Revisiting Fish Performances by Warpechowski and Todosijević
In an article dated August 28, 2026, Karolina Majewska-Güde revisits two notable performances from the 1970s centered around fish: Zbigniew Warpechowski's 'Dialogue with Fish' (1973) and Raša Todosijević's 'Drinking Water: Inversion, Imitation, and Contrast' (1974). Warpechowski (b. 1938) showcased his work at the Lublin Theater Spring festival, while Todosijević (1945–2024) presented at the Student Cultural Center in Belgrade. The piece examines their photographic records, drawing parallels to Christian iconography and addressing the socio-political landscape of late state socialism. It also reflects on the ethical concerns of animal cruelty in art, juxtaposed with modern posthumanist perspectives, and references Martyna Miller's 2020 piece 'Dialogue with Glass Fish.' This article is included in the special issue 'Next to Each Other: Exercises in Horizontal Art History.'
Key facts
- Zbigniew Warpechowski (b. 1938) created 'Dialogue with Fish' in 1973 at the Lublin Theater Spring festival.
- Raša Todosijević (1945–2024) performed 'Drinking Water: Inversion, Imitation, and Contrast' in 1974 at the Student Cultural Center in Belgrade.
- Both performances involved young male performers mistreating living fish, which were documented in photographs.
- The works are analyzed in relation to Christian iconography, specifically Mantegna's 'Lamentation over the Dead Christ'.
- The article discusses the historical context of late state socialism in Poland and Yugoslavia, where such performances were used to provoke audiences.
- Martyna Miller's 2020 work 'Dialogue with Glass Fish' appropriates Warpechowski's documentation using a glass fish.
- The article is part of a special issue titled 'Next to Each Other: Exercises in Horizontal Art History'.
- The article was published on August 28, 2026, on Artmargins.
Entities
Artists
- Zbigniew Warpechowski
- Raša Todosijević
- Martyna Miller
- Marinela Koželj
- Simone Forti
- VALIE EXPORT
- Joseph Beuys
- Andrea Mantegna
- Luiza Nader
- Miško Šuvaković
- Ivana Bago
- Maria Puig de la Bellacasa
- Armen Avanessian
- Donna Haraway
- Giorgio Agamben
- Jacques Derrida
Institutions
- Zachęta — National Gallery of Art
- Student Cultural Center (SKC) Belgrade
- Tokyo Arts and Space (TOKAS)
- Japanese National Institute for Environmental Studies
- Artmargins
- MIT Press
- Routledge
- Georg Olms Verlag
- Sternberg Press
- University of Minnesota Press
- Duke University Press
- October (journal)
- PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art
- Teksty Drugie
Locations
- Poland
- Serbia
- Belgrade
- Lublin
- Yugoslavia
- Lake Biwa
- Japan
- Venice
- Berlin
- Minneapolis
- Durham
- Cambridge
- London
- New York
- Hildesheim
- Zürich