Zachęta – National Gallery of Art

curators: Zofia Dubowska, Karolina Iwańczyk, Katarzyna Kołodziej-Podsiadło, Anna Zdzieborska

How do artists perceive the world and how do their children see it? What makes them happy? What do they fear? How do they see the future together? Winter break at the Zachęta will open with the first joint exhibition of artists and their children prepared for other children and their parents.

The works – made specially for this show – will offer a glimpse at the topics that are important for both young artists and art viewers. This creative dialogue aims to bring about joint action – engagement in the process of creating a work of contemporary art. The time spent at the gallery will be an opportunity to build and support relationships between children and their parents.

The exhibition at the Zachęta creates a new field of communicating and experiencing art. Iza Chlewińska (mum of five-year-old Miłosz) will focus on communication through movement and touch. She will stimulate our senses with a performative installation featuring sensory objects developed with a special focus on the youngest viewers (0-3 years of age). Jaśmina Wójcik and her daughters Zoya and Lea will invite the audience to build bases together using safe, natural materials. The gallery space will be filled with hiding places made of blankets, with survival structures erected in the open air, with no restrictions imposed. They will encourage viewers to join them in a return to nature and find inspiration for family games. Zbigniew Rogalski and his son Tymon will create a work inspired by reading together. The installation “In Search of Lost Time” will take viewers to the epicentre of a snowstorm made of thousands of letters, the smallest particles of all books read and unread. Tymon will also create a gallery of portraits of very important people who – during the exhibition – may be joined by other familiar faces. This time made by the other exhibition participants. And Olaf Brzeski and his son Konstanty will join forces to create a sculpture installation. Kinga Nowak with her son Titus will prepare a large-format abstract game inspired by Minecraft, inviting all visitors to play.

Children help us look at the world from a different perspective. It is important that we find a common language. Contemporary art can create such space for agreement, but it can also be a driving force behind important change. Getting visitors in touch with art, giving them freedom and an opportunity for creative experimentation, the exhibition at the Zachęta supports and nurtures creative, open, and free young people.