llustrated German-Polish Dictionary

Cover hard (box)

Number of original C-prints 54
Dimensions 20.2 × 28 cm

Author Andrzej Tobis
Publisher Instytucja Kultury Ars Cameralis Silesiae Superioris
Year of publication 2007
Language Polish–German

The publication originates from the exhibition AZ, presented during the 16th Ars Cameralis Festival. The exhibition included 150 educational display cases based on entries from a Polish-German dictionary published in 1954, each illustrated by Andrzej Tobis with photographs taken in contemporary Poland.

The AZ project revisits this historical dictionary through a process of reconstruction. Rather than staging images, Tobis works with found photographs that reveal anecdotes, details and visual riddles.

The project examines the relationship between language and image, particularly in the context of propaganda and political use. It belongs to a broader tradition of artist-created “atlases” and “libraries” that became significant around the turn of the century. The work was first presented in Transition Magazine, published by Harvard University.

Andrzej Tobis (born 1970, Wieluń) lives in Katowice. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (Katowice branch), where he completed his doctorate in 2006 with the theoretical thesis Neo Rauch meets Polish scouts in the GDR forest. His work has been exhibited widely in Poland and internationally.