Lary and penata. Building a sense of security in architecture

Wawel Royal Castle

Artistic and curatorial team: Aleksandra Kędziorek, Krzysztof Maniak, Katarzyna Przezwańska, Maciej Siuda
Curator of the Wawel Royal Castle: Bogumiła Wiśniewska, PhD

What is a home — a refuge, a place of everyday life, or perhaps a space that gives a sense of permanence and belonging? Exhibition “Lary and penaty. On Building Security in Architecture” looks at the ways architecture, customs, rituals, and symbols help tame uncertainty.

After the premiere in the Polish Pavilion during the 19th International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, the project “Lary and penaty. On building a sense of security in architecture” is presented in the Wawel Royal Castle — a place where the issue of security acquires a historical and communal dimension.

Lary and penaty - keepers of the house

Safety is one of the most basic human needs. Architecture responds to this need by providing shelter and protection. However, the feeling of security is not only due to the quality of construction, technology or compliance with applicable standards. They are also formed by gestures, customs, symbols and rituals, thanks to which we tame space and regain a sense of influence on the reality around us.

The starting point for the exhibition are lars and penatas — Roman guardian deities associated with the house and its inhabitants. Their presence reminds us that the need for protection has been expressed since ancient times both in practical solutions and in cultural practices. The exhibition looks at Polish customs, rituals and superstitions related to building and living in a house, treating them as a testimony of collective experiences and ways of taming uncertainty.

Wawel. Protection, Memory, Continuity

At Wawel, this issue takes on a new context. The castle, for centuries the seat of rulers, a place of defense and one of the most important places of memory, allows us to look at the issue of security in a broader perspective. Protection was combined not only with ensuring the physical security of people and goods, but also with concern for stability, continuity of power, memory and values essential to the community.

Wawel is a place where the material dimension of protection meets its symbolic dimension. Royal insignia, works of art, tombs and other objects and places of special importance were protected not only for their value. They were also carriers of memory — they perpetuated history and shared notions of duration.

Towards sustainability

In the new exhibition space, the perspective of a private house is expanded with a community dimension. Everyday needs and practices are adjacent to the history of Wawel — a space in which the functions of residence, seat of power and place of special importance intertwined for centuries.

After the premiere presentation in Venice, “Lars and Penats” at the Wawel thus become not only the next installment of the exhibition, but also an opportunity to re-read its main themes. The Wawel context allows us to ask what — alongside walls, security and technology — gives man a sense of permanence and roots in a world subject to constant change.