Chodowiecki and utopias, or places that do not exist

Images have the power to act. Chodowiecki, not only an artist, but also a convinced enlightener and social emancipator, realized this extremely quickly. Engaged in illustrating books, he found himself at the epicenter of the birth of modernity. The political revolutions in North America and France, as well as the Industrial Revolution, opened up a whole new horizon for the then emerging society, which had to be invented from scratch. Chodowiecki joined the groundbreaking intellectual projects of the modernizing world. These were, among others, the Science of the right attitude to the works of creation and general human happiness, or the social utopia of the philanthropist Franz Heinrich Ziegenhagen, and the first modern textbook for children, created by the educator Johann Bernhard Basedow. Chodowiecki's graphics were not only a visual addition in these works. They projected the modern society of the future and reflected the quintessence of Enlightenment ideals — the community of science, work and life, established on principles of equality, free from the divisions inherent in social origin. Was the promise of modernity — a world of free and equal people only a utopian dream? Or do utopias become for us benchmarks that force us to rethink the world?

The conversation will be attended by: Alicja Andrzejewska-Zać — art historian, curator at the Graphic Studio of the Department of Early Art of the National Museum in Gdańsk. Maja Mociewicz — art historian, curator in the Drawing Studio of the Department of Early Art of the National Museum in Gdańsk. Jacek Kołtan — philosopher, assistant professor at the University of Gdańsk and plenipotentiary of the director of the European Solidarity Centre. Author of the book Solidarity and Modernity (2025).