Performance tourism ™SM
Oskar Chmioła is the creator of the performance tour formula
Performance tourism (also called artistic tourism) is a guided tour in which the guide is a performance artist.
The guide does not speak (unless the utterance is a poem, a song, a message, etc.), but instead seeks cultural symbols and signs to tell the story of a given monument or place. The artist seeks to create gestures that will come to be regarded in the public consciousness as symbols of the given site. Naturally, such an action can go hand in hand with a traditional form of sightseeing, and the artist can accompany a guide leading a group.
DESCRIPTION FROM APRIL 24, 2017
the origins of Performance tourism ™SM
Artistic tourism was inspired by Extreme tourism. Several years after discovering this alternative way of exploring a city, the artist decided to formulate its artistic counterpart. This is how the concept evolved:
The idea of performance tourism was born in Warsaw, at Wawerska Strefa Kultury, in 2013, during the action “stalkerzy”. During the action, Oskar Chmioła guided Przemysław Kwiek around Wawerska Strefa Kultury.
Another expression of artistic tourism (the author’s alternative term for this kind of sightseeing) was the “SpaceTime Performance” actions (STP for short — “czasoprzestrzeń performance” in Polish) in various Polish cities. During these actions, the author and other artists visited different places (including Park Saski in Lublin, a courtyard in the old part of Kraków, Wawerska Strefa Kultury and Mazowiecki Park Krajobrazowy in Warsaw’s Wawer district, and Jasne Błonia in Szczecin), where they held collective performance encounters. Such actions often included activities referring to the history, architecture, atmosphere, significance, or another value of the place.
An important stage in the development of Performance tourism was the performance “Szaman miejski” (Urban shaman) performed by Oskar Chmioła as a guest contribution to the exhibition of Mirosław Bałka’s Pracownia Działań Przestrzennych in Warsaw’s Old Town on 23.01.2014.
The next stage in the formation of Performance tourism was urban games — artistic tours of Szczecin for children, young people and parents, led by the author in cooperation with Galeria Tworzę się in 2015 and 2016.
The author is currently looking for an institution, a sponsor or tourists who would like to explore Szczecin or another city in an alternative way — through performance.
© Oskar Chmioła
WHAT IS PERFORMANCE TOURISM?
(also called artistic tourism) is a guided tour in which the guide is a performance artist.
The guide does not speak (unless the utterance is a poem, a song, a manifesto, a message, etc.), but instead seeks cultural symbols and signs to tell the story of a given monument or place. The artist seeks to create gestures that will come to be regarded in the public consciousness as symbols of the given site.
This approach results from Picture culture and Hyperreality (post-truth), which, on the one hand, compel culture to be disseminated in a visual and essential form and, on the other, call for a stronger impact to encourage real, tangible contact with Material Cultural Heritage (in competition with virtual reality).
© Oskar Chmioła
The idea is now fully formed, and the author has ready-made tour scenarios. He invites you to get in touch.
An example of Performance tourism against the backdrop of Brick Gothic in Stargard — >
© Oskar Chmioła