Imagine a Breath of Fresh Air

The upcoming group exhibition at Galeria Studio in Warsaw elaborates on the theme of visions of the future on several levels. It involves projects by a number of Czech, Polish and international artists. The exhibition encompasses two main levels, which will at the same time reflect the spatial layout of Galeria Studio, divided into two floors, one above the other. One part will deal with the concept of returning to tradition and (our) nature, while the other part will focus on techno-optimistic or dystopian ideas of the future, which might be associated with science-fiction.  
One part of the exhibition will critically examine the aforementioned solar punk visions and ideas about the future, linking green living with state-of-the-art technology, science and “progress,” as well as various strategies for survival in a dystopian, even post-human world. The other part will explore various strategies of degrowth, deceleration or sustainable living in harmony with nature. 

The exhibition’s narrative will travel through time, but also beyond real time, to explore past and future utopias. The theme of escapism will permeate the exhibition, set in separated geographical locations, dream realms, fictional scenarios and old utopian ideas. But its purpose is not to escape into the unreal. On the contrary, we hope that by combining a number of various artworks and projects, hints of possibility will begin to emerge, from which a way out of today’s situation, that is oppressive on many levels, can slowly be carved. When it seems there is nowhere to run, we can try running into the future – and from there, start to reshape the present. 

Aside from contemporary artworks, the exhibition will also feature several historical works from the Galeria Studio Collection, Miejska Galeria BWA in Bydgoszcz, the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery, and private collections. 

The exhibition is fourth chapter of the Jindřich Chalupecký Society program line titled Islands: Possibilities of Togetherness and is organized within the international project Islands of Kinship: A Collective Manual for Sustainable and Inclusive Art Institutions, co-funded by the European Union and Czech Ministry of Culture.