WIESŁAW NAPIERAŁA (born in 1959 in Poznań)

In the years 1981-1986 he studied sculpture at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań, where he received a diploma with distinction in the studio of Professor Józef Kopczyński. In 1988 he started to work at the PWSSP in Poznań, where in 2015 he obtained the title of professor. Currently, he runs the sculpture studio at the Faculty of Sculpture and Spatial Activities at the University of Arts. He works with sculpture, photography and painting.

The Children's Crusade, which took place in the 13th century and whose goal was the liberation of Jerusalem from the hands of Muslims, was one of the most irrational events in European history. It mainly involved children from France and Germany, who were feed with absurdities and left behind all rational arguments uttered even by the Pope himself. The unsupported march of several thousand people wandered through Europe and was slowly dying out, heading for the tragic goal, which mostly was death or Muslim captivity. The crusade of children was an initiative of the participants of this procession, guided by the logic a child's world and not the logic of adults. A protest, a fascination, a longing for loved ones, or a childishly understood faith - or maybe all together - were the main stimuli to start this journey. The collision course between the worlds of adults and children makes this story timeless, generating questions about many aspects of the existence of not only the individual, but also all of humanity. The works presented at the exhibition are an attempt to synthetically present a journey through the sacred and profane, becoming an illustration of the nothingness and morbid adult devotion.

Photos: Agnieszka Bereta