Illustrations of the collective human experience, individuality, contemporary feminism, nature, and Polish culture itself are only some of the themes the audiences around the world would have a chance to witness this year. Recognition of Polish women artists will be found far and wide, with institutions and galleries across the globe announcing numerous exhibitions. Polish artworks have always been at the forefront of artistic revolutions, and the work of Polish women has been, and continues to be, a key part of those.
Each exhibition promises a compelling immersion into the minds of both established and emerging artists. From photography to textiles and everything in between, this year’s events foreshadow a fulfilled dream for interdisciplinary art enthusiasts, admirers of Polish female and queer art, and those simply seeking art throughout their travels. No matter your preferred medium or which city you find yourself in, chances are you’ll find one of these events close by.
Karolina Wojtas: Made in Poland
When: January 22, 2026, to March 16, 2026
Where: Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery, Light Work – Syracuse, New York, USA
Everyone knows the Polish stereotype of that uncle or aunt who lives in America and sends care packages and gifts back to Poland. In Karolina Wojtas’s work, she is the rich aunt who lives in Poland and sends packages of Polish goodies and curios to a nephew in the States. There is no lack of effervescent colours and whimsical idiosyncrasies in Made in Poland, Wojtas’s first U.S. solo exhibition.
Karolina Wojtas is certainly a Renaissance man. Her past accomplishments include diplomas from both the Polish National Film School in Lodz and the Institute of Creative Photography in the Czech Republic. The artist is a master of utilising exhibition space in every way possible; always creating an interactive playroom of sorts. The exhibition is an imaginative medley of photography on inkjet paper and textiles; soft sculptures, a video, and a letter. Like many other projects and exhibitions by Wojtas, this setup promises an immersive, tangible, and simply fun experience. Every bit of oddity and unconventional work is decidedly worth seeing.
Agnieszka Kurant: RECURSION
When: February 6 to March 21, 2026
Where: Marian Goodman Gallery – New York, USA
Situated in Lower Manhattan between White Street and Broadway, Recursion is Agnieszka Kurant’s second solo exhibition with the Marian Goodman Gallery. It speaks of digital capitalism through the artist’s fantastical works. The pieces shown include, among others, sculpture, bacteria-based work, and copper crystals grown by passing electric currents and sound waves through copper sulphate solution. Uncomputables (2026), an installation, and Unthoughtforms (2026), a set of suspended sculptures, are both inspired by British cybernetician Gordon Pask and are at the nucleus of the exhibition.
Kurant is an interdisciplinary artist currently based in New York and Warsaw. She is described as “an art curator who became an artist when her curatorial projects began to surpass a curator’s traditional role” (Culture.pl). Her work fluctuates through opposing forces, such as natural and unnatural, biological and digital, and alive and inanimate. The juxtaposition of human nature, corporate agendas, and machines makes for a thoughtful and abstract occurrence.
Current exhibitions featuring Kurant’s works include Data Dreams: Contemporary Art in the Age of AI at the MCA Sydney through 27 April 2026, Louisiana’s New Works at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark. Upcoming exhibitions will also be at Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, and MAAT, Lisbon (2026).
Krystyna Wojtyna-Drouet: JA DLA SIEBIE NIE ISTNIEJĘ [I CEASE TO EXIST FOR MYSELF]
When: February 20 to April 4, 2026
Where: Zachęta National Gallery of Art – Warsaw, Poland
Krystyna Wojtyna-Drouet, an acclaimed virtuoso of the weaving loom, celebrated her 100th birthday this past January. Along with this centennial comes a new, magnificent exhibition of works spanning over 70 years. The textile artist and painter comes from the first generation of the Polish School of Textiles, as well as Eleonora Plutyńska’s studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Wojtyna-Drouet’s empathetic exploration of the world around her is presented through tapestry textiles, sketches, dyeing recipes, and archival materials.
Her remarkable sensitivity is tangible at this exhibition, curated by Jędrzej Zakrzewski. Uliczka (1962) is a large-format tapestry that represents Wojtyna-Drouet’s groundbreaking creations in Polish textile art history and a key moment in her own vocation. Another large-format tapestry being shown is Kwitnące Wzgórza (1978). Both pieces were privately commissioned and will be on public display for the first time in over 20 years. In total, an extensive 20 pieces will be exhibited, leading us through Wojtyna Drouet’s style evolution. With a multitude of international exhibitions under her belt, this event presents an opportunity for visitors to view her work in her homeland.
You might also happen upon Wojtyna-Drouet’s work in other cities. Her work has also found its way into the National Museum in Warsaw, the Musées d’Angers in France, the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the United States, as well as in private collections in Poland and abroad.
