Collection

The video is a document combining archival film photographs with statements by the artist and her contemporaries — historian dr Joanna Ostrowska, filmmaker Marcin Koszałka, and actress Klara Bielawka, who portrays the key protagonist. The film’s main theme is the stigmatization of victims of WW2, with particular emphasis on sexual slavery in Nazi concentration camps. The film devotes plenty of space to the paratheatrical staging of Bert Hellinger’s ‘systemic constellations’ method, which consists in creating a constellation of people meant to support the person in therapy. The artist depicts stories of female prisoners imprisoned in the camp puff (brothel).

The film brings attention to the systemic exploitation of women, subjected to a double male objectification: forcing women into prostitution and treating their bodies as a reward for selected prisoners. The often-unseen testimonies of female prisoners reveal further tragedy — being denied the status of a victim after the war. 

In 2009, Kuba Bąkowski took part in a scientific expedition to Spitsbergen. He brought with him a ritual polar bear costume used in ceremonies in a village in Silesia – a relic of ancient beliefs in which the bear protected and united the community. The result of the expedition is a photograph depicting a human-bear figure holding a signal lamp, its light appearing where the North Star – hidden during the polar day – would be.

As is typical of Bąkowski’s work, the piece combines elements of photography and performance, while also treating travel as an artistic medium in a metaphorical sense. The animal-human hybrid figure, viewed through a posthumanist lens, invites reflection on alternative ways of relating between humans and non-human beings. The work balances between documentation and myth, creating a story about encountering what is other – natural, spiritual, primal – and the need to acknowledge its presence in our world.

Beata Ewa Białecka’s work combines the pictorial tradition of painting with modern semantics and contemporary concepts of the emancipatory social needs of women. The group scene from the painting Beauty & Hope is a kind of parable illustrated in the convention of Christian iconography that is characteristic of the artist. In her work, she subversively converts male Biblical characters into female characters. The scene therefore refers to a kind of ‘Santa Conversatione’ representation, but instead of the enthroned Madonna and Child, surrounded by the apostles, it features two women — two Madonnas with two babies, one of them female. The carefully constructed spatial tension and the limited colour scheme intensify the composition’s impact on the viewer. Amor Matris (maternal love) means being aware of one's own strength – women can pass on to each other in a mother-daughter or a sister-sister relationship

The basis of the work is the fear of swimming, resulting from the childhood memories of the artist, who got into difficulty while swimming as a child. The fear triggered by this experience became a source of fascination. The critical moment from her childhood helped Bielesz to recognize her own limitations or, to put it differently, the liberated psychophysical state has become a barrier that the artist cannot overcome. To overcome this trauma, she transfers an old memory into the realm of art and attempts to overcome her inhibitions. She performs a subversive procedure: instead of applying for a swimming card, in her dreams she is a teacher assessing the swimming skills of others. Bielesz relocates real-life experiences to the world of fiction, which shifts the barrier of fear and allows her to freely construct or change roles, possible only in the area of her own projections. Thus, she is able to reduce her fear to a level where her own limitations are tamed and, thanks to art, become less destructive. The fear of swimming is substituted by the game undertaken by the artist, which, although it concerns the sphere of dreams, has the power to influence reality.

Magda Bielesz often revisits the theme of childhood toys: a swimming wheel, roller skates, a ball or a scooter, that allude to the era of carefree, childish joy. Self-Portrait depicts the artist standing in a black swimsuit with a colourful ball held against her belly, symbolizing the process of the transformation of a female body during pregnancy. This piece is a personal reflection of an artist who found herself at the threshold of two worlds, a symbolic transition to the stage of life related to motherhood, but also the beginning of a new direction in her career. The painting can be considered a sign of discovering new domains and artistic inspirations resulting from the arrival of a child. The artist becomes a mother – a guide who shows and explains the world to her child, and inspires the son’s own creative explorations.

The photographs feature a white-clad sailor posing alone or in the company of smiling women and men against the backdrop of exotic architecture, elegant hotel interiors, vintage automobiles or by a ship’s bulwark. Handwritten notes on the reverse of the photographs indicate that they were taken in Curaçao between 1932 and 1937. How did they make their way to Jarosław – a small town in Podkarpacie, where Branas found them? All attempts to identify the seaman have failed. Nevertheless, the artist resolved to re-create his identity as faithfully as possible with the help of the scarce traces available and the associations that the images brought to his mind.

The cheerful photographs of the Dutch sailor with the 1930s Willemstad architecture in the background seem ominous against the backdrop of the centuries of colonization and destruction of the island. At the same time, the fact that the artist came across these images in a small provincial town in Eastern Poland symbolically indicates global processes of which we are not only witnesses, but also beneficiaries. In an attempt to track the individual history of an anonymous sailor, by reconstructing or even re-creating his figure, Branas tries to read these processes in an individual, singular way. The artist’s narrative can be interpreted in the context of contemporary geopoetics. Looking at the photographs through the prism of his own self, his own travel experiences, his desires and feelings, the artist incarnates the allegorical figure of a sailor and, once again, re-creates the figure of a homo viator roaming the expanses of dystopia.

The photographs feature a white-clad sailor posing alone or in the company of smiling women and men against the backdrop of exotic architecture, elegant hotel interiors, vintage automobiles or by a ship’s bulwark. Handwritten notes on the reverse of the photographs indicate that they were taken in Curaçao between 1932 and 1937. How did they make their way to Jarosław – a small town in Podkarpacie, where Branas found them? All attempts to identify the seaman have failed. Nevertheless, the artist resolved to re-create his identity as faithfully as possible with the help of the scarce traces available and the associations that the images brought to his mind.

The cheerful photographs of the Dutch sailor with the 1930s Willemstad architecture in the background seem ominous against the backdrop of the centuries of colonization and destruction of the island. At the same time, the fact that the artist came across these images in a small provincial town in Eastern Poland symbolically indicates global processes of which we are not only witnesses, but also beneficiaries. In an attempt to track the individual history of an anonymous sailor, by reconstructing or even re-creating his figure, Branas tries to read these processes in an individual, singular way. The artist’s narrative can be interpreted in the context of contemporary geopoetics. Looking at the photographs through the prism of his own self, his own travel experiences, his desires and feelings, the artist incarnates the allegorical figure of a sailor and, once again, re-creates the figure of a homo viator roaming the expanses of dystopia.

The work is inspired by the literary characters bearing the same name, the beloved main protagonists of 20th-century canonical novels: Gretchen from Goethe's Faust, Margarita from Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, and the French queen Marguerite de Valois, known as Margot from Dumas' novel. All these heroines are doomed because of unhappy love. They are beautiful and desirable, and simultaneously terrifying in their quest to take revenge on men for cheating and lying. The blood appearing in the work ties them together, and symbolizes their destiny – the curse that determines their fate. There is also a reference to blood as a Catholic religious symbol reserved for men: Blood of the Lamb, the Son of God sacrificed for the sins of men. The work can therefore be interpreted from a feminist perspective, where blood is the archetypal symbol of renewal and redemption. Thanks to the use of precise aesthetic treatments, the artist takes the viewers out of their comfort zone by forcing them to feel the tension experienced by the participant.

The artist adores Mother Earth and promotes her cult, referring to traditions from the Slavic worship of fertility. The Source is a kind of manifesto of ecofeminism, in which threads such as the cult of the water goddess and the love and admiration of fauna and flora, cognitive processes and spirituality, as well as a turn towards the fascination with primal beliefs and rituals and elements of nature in the human-nature relationship are all intertwined.

In her artistic practice, Brzeżańska uses various media such as painting, photography and ceramics and focuses on themes such as spirituality, the history of matriarchy, as well as beliefs and traditions from ethnic cultures. On the one hand, the artist draws inspiration from her travels to geographically and culturally distant places, and on the other — personal experiences resulting from direct contact with native folklore and nature.

Brzeżańska's workshop is an important element of her work. She uses handicrafts, especially ceramics. The Source is made of clay, which, in reference to ancient beliefs and cultures, also has a symbolic dimension.

Bicycle is a photographic record of the artists’ spontaneously playing with a wheel and handlebars found accidentally in the countryside. The light and playful atmosphere of the photos manifests a creative attitude as well as lifestyle inspired by Dadaism. The documentation of this action is an important testimony of social and cultural life, which is important for expanding the area of research into artistic practices in the context of art history and other social sciences.

It is important to ‘enjoy the small things’, emphasizes Józef Czerniawski. For some, capturing this performative activity may be an expression of a close relationship between friends and artists who make a joint effort, and thus strengthen the sense of community and unity. Others, analysing the work in a historical context, will find threads related to the search — and need — for freedom. The period of systemic transformation in Poland and the new opportunities emerging with the advent of ‘wild capitalism’ led to social, political and economic changes. Therefore, from today’s perspective, the photographic documentation of the Bicycle performance can be read as a glorification of joy and pleasure derived from simple, sometimes clownish activities against the backdrop of developing consumerism.

Tears of Joy is a mesmerizing video by Oskar Dawicki, in which the artist examines the boundaries of human emotions in his characteristic style, juxtaposing joy and despair. In this looping projection, the artist’s face appears, with tears streaming down. However, contrary to the laws of physics, the tears flow upwards, creating a surreal, almost magical effect.

While the title could suggest tears of joy, in reality, they carry a bittersweet tone – reflecting experiences of passing, loss, and existential helplessness. The accompanying music by Paweł Mykietyn enhances the hypnotic atmosphere, guiding the viewer into a space where the boundaries between what is real and what is internal and experienced begin to blur. Oskar Dawicki often explores existential themes, reflecting on his own weaknesses, the human condition, and questions of how we cope with life, emotions, and the inevitability of death.

In her more than 16-meter-long textile piece, Monika Drożyńska weaves together language, memory, and migration. Hand-embroidered and painted letters, along with fragments of interviews with people who have experienced displacement, form a dense, multilingual narrative. At the centre are three letters – German “Ö”, Ukrainian “Ґ”, and Polish “Ć” – each the fifth in its respective alphabet. They symbolize different systems of power and resistance, assimilation and exclusion. Texts in six languages (English, German, Ukrainian, Polish, Hebrew, and Yiddish) give voice to those often unheard – personal, emotional, unofficial.

The texts are the result of many conversations held in foreign languages, across cultures, and notably – under COVID conditions. Hand embroidery becomes a carrier of intimate memory, in contrast to printed letters that bear the weight of institutional messaging. The work creates a space of tension between what is written and remembered, and what is silenced and unconscious.