“Themersing Machine” by Karolina Niwelińska | Themerson Festival

Exhibition of the installation “Themersing Machine” by Karolina Niwelinska at the Themerson Festival 2026

We invite you to the exhibition of the interactive installation “Themersing Machine” by Karolina Niwelińska, which will take place as part of the Themerson Festival 2026.

Date: October 22, 2026, 7:15pm Venue: Themerson POKiS (10 Jakubowskiego Street) Free admission

ABOUT INSTALLATION

“Themersing Machine” is an interactive project inspired by the works of Franciszka and Stefan Themerson — their experimental films, photograms and semantic poetry. The installation is based on the relationships of meaning that occur between the image, the word and the movement.

It is an author's form of dialogue with the most important issues present in Themersons' work:

the relationship between the image and the word,

a formal experiment,

movement as a fundamental means of building meaning,

the materiality of language,

The active role of the recipient.

In the space of the “Themersing Machine”, the text ceases to function only as a carrier of information — it becomes the living matter and building block of the visual essay, creating a contemporary interpretation of the creative method of the Themersons using the language of interactive art.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Karolina Niwelińska — studied Swedish philology at the Jagiellonian University and interior architecture at the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. He works at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Rzeszów. In her creative practice, she deals with film, animation, installations and graphic and spatial design.

WORKSHOP “LABORATORY OF THE ABSURD”

The experience of the installation “Themersing Machine” is also the starting point for the dedicated workshops for high school students entitled “Laboratory of the absurd”, which will be held on 22 and 23 October at 10-1 pm at the Themerson Center for Culture and Art in Płock.

During the class, young people will look at literary texts by Stefan Themerson and drawings by Franciszka Themerson. The meeting will begin with a short audiovisual lecture introducing the world of avant-garde, absurdity and unconventional thinking of the Themersons. In the practical part, participants will perform a series of perceptual exercises, combining text, typography, drawing and case into spontaneous typographic and pictorial compositions.

The final of the workshop will be the fusion of individual works into one common work - a large-format composition constituting a collective visual essay, which is a contemporary reference to the ideas of the Themersons.