Zachęta – National Gallery of Art

Who are exhibitions made for? Whose stories do they tell, who do they leave unrepresented, and who feels out of place in an art gallery space? What social needs should a cultural institution address today?

These questions became our starting point for this exhibition. Dozens of artworks from the last few decades, including pieces that are crucial to Polish art history as well as those linked to ground-breaking events in Zachęta’s history, form a narrative about the emotions they once evoked and continue to evoke today. Some of them provoked disgust, outrage or even scandal because they touched on taboo subjects such as illness, old age, animal cruelty or disability. We wondered how these works would be received today and whether they could even be made in the current climate. Meanwhile, the question arises: what social issues are we, as a society and as a cultural institution, still unable to confront, and what problems or social groups do we still turn our backs on?

The selected works, their contemporary interpretations and current comments from artists and the public reflect changes in social sensibilities over the years. They also highlight the role of contemporary art and cultural institutions in helping systematically marginalised social groups to regain their voice. Whose voice is still unheard? In the works on display, that voice is sometimes replaced by a muffled scream, a stifled cry or a whisper. As staff of the institution, we aim to use its programme to raise awareness of these barely audible voices and to create a safe space not only to express anger and dissent against injustice and empathy for the wronged, but also to work together on their behalf.

The exhibition is conceived as a space where public activities and a performance programme are as important as the works on display. Invited artists and art practitioners will engage in a dialogue with selected works through their performances. Like the exhibition’s choreographer, they suggest the possibility of an alternative gallery experience, a physical encounter with artworks and a lively, emotional engagement with contemporary art.

works from the collection: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Azorro, Wojciech Bąkowski, Przemek Branas, Olaf Brzeski, Oskar Dawicki, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Zuzanna Janin, Katarzyna Józefowicz, Katarzyna Kozyra, Zofia Kulik, Zbigniew Libera, Goshka Macuga, Jacek Malinowski, Maria Pinińska-Bereś, Joanna Piotrowska, Agnieszka Polska, Mariola Przyjemska, Joanna Rajkowska, Erna Rosenstein, Paweł Sakowicz, Jadwiga Sawicka, Sędzia Główny, Mikołaj Smoczyński, Monika Sosnowska, Jonasz Stern, Alina Szapocznikow, Iza Tarasewicz, Teresa Tyszkiewicz, Piotr Uklański, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Julita Wójcik, Monika Zawadzki, Liliana Zeic, Artur Żmijewski
choreographic score: Alka Nauman
object design: Aniela Fidler Wieruszewska
performance programme: Olaf Brzeski, Oskar Dawicki, Edka Jarząb, Filip Kijowski, Daniel Kotowski, Katarzyna Kozyra, Katarzyna Lewandowska, Jacek Malinowski, Nadia Markiewicz, Alka Nauman, Ania Nowicka, Joanna Pawlik, Radio Kapitał, Jana Shostak, Elwira Sztetner, Teatr 21, Anna Zaradny, Liliana Zeic, Hubert Zemler, Marta Ziółek, Katarzyna Żeglicka, Paweł Żukowski
Laboratory — technical supervision and coordination of activities: Pamela Bożek, Taras Gembik
collaboration: Maja Demska, Plenum Osób Opiekujących Się
installations in the public space of Plac Małachowskiego and on the façade of Zachęta: Anna Zaradny
activity on the Gladiator sculpture: Olaf Brzeski
curatorial team: Maria Brewińska, Michał Jachuła, Katarzyna Kołodziej-Podsiadło, Joanna Kordjak
curatorial collaboration: Jess Łukawska 
exhibition production: Karolina Jezierska-Pomorska, Anna Muszyńska, Dominika Kaszewska
exhibition installation: Andrzej Bialik, Dariusz Bochenek, Jędrzej Iwanicki, Andrzej Olszewski, Remigiusz Olszewski, Grzegorz Ostromecki, Paweł Ostromecki, Marcin Przybyłek
collection conservation and research: Joanna Egit-Pużyńska, Julia Leopold, Ewa Skolimowska, Michalina Sobierajska, Monika Zaleszczuk
educational programme: Daria Kubilisz, Zbigniew Szymańczyk, Monika Weychert, Adam Wilk, Jędrzej Zakrzewski
accessibility: Paulina Celińska, Emilia Rudzka
text editing and print preparation: Piotr Antonów, Małgorzata Jurkiewicz, Dorota Karaszewska, Krzysztof Łukawski, Jolanta Pieńkos
translation: Tomasz Jurewicz
exhibition communication: Zofia Koźniewska, Milena Liebe, Alicja Malicka, Aleksandra Sienkiewicz, Alicja Sznajder, Justyna Wydra
visual identity: Grzegorz Laszuk
documentation and archival research: Karolina Vyšata, Zuzanna Sękowska, Marta Korzekwa, Adrianna Artowicz, Sara Rivas