Magdalena Abakanowicz: The Thread of Existence
When: November 20, 2025, to April 12, 2026
Where: Musée Bourdelle – Paris, France
The Thread of Existence marks Magdalena Abakanowicz’s first major exhibition in France. To say that she was a trailblazer in her field would be an understatement. Abakanowicz is widely regarded as the most recognised fibre artist and one of the most renowned artists of the postwar era. From early textile pieces to later sculptures and installations, the exhibited works span many years and chapters of the artist’s life.
The exhibition explores defining aspects of her work, such as the fabric of which humans are made. According to the Abakanowicz Charitable Foundation, “The subtitle of the exhibition, The Thread of Existence, combines two terms used by the artist to define her work. She considered fabric to be the elementary cell of the human body, marked by the vagaries of its destiny.” There are six sections to the exhibition, as well as an introductory part in the corridor of the Portzamparc Wing. The beginning serves as an outline of Abakanowicz’s craft, and leads the viewers on a chronological journey of her work throughout the next sections: Abakans, The Human Condition, Organic Metamorphoses, Graphic Series, Installations, and War Games.
However, should you find yourself further north, Abakanowicz’s work will also be shown at the Helsinki Art Museum in Finland for the Magdalena Abakanowicz: Crossing Boundaries exhibition, beginning May 6, 2026.
Agnieszka Polska: Innocent Bodies
When: January 1 to May 17, 2026
Where: National Gallery of Iceland – Reykjavík, Iceland
Agnieszka Polska’s general work weaves through a multitude of formats and genres- video, photography, and animation, to name a few. Audio is a thoroughly thought-out element of her work, whether that be music, ambient noise, or even a narrator. There is no shortage of attractions in the captivating country of Iceland, and Polska’s exhibition certainly fits that adjective as well. Innocent Bodies presents a solo show of two films by the artist as part of the National Gallery of Iceland’s video installation series. It takes into account volatile human interrelationships, technology, and nature.
Polska’s film installations in her exhibition offer a transgressive, poetic, and mesmerising experience. Longing Gaze (2021-22) reflects on the human condition in a post-COVID world, one in which the general population confronted isolation, limitation of movement, and the ruthless, rapid escalation of dependency on technology for social interactions. The Book of Flowers (2023) brings an air of sci-fi through 16mm found footage, transformed by AI animation. In this film, the artist proposes an alternate reality where humans and plants intertwine. Her visionary videos often incorporate the manipulation of niche archives, adding a certain nostalgic feeling to stories that may be fabricated.
Weronika Gęsicka: Encyclopaedia
When: March 6 to June 7, 2026
Where: The Photographers’ Gallery – London, England
Weronika Gęsicka’s Encyclopaedia, published by BLOW UP PRESS and Jednostka Gallery in November 2024, has been shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2026. In this fanciful project, the artist takes inspiration from “fake” and purposefully misleading encyclopaedia, dictionary, and lexicon entries. The subject matter is illustrated through edited stock photos and AI-generated imagery. Gęsicka poses a question to ponder: what can we trust in the age of AI-generated content and reactionary fake news? Can we trust any information at all?
Gęsicka, a visual artist from Włocławek, works mainly in photography, but additionally creates installations and archives. She finds the latter wherever possible, including images found accidentally on the internet, but also curious finds from stock photo libraries, police archives, and the press.
If you can’t make it to London by early June, Gęsicka’s exhibition will additionally appear from September 3, 2026, to January 17, 2027, at the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Eschborn/Frankfurt. Furthermore, her work is in collections at the Dom Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria; the Arendt Collection, Luxembourg; the MuFo Museum of Photography, Kraków, Poland; and the National Museum in Wrocław, Poland – just to highlight a few.
Ewa Partum: conceptual exercises
When: February 27th, 2026, to June 28th, 2026
Where: Francisco Carolinum Linz – Linz, Austria
Ewa Partum’s profound work in performance art, photography, poetry, and countless other media has created an enduring impact that resonates through time. Conceptual exercises, her first comprehensive exhibition in Austria, showcases works of great significance. The viewer is faced with a piece as soon as they arrive at the museum, where The Legality of Space, consisting of traffic and prohibitory signs (many self-designed), is installed outside.
Curated by Nathalie Hoyos and Rainald Schumacher, masterpieces of varying themes appear within the space, such as femininity, self-identity, and a clash with socially approved behaviour, the final theme tying into femininity in particular. Other pieces in Partum’s exhibition include Change, in which the artist is portrayed as half-young and half-elderly, and Self-Identification, in which she collages herself nude onto various photos of public spaces. While the aforementioned works were made between the 70s and the 80s, their resounding effects are palpable to this day.
For those in Poland who wish to view Partum’s work in the near future, her exhibition Contemplating Art, Contemplating Love will be on display at MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków from March 7 to June 14, 2026.
Liliana Zeic: Sun Eaters
When: May 1 to July 18, 2026 (Opening April 30, 2026)
Where: Project Arts Centre – Dublin, Ireland
Liliana Zeic’s Sun Eaters presents breathtaking works of intarsia and other objects. Both Zeic and Aleksandra Gajowa – the co-curator of the exhibition and Assistant Professor in Modern and Contemporary Art at the School of Art History and Cultural Policy, University College Dublin – focus in their work on queer themes. The exhibition interlaces these topics with ecological themes, such as ecosexuality, through Zeic’s woodwork, as the artist has recently leaned more towards craft-based methods, even creating her own technique as a spin-off of intarsia. A key piece among the displayed works includes Sun Eaters, for which the exhibition is named. It demonstrates a masterpiece of the aforementioned intarsia, including but not limited to poplar burr, maple burr, California walnut burr, and steel.
Zeic, a visual artist creating craft techniques, video, photography, objects, text, intermedia, and performative projects, has participated in over 140 individual and group exhibitions in Poland and abroad. You can also currently find Zeic’s work at The City of Women four-part exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland, until May 3, 2026. Additionally, much of her work can be seen in private and public collections (among others, NOMUS New Museum of Art, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Wrocław Contemporary Museum, Municipal Gallery Arsenal, MS Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź).
Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Pani, so tradeł [Water that Wanders]
When: March 12 to August 16, 2026
Where: Kunsthal Charlottenborg – Copenhagen, Denmark
Małgorzata Mirga-Tas is a Polish-Romani artist and a true jack-of-all-trades. She works in visual arts, sculpture, and painting, but also in education and activism. A strong sense of community emanates from her textile “pictures” in this solo exhibition. She communicates Roma culture through diverse fabrics, such as clothing and household textiles, and vibrant colours. Pani, so tradeł [Water that Wanders] will be Mirga-Tas’s first solo exhibition in Denmark.
For this event at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, the artist will present several new textile pieces, two of which respond to historical artworks from Danish museum collections. Women are at the forefront of Mirga-Tas’s pieces, functioning as heroines and collaborators. One textile in particular, The Big Dipper Will Foretell the Future of the Roma (2025), features three Romani women on the backdrop of a colourful, effervescent home. Henriette Bretton-Meyer curates the exhibition, as part of HUMAN:RIGHTS, a collaboration between Kunsthal Charlottenborg, CPH:DOX, and Human Rights Watch Denmark, supported by the Frececo Foundation.
Mirga-Tas currently has an additional exhibition, An Alternative Story, running at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg in Germany until March 15, 2026. Her works will also be featured in a four-exhibition programme, The dead don’t go until we do, which will take place at Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, from March 7 to May 30, 2026.
Michalina Kacperak: Soft Spot
When: August 1 to August 28, 2026
Where: The Studies in Photography Gallery – Edinburgh Arts Festival, Scotland
Soft Spot by photographer Michalina Kacperak encapsulates themes of intergenerational trauma, Adult Child Syndrome, and the creation of a sanctuary in one’s room. This will be Kacperak’s first major exhibition in the UK and will be realised as part of the Edinburgh Arts Festival programme. Her project conveys a childlike wonder, intertwined with eloquence, in the grave subject of alcoholism, thus bringing the viewer into a world that is seemingly sweet yet devastating. Featuring her younger sister Zosia, the artist conveys a vulnerability unique to these particular experiences.
Kacperak will soon take part in a residency at Dalkeith Palace, the effects of which will stretch into next year, culminating in a group exhibition in 2027 in partnership with Creative Scotland.
Ewa Juszkiewicz: Monographic Exhibition
When: May 26 to September 6, 2026
Where: Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum – Madrid, Spain
Renowned contemporary surrealist Ewa Juszkiewicz challenges societal characterisations of women’s appearances in this monographic exhibition. A New York Times journalist, Chantal Tattoli, once wrote that, “Ms Juszkiewicz said her approach is meant to heighten what she called ‘the absurdity’ of period portraiture of women, particularly the way in which female subjects were often depicted with similar features, like polite eyes, pink cheeks, porcelain complexions and perfect coifs.”
This solo exhibition was made as part of the museum’s programme dedicated to the Blanca and Borja Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, and includes recent works by Juszkiewicz. Her erudite use of classical techniques, combined with modern deconstructions of female imagery, makes for a distinctive and extraordinary exposition of her work.
One painting shown in the exhibition announcement, In a Shady Valley, Near a Running Water (after François Gérard) (2023), highlights a traditionally painted woman with her face obscured by fabric, and is Juszkiewicz’s largest canvas to date. It is a play on the 1804 Portrait de la comtesse Katarzyna Joanna Gabrielle Starzenska by François Gérard. The transformative nature of femininity in her paintings is paired with historical and contemporary contexts through their exposition in an international museum space.
Erna Rosenstein: On