TESTIMONIALS

I had the pleasure of working with Marta Adamowicz on an event in February 2022 to promote Polish culture through workshops to people from all walks of life and diverse cultures.

The aim of this event was to teach people about Polish folklore through art making. All of the participants enjoyed the workshop and it was a pleasure to watch people from different cultural backgrounds and communities appreciating Polish culture together through an art medium that was new to many of them.

Marta was easy to work with and she was professional at all times. She contributed lots of creative ideas and I look forward to continuing this work with her in the future. The workshop has been a part of an ongoing Migrant Voice project and only the first one of many events that we will be involving Marta in.

Culture Collective was a network of 26 participatory arts projects, shaped by local communities alongside artists and creative organisations. Funded by the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland, projects took place across Scotland from March 2021-October 2023. 

Marta and Robert produced a series of visually beautiful and arresting animations as a result of their community engagement with members of the Polish community in the Southside of Edinburgh, some of which have gone on to feature at film festivals in other parts of Scotland. 

I also had the added pleasure of working with Robert on the Culture Collective Celebration event that took place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre towards the end of the project. Robert understood the brief immediately and, despite a very tight turnaround, managed to exceed expectations by helping to make a complex outdoor aerial event fully accessible with projected captions as requested. I couldn’t have been happier with the final result.

This is my privilege to recommend Robert Motyka. I have known him since 2004 when Mr. Motyka joined the Polish-German oral history project “Tadeusz Sobolewicz – Biography – Argument”, which is dedicated to the memory and experiences of prisoners of the concentration camp in Auschwitz. I took part in the project as a member of a supervisory team consisting of representatives of the institutions involved in the project, namely the International House of the Youth Meeting, Statte der Begegnung e.V. in Vlotho, the Bielefeld University and the Jagiellonian University.

The oral history project consisted of the idea of cooperation between Polish and German students, who had an opportunity to make interviews with a former Auschwitz prisoner. The binational project was finalized with an exhibition and a book presenting the results of the meetings.

Robert Motyka was invited in this last phase of the work to prepare a design, both of the exhibition and the publication corresponding with the main messages of the project. Very soon, he proved not only his professionalism at work but also his commitment to the project and an exceptional gift of empathy for the dimension and educational messages. Having very good relations with the participants of the workshops, he recognized easily their ideas, turned them into the language of art, and then evaluated his own proposals according to the wishes of the participants.

Willing to listen and able to reflect on concepts, Robert Motyka prepared an excellent design visualizing ideas concerning the educational and humanistic values of the project. No doubt his work contributed to the success of the exhibition visited by students and pupils, who had no problems recognizing the main messages.

On our 30th anniversary as a charity, Zero Tolerance wanted to ensure that we offered and implemented a range of workshops for women across Edinburgh and Glasgow. For this important moment in our history, I was lucky enough to work alongside Marta to develop and deliver a series of workshops around violence against women from ethnic minority backgrounds (e.g. trans, Pakistani, Arabic, and many more). This sensitive subject is often silenced by domination and isolation.

To create the workshops that we imagined and to provide these communities with a safe welcoming environment required a sensitivity and strong work ethic. Marta was able to do this in a deceptively easy manner for all and participants felt able to express themselves in a room mostly full of strangers. This is not an easy task yet doing so allows some of the most isolated people in our city to feel heard.

Participants actively engaged in making artwork and translating some of their experiences into the metaphor of fairytales from their cultural group and the feedback from the community has been excellent. Many felt seen and heard for the first time from someone outside of their culture and those experiences will stay with them for life. Their artwork, their physical voices and their stories were translated into a video and the output of all of this work was done on time, on budget and without problem.

I very much enjoyed working with and learning from Marta and I look forward to collaborating together on more life-changing art community workshops.

I had the pleasure of working with Piotr Motyka and Robert Motyka on numerous occasions. They were commissioned to develop several videos for the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh:

They are exquisitely professional in their approach and an enjoyment to work with. They were extremely flexible to accommodate our academics and understood the pressure on their time. He was efficient and filming never took longer than it needed to. Our objective for the research videos was to develop videos that would be accessible to as broad an audience as possible and he delivered on that. The process was fun, and even the most anxious colleagues were made to feel at ease in front of the camera.

The final videos are polished and creative; Robert put a lot of thought into every detail, including animations and soundtrack.

The brief for the student experience videos was to attract prospective students to study in the School of Informatics. Robert’s videos don’t just do that: they also serve as a community builder for our student cohorts, and to this day remind them of the time they had during their University times.

Outside of the University of Edinburgh I also had a chance to work with Robert on various community projects, including book events organised for the Interactive Writing Salon in Scotland. Robert provided a multitude of services: from designing posters to projections during events. He has always been a reliable, efficient and professional partner to work with and I couldn’t recommend him more.

I have worked with Robert Motyka on multiple projects in the past years including Polish Scottish Heritage ( Research and Production of 6 short documentaries), Polish Cultural Festival (Visual Identity and Projections at the concerted and opening gala), Carbogenics ( Production of animation and video to promote work of the company).

Robert is a unique professional able to deliver creative and memorable work in an extremely organised manner. He is a pleasure to work with, a respectful listener able to integrate the vision and opinions of the client while at the same time adding value and a creative edge.

He is an enthusiastic person able to work with a diverse range of people, at his best working with the community. He is not afraid to go the extra mile for worthwhile projects. Overall great professional and person. Highly recommended.

I have collaborated with Robert, and hired his professional expertise, on a number of projects including website content and design, filmmaking and a large projected animation, a culmination of work with young people.

He is a joy to work with, always delivering work on time and always within budget. The end result of his collaborations with me has resulted in work of the highest quality and always enriched by his creative input. While always offering a fresh creative perspective he pays close attention to the client’s brief. In my experience, his skills and input have added value to every project we have worked on together.

In our most recent collaboration “Where Will The Flight Take Us?” he fulfilled the brief to the letter and more, as the end result exceeded our wildest expectations. Any project will benefit from his creativity and professional skills.

He brings great calm and integrity to our collaborations, listening, guiding gently, and asserting quietly as he draws on his broad experiences in his field in order to create the best possible outcome. I look forward to working with him in the future.

Language Hub have worked with Marta Adamowicz on a range of projects since 2016 and we have appreciated developing a range of projects together over the years. Our workshops have been run for people of all ages, from young children to adults, and from many different cultures, using a creative range of mediums. For example, teaching the Polish language through songs, through art workshops as well as direct language workshops, and Polish festival days.

As an experienced arts professional, Marta is able to run many different types of events with us; art workshops, exhibitions, art curation for events, etc. She is also able to professionally execute projects without any foreseeable problems using ideas that we provide, ideas that Marta comes up with, or in collaboration together. In addition to her wide ranging arts skills, she can be trusted to positively engage with vulnerable people of all ages and backgrounds and to create a warm welcoming space. This is evidenced by the high number of repeat visits from previous attendees of her workshops. At a time when people are still suffering from loneliness and isolation since the pandemic and Brexit, this is absolutely vital for the health of our community.

I highly recommend her as an artist, a community developer, a work colleague and a human being.

In 2021, Robert Motyka took part in the community art project ‘Polski’ run by the non-profit Polish Contemporary Art Organisation at Abbeyhill Primary School (The City of Edinburgh Council). Robert was responsible for turning children’s artworks into a very imaginative short film titled ‘Imaginary Cityscape’.

Among the aims of the ‘Polski’ art project that Robert delivered were:

• to encourage cross-cultural collaboration and integration through participation in a series of art workshops with 11 pupils from Primary 7 in 2021.
• to promote equality and social diversity through a variety of creative activities leading to the exhibition during Colonies of Artists in 2022. 
• to activate various community groups including people of different ages, abilities, and language barriers (children and their families) through taking part in any after-class events supporting the opening night and the exhibition.
• to enhance understanding of the Polish heritage through working with Polish artists.

Robert delivered a high-quality animation, which was much praised by the children, teachers, the school and the local community of Abbeyhill. Robert was very engaged in ‘Polski’, he exceeded the organisers’ expectations in many ways. His professionalism and engagement shone through the delivery of his work. The animation, he created, was of the highest artistic and technical standards. It was very original, memorable and appealing to the audience’s imagination.

Robert was very reliable and engaged throughout his project’s delivery, despite working in very unpredictable Covid conditions.

We are very grateful for Robert to share his time and skills with children from the Abbeyhill Primary School and we would not hesitate to work with him again.

The award-worthy short film ‘Imaginary Cityscape’ was submitted to the 14th annual Edinburgh and Lothians Schools Film Competition 2022.

We had the pleasure of working with Robert as part of KinoKlub, Edinburgh’s surrealist cinema collective committed to showcasing some of the best in surreal and experimental film from all eras and across the globe on a regular basis. As part of KinoKlub, we put together the following site-specific events:

• Cinemachanique (November 2012, Inspace Gallery) – showcase of excerpts from 1920s experimental films, including those by Hans Richter, Eugene Deslaw, Walter Ruttman, Dziga Vertov and Fernand Leger, all with multi-screen projections from Robert Motyka. Utilising the projection capabilities of the venue, the event provided an immersive experience and a means to enjoy almost century-old imagery within its new context;

• multi-screen installation showcasing Belgian surreal shorts and Will Anderson & Ainslie Henderson’s animations (July 2017, the Waverley Arches) – three-day immersive projection experience curated by Malgorzata Bugaj and architected by Robert Motyka. Part of Heverlee At New Waverley;

• Kenneth Anger at Hidden Door Festival (May 2018; former State Cinema in Leith) – special immersive screening of Kenneth Anger’s films featuring additional visuals by Robert Motyka;

• KinoKlub Presents: Franciszka and Stefan Themerson (May 2018; Adam House, The University of Edinburgh) – screening of a selection of avant-garde and multi-media films produced by the Themersons. Mapping and immersive, multi-projector experience by Robert Motyka. Part of Polish Heritage Days.

Robert was critical in the success of each of these events, consistently bringing original ideas and first-rate execution. He is capable of producing stunning works that are technically impressive and visually striking. He brings both technical expertise and creative flair to every collaboration. In addition to his artistic abilities, Robert is also a pleasure to work with. He is professional, reliable, and always willing to go above and beyond to ensure that projects are completed to the highest standard.

In November 2021, Marta became a valuable collaborator and contributor to a major public event at The Hunterian Museum, working in partnership with “Hunterian Associate” and researcher Dr Dobrochna Futro. While working towards her doctorate, Dobrochna was leading a public engagement and education project relating to engaging children with themes about migration in the context of Polish Art and Artists: Polish Treasures Migration through the lens of Art.

The event, Collective Care was run in collaboration with the University of Glasgow’s Dear Green Bothy and the UK wide Humanities festival, “Being Human”. At a time when people were just returning to in person events post COVID, this was a hugely valuable engagement on a number of levels. It was attended by a wide range of ages and interests.

Marta ran a practical drop-in lino cutting workshop and connected with the collections of The Hunterian as well as demonstrating her own work. You can see some clips of the busy workshop in a video via the link above.

Marta’s lively and engaging manner combines perfectly with her practical and creative art practice. The workshops she led fascinated children and adults alike and formed an invaluable component of our event programme.

In 2022, our organisation, Feniks, chose to work with Robert to produce a video for our digital media campaign, “Shed your armour, show the scars!“.

Robert’s work didn’t just meet our expectations. It far exceeded it.

The whole process was a pleasure. During the initial meeting, Robert introduced various concepts for our film. He adjusted them according to our needs, campaign character, timeline, and budget. He explained what would work best and what our focus should be. He understood our vision and made crucial suggestions for a final outcome.

Moreover, Robert kindly volunteered to create a logo and colour scheme for our campaign. He proposed several options and sacrificed his free time to share his graphic design knowledge and experience with our team members. Consequently, by using Robert’s service, we avoided numerous mistakes and benefited on many levels.

Robert’s input helped to shape the appearance of our campaign. He was responsible for the video’s artistic and technical aspects. On the other hand, those inspired our photographic content’s design. He was great at giving advice and patiently answered any questions we had. He also took our suggestions. The outcome of his work has been admired and repeatedly complemented by many groups and individuals across communities.

However, most importantly, it significantly impacted the Polish community in Scotland. They benefited from the video created by Robert. They could see and hear a clear message, and Robert’s creative vision helped them understand they do not need to be ashamed to ask for help when needed. The clarity of the messages delivered through his work will indeed remain in many men’s hearts.

This campaign won the prestigious Scottish Charity Award for the Campaign of the Year 2023!

Marta Adamowicz ran a very engaging workshop for our Eco Fair in September 2021 using recycled materials.

The event was very well attended and feedback for Marta’s workshop was excellent, she is a very friendly and approachable facilitator and we would love to work with her again.

For me, these workshops were a great break, a meeting with compatriots from outside my circle, I met new people and joined new groups.

These meetings were also good for my mental health. It was easier for me to open up among my compatriots. I knew that Poles would understand my dilemmas, they also have similar problems here. I felt such a boost of energy and motivation to leave the house and do something.

Now I follow every website or person I met at workshops to participate in something cool again. I hope this will help you create such events and reach all Poles in Scotland.

I had the pleasure of collaborating with Robert through our interactive audiovisual installation project Refraction, which he helped to realise as a visual artist and creative technologist.

Refraction was designed and created by a team of artists, and Robert was an invaluable and integral part of the team, understanding the aesthetic and creative aims of the project, delivering high-quality atmospheric content, and supporting with the technical challenges and systems involved.

The resulting project was one of my favourite creations and projects of 2018 and Robert’s input was crucial in bringing the project and experience to a new level.