops are attended by local residents, participants of “Kłodzka Roma”, a Roma culture festival and specialists in other fields who are leading workshops as a part of the festival.
An important point of reference for our initiative were the plein-airs and an international artistic residency program “Jaw Dikh!” in Czarna Góra. The initiative is attended by Roma andnon-Roma authors, curators and theorists and has been organized since 2011 by Małgorzata Mirga-Tas. The curator and artist has shown that the magic circle can be broken and the idea of outdoor painting can be used as a binder between different words.
