Zachęta Project Room

artists: Tomek Kopcewicz & Michał Szlaga, Karolina Mełnicka, Daniel Rumiancew, Alex Urso, Rafał Żarski
curator: Magda Kardasz
cooperation Karolina Bielawska

This summer group exhibition in the Zachęta Project Room presents a multifarious exploration of the concept of the exotic. It is realised both for summertime tourists and for Warsaw inhabitants, who - like the noble Des Esseintes in Joris-Karl Husyman's book Against Nature – prefer to visit the exotic corners of the world mentally, without leaving their own armchair/city.

The adjective ‘exotic’ evokes mostly positive feelings – it is associated with something unusual, rare, it raises hope for an exciting journey, an adventure, or taking a break from the daily routine, getting to know distant countries, a different culture or climate. Especially in summer, we start to dream about the archetype of a good holiday: a beach on a tropical island, palm trees, something exotic. Do these expectations always come true? Maybe the paradise of your dreams only exists in tourist brochures? In real life, the tropical veneer often masks poverty and social problems, and we tourists look at the local residents as if they’re rare creatures or aliens. So what should we choose: reality, or the semblance of it? The exhibition Exotic? presents works that develop these themes in various ways.