Zachęta – National Gallery of Art

curators: Agnieszka Batkiewicz, Veronika Mayr, Xander van Dijk
collaboration on the part of Zachęta: Marta Miś, Joanna Waśko
research collaboration: Urszula Batkiewicz, Katarzyna Dorda, Martyna Obarska
with academic support from dr Agata Gabiś, dr Marcin Jewdokimow

participants: Jakub Certowicz, Hugo Corbett, Alessandra Covini & Francesco Apostoli, Juan Camilo Gonzalez, OMMX, Jurren Pen, Studio Makkink & Bey, Tomasz Szerszeń, Wojciech Woźniak
with special presence of Tango by Zbigniew Rybczyński
original materials from the archives of Bogusława and Czesław Kowalski, and Halina Skibniewska

Tango on 16 square metres explores ways of intensifying space, meandering between past and present, Polish realities and global phenomena. The exhibition investigates precarious urban dwelling conditions and their architectural responses through the lense of Zbigniew Rybczyński’s Academy Award-winning short film Tango from 1980.

Contemporary urban living conditions are often associated with a more intensive use of available space and resources. In the need of 'squeezing more out' of the means at one's disposal, residential landscapes are shaped by the intricate planning of architects and designers, but also by the inventiveness, humour and imagination of their users.
These achievements are a double edged sword – while leading to an immediate improvement of the status quo, they also instigate a problematic shift in the understanding of what is considered normal and acceptable.

Housing construction in the Polish People's Republic is the starting point of this research into the interdependency between politics and architecture, external conditions and spatial responses. Using Zbigniew Rybczyński’s Tango as an interpretive tool, the exhibition combines a broad perspective on the mechanisms governing daily life with concrete spatial proposals and novel visions on the functioning of our homes then and now.

^{Tango, dir. Zbigniew Rybczyńskie, 1980, courtesy of Filmoteka Narodowa — Instytut Audiowizualny}