Looking at the careers of many female sculptors from the early 20th century, who are the focus of the exhibition "Direction Paris. Polish Female Artists from Bourdelle’s Studio," it is impossible to avoid the issue of their education. What did it look like? What difficulties did women interested in sculpture have to face? Have there been significant changes in this area today? What are the forecasts for the future? We invite you to a discussion panel during which our guests will try to answer these questions. We will present hypotheses and emerging trends accompanying the study of women's presence at art universities in Poland entitled "Slim chances... I CHECK!" We will listen to the opinions of active lecturers and female sculptors, confronting these experiences with the stories of women who are the subject of the research project "Polish Female Sculptors of the 19th–20th Century," carried out at the National Museum in Warsaw. Panel moderator: Marta Perchuć-Burzyńska Panelists: - Ewa Ziembińska – art historian, curator, lecturer, PhD in humanities in the field of art studies (Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences). Curator of the Sculpture Collection at the National Museum in Warsaw and curator of the Xawery Dunikowski Sculpture Museum in Królikarnia, a branch of the National Museum. She specializes in the history of art at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. She conducts research on the environment of Polish artists in France and on women's art, with particular emphasis on sculpture and female sculptors. Recently, curator of the exhibitions: Without a Corset. Camille Claudel and Polish Female Sculptors of the 19th Century (2023); Direction Paris. Polish Female Artists from Bourdelle’s Studio (2025). Author of the book "Sara Lipska. Versatile Artist" (2023) - Anna Walewska – art historian, student at the Doctoral School of Humanities at the University of Warsaw. Her interests concern new methods of biographism, archives, and feminist research. In 2015, she led the project "Slim chances for promotion? Research on the presence of women at higher art universities in Poland." Curator of monographic exhibitions, including Katarzyna Kozyra ("Katarzyna Kozyra. Solo Exhibition" at Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing), Monika Mamzeta ("...I love you too" at Trafostacja Sztuki in Szczecin), and Magda Bielesz ("Among Medicines I Feel Safe," Museum of Pharmacy, branch of the Museum of Warsaw). Author of the book "Colleagues. Inżynierska 3" (Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw Publishing House in cooperation with the History Meeting House, 2024). Coordinator and member of the research team of the project "Slim chances... I CHECK!" - Iwona Demko – visual artist, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, curator of feminist exhibitions. For many years, she has dealt with the affirmation of female sexuality and genitalia. Since 2016, one of her activities has been herstory empathy, based on archival research. She is the author of a book about the first female student of the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts, Zofia Baltarowicz-Dzielińska, initiator and organizer of the "Year of Women at the Academy of Fine Arts" dedicated to the 100-year presence of women at the Krakow Academy. She creates soft sculpture objects, installations, site-specific works, videos, works in the Internet space. Her flagship color, both in life and in art, is pink. - Ida Karkoszka – grew up in an artistic environment, but her early interests revolved around natural sciences. She saw herself not so much in art as in veterinary medicine or surgery, professions that have a real impact on saving lives. Although she ultimately graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the studio of Professor Antoni Janusz Pastwa with an annex under Professor Hanna Jelonek, her early intuitions defined her later artistic choices, influenced the corporeal, vital themes of her works, and determined her perception of the place and tasks of the artist in the world as a person who speaks publicly, fights injustice, and strives through art to change destructive attitudes and practices. Ida Karkoszka draws on the tradition of European figurative art. Her sculptures evoke the silhouettes of animals, which she uses to fight against mass phenomena, most often affecting innocent victims, at the intersection of power and systemic violence. The artist is seen as an advocate and ally of animals, as most of her works have been included in the fight against cruelty justified by cultural norms. Ida Karkoszka's works have been shown, among others, at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Zachęta, and the Polish Sculpture Center in Orońsko. She has participated in group exhibitions at Studio Cannaregio in Venice, the Mark Rothko Center in Daugavpils, and the Malta Biennale. Her works are in the collection of the British Museum and in private collections. 📅 Date: 24.10.2025 ⏰ Duration: 18:00 – 19:20 📍 Meeting point: Main Hall / Main Building of the National Museum in Warsaw For whom: youth and adults 🆓 Free admission based on free tickets
