Philosophy in Encouragement!

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“This year's exhibition of Zachęta's collections is a joke” — this is how one of the critics summed up the exhibition Siusiu w torcik, curated by Karol Radziszewski and presented at Zachęta in 2009. The exhibition was an overview of not very well known works from the gallery's collection, which were shown in new, surprising contexts. Radziszewski treated the works of other artists like tubes of paint, squeezing colors out of them to create one complex picture.

During the meeting, we will return to the archival materials and analyze the exhibition Piss w torcik. The text of Susan Sontag will help us in this, which encourages us to appreciate kitsch, to look for carelessness, exaggeration and extravagance in it. It shows how seemingly bad art can become a source of authentic joy.

The meeting is held in Polish. Before the workshops, participants will receive two texts by Zachęta concerning the exhibition to the e-mail address provided in the application. Physical copies of the text will be available at the info point during gallery opening hours.

Philosophy in Encouragement Series! looks at archival and current exhibitions in Zachęta through texts and philosophical ideas. We invite all people interested in art and philosophy to explore different ways of interpreting exhibitions and discuss them in a relaxed atmosphere.

Schedule of the next meetings:

10.11, 17.30 — Philosophy in Encouragement | Eroticism and Destruction in the Art of Alina Szapocznikow
8.12, 5.30 p.m. — Philosophy in Encouragement | Giorgio Agamben and life without rights

Duration: 1.5 hours
hosted by: Nadia Wierzbicka

Nadia Wierzbicka — educator at Zachęta — National Gallery of Art. A graduate of the MISH college of the University of Warsaw. She also studied at the University of Barcelona and KU Leuven. In the years 2021-2022, she co-created the artistic residency Przed/Po at the Studio Theater. Co-curator of exhibitions, performances and installations. She published in the scientific journal “Theoretical Practice”. Author of texts on art and philosophy.