אלכסנדרה וילקזינסקה: פראייר

Aleksandra Wilczynska is a visual artist working in range of mediums including sculpture, video, performance and installation. In her work she searches for links between what is considered the personal sphere and the public. She was born in Poland where she studied Cultural Theory at Wroclaw University. She got her BFA degree from Hunter College, New York. In 2013 she relocated to Israel where she received her MFA degree from the Bezalel.

Aleksandra's recent projects deal with the concept of “freier” (פראייר) and global “freierness. The term “freier” has its roots in German and it also functions in other Eastern European languages. In Polish, for example, as in Hebrew it describes a person that is easily fooled; a “sucker. ” However in Polish it is much less significant as a cultural symbol. In Israeli culture it functions as an important component of the collective attitude, as well as a personal philosophy.

In 2018 Aleksandra created a fictional airline company called FreiAir that had its first quarters in Art Cube, Jerusalem. The exhibition space took form of a mobile office, where the viewers were invited to take part in creating the company.

During her residency in the Contemporary Art Center in Arad, Aleksandra conducted a research (sponsored by the airlines) that focused on the ancestry and roots of the freier. Her experience with the local culture and the natural environment led her to experiment with different cultural identities and their connections framed by the idea of freierness. The photographs and the drawings she created will form an archive of המרכז לחקר המוצא של הפראייר, The Freier Ancestry Research Center.