New Practices of Closeness — Exercises in Post-Romanticism

On Friday, October 16, 2026 at 6pm, we invite you to a joint meeting, exercises and diversions around post-romance, tinder, setting boundaries and red flags. We will reach out for interesting readings, exchange experiences and ask a lot of questions. Admission is free.
Tomasz Szlendak and Eva Illouz agree that love is over. Mona Chollet and Aline Laurent Maynard propose to save it and reinvent it. More editions of the dating show are multiplying. There is no doubt that something has changed in the area of relationships and building relationships has begun to pose a particular difficulty for us despite the greater availability of guides, podcasts, specialists and therapeutic methods, more application tools to facilitate meeting people, and the ever-growing infrastructure, resources and awareness conducive to the creation of lasting and safe bonds.

How is it possible that in a world that facilitates relationships in so many ways, more and more people who seek them fall into giving up?

What does gender have to do with it?

Does the therapeutic culture that emphasizes relational and emotional closeness so much deliver on its promise to improve the quality of our relationships?

Has love been marketed?

On what to build the foundations of modern relationships?

How do you know who to choose?

How long to wait for declarations of affection and commitment?

How to recognize them?

When to persevere and when to withdraw?

It is a two-person educational collective of Paulina Czapska and Anna Szapert. For more than a decade, they have encouraged independent, critical thinking and seeking new perspectives on old issues. They show that working on emotions is as necessary as expanding knowledge.

Paulina Czapska: Psychologist, psychotraumatologist, therapist, trainer

and educator, founder of the educational collective Future Simple and co-creator of the Course Profession Artist. In her work, she supports individuals and organizations in their professional and personal development, designing educational processes and promoting the idea of sustainable activism and collective concern.

Anna Szapert: Therapist, trainer and academic lecturer, co-creates the educational collective Future Simple and the Artist Profession Course. As a Doctor of Humanities, she studies therapeutic culture from a feminist perspective, and in her work she combines reflection on emotions and relationships with supporting the development of individuals, groups and cultural institutions.

Date: October 16, 2026 (Friday)
Time: 18.00
Venue: East Office — Theatre Hall, Cultural Centre Dworek Białoprądnicki, Papiernicza 2, Kraków
Admission: free
You can reach us, among others, by buses number:
138, 169, 172 (Mackiewicza stop)
and trams
18, 50, 75 (stop Białoprądnicka)

THERAPIES: Emotions enter the market (Anna Szapert)

On Saturday (October 17th) we invite you to continue the meeting in the form of a development workshop — EXERCISES WITH TIME — how to regain balance in time at 11:00. Tickets can be purchased at ekobilet.pl.