What Are Our Collective Dreams? / O czym wspólnie marzymy?
📅 17.10.2025 – 08.02.2026
⏰ Opening: 16.10 Thursday, 7:00 PM
Location: Zachęta – National Gallery of Art / Zachęta – Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Warsaw
Curators:
- Taras Gembik
- Joanna Kordjak
- Antonina Stebur
Contemporary works by:
- Aravani Art Project
- Arpirellas
- Oliwia Bosomtwe
- Oksana Briukhovetska
- Minerva Cuevas
- Galas (Vladyslav Gryn)
- Nadira Husain
- Hamlet Lavastida
- Marysia Lewandowska
- Ibrahim Mahama
- Amy Muhoro
- Marina Naprushkina
- Thuc Linh Nguyen Vu
- Ahmet Öğüt
- PUNTO ESPORA | La Ciudad Abierta
- Alicja Rogalska
- Laila Shawa
- Janek Simon
- Marta Romankiv
- Weronika Zalewska
Historical context and collections:
- Documentation from the archives of Zachęta and Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende
- Arpilleras from the Conflict Textiles collection, Ulster University, Belfast
- Works from the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw
Graphic design: Kaja Kusztra
Partners and supporters:
- Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (funding)
- Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych
- ORLEN (patron)
- Embassy of Chile in Poland and Honorary Consulate of Chile in Wrocław
- Goethe-Institut, Fundacja Yes, Akzo Nobel, Dulux Professional
- Media patrons: artinfo.pl, K MAG, TVP KULTURA
- Supported by British Council as part of UK/Poland Season 2025
The exhibition opens the archives of Zachęta to revisit networks of global artistic relations forged during the socialist era in Poland. Contemporary artists confront these histories with the present, asking what remains of the “internationalist friendships” from before 1989 and how they might shape our understanding of a shared past. The show critically examines a chapter of cultural policy from the Polish People’s Republic and reflects on the role of cultural institutions today, exploring artistic relations between Poland and regions of the global majority (e.g., Latin America, India, Vietnam, Palestine). Together with invited artists and activists, the curators raise questions about diversity, solidarity, and the role of cultural institutions as spaces for dialogue and shared reflection.
The program for opening weekend events (17–19.10) will be announced soon.
