The exhibition presented in Zachęta, “Progress and Hygiene”, is devoted to the pitfalls of modernization in the context of the idealistic faith in progress and the possibilities of “betterment” common to both art and science at the beginning of the 20th century. It was conceived as an essay which critically analyses such phenomena as genetic engineering, eugenics or research into the purity of races, also drawing attention to their continued impact on today’s world.

The exhibition … and Europe will be stunned will be the official Polish participation at the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice in 2011. This video installation by the Israeli-born artist Yael Bartana will be the first time a non-Polish national has represented Poland in the history of the Venice Biennale.

A film by the Israeli artist Yael Bartana, Assassination is presented parallel to the exhibition … and Europe will be stunned in the Polonia Pavilion at the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice. For the first time ever, Poland is represented in the biennale by a foreign artist. Assassination is the last part of Bartana’s ‘Polish’ trilogy, which also includes Nightmares (2007) and Wall and Tower (2009).