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The following texts and the pictures were kindly provided by Majid Abbasi, curator of the exhibition. |
Exhibition poster by Majid Abbasi
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in memoriam jan lenica (1928-2001)
a poster selection from morteza momayez private collection and dydo poster collection november 7-17, 2002 niavaran cultural complex, Tehran Please see also graphiciran.com, the web site of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society (IGDS) |
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Kennedy Galleries New York, 1975 
Jan Lenica Plakaty, 1972 
Happy Incident, Theater Play by Slawomir Mrozek, 1974 |
The scream of Wozzeck
In memoriam of Jan Lenica (1928-2001) I cannot remember clearly when I first saw the poster of Wozzeck but like all other masterpieces of the great masters, I will have it in my mind forever. Every time I think about Jan Lenica, I remember Wozzeck as well as Alban Berg. To me, this is something like Shakespeare's Hamlet and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. After some years in the cultural committee of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society (IGDS), some of my friends and I decided to organize Polish Posters Exhibition in Tehran. We did not have the original version of the poster therefore we agreed to have a digitally printed one and right in the center of the main wall. After this exhibition I became more interested in Polish posters and I bought different books to know more about Lenica and of course other great Polish poster designers. Then I had a wonderful opportunity to visit Poland as well as great Polish graphic designers. The 18th International Poster Bienniale Warsaw opened on 8th of June 2002 in The Poster Museum at Wilanow. In 1966, Lenica won the first prize for Wozzeck at the First International Poster Bienniale in Warsaw. He had passed away some months before so there was a moment a silence for him and later another moment of silence for Ikko Tanaka. Victor Gorka, Waldemar Swierzy, Mieczyslaw Wasilewski, Franciszek Starowieyski, Maciej Urbaniec and many more were all there except three great Polish poster designers: Roman Cieslewicz who had passed away some years ago, Jan Lenica who passed away recently and Henryk Tomaszewski who was too ill to be there. Being in that atmosphere including their streets and architecture caused me a deep understanding of the Polish masters. One day I went to visit Morteza Momayez. I wanted to sort his private collection of posters of the graphic designers from all over the world for the Museum of Graphic Design in Tehran. When I came back to the my studio and looked at the posters again, I found twenty two of Lenica's posters among them. The day after, Morteza Momayaz and I decided to organize an exhibition of Lenica's posters. Then I talked to Krzysztof Dydo who is famous collector and manager of Poster Gallery in Cracow and he sent me fourteen more of Lenica's posters. The first anniversary of Jan Lenica's death was in October 2002 and Niyavaran Cultural Center prepared for his exhibition. Krzysztof wrote about Lenica and sent it to me. I wanted Alain Le Quernec to the same and he also sent me a piece of writing which was full of his feelings. At the end I asked Morteza Momayez. Regardless of all the things he was busy with, he wrote about Lenica too. Now I could prepare them all to have an interesting catalogue. After years I am not sure but I think one day in my imagination, I saw Wozzeck on the walls of the streets in Warsaw. The streets which are now very different. That wall was completely red and only "The scream of Wozzeck" could be seen. Maybe on the same wall, there is a poster of McDonald now. Today he is highly remembered in Iran for his art. Majid Abbasi, October 2002 |
Wozzeck, Opera by Alban Berg, 1964 
Swan Lake, Ballet music by Peter Tchaikovsky, 1973 
Munich Olympic Games 1972, 1969 |
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Intrduction by Majid Abbasi |
Brief encounters, by Alain Le Quernec |
Unforgettable Memories, by Krzysztof Dydo |
A long-distance friendship, by Morteza Momayez |
The Catalogue | Pictures from the vernissage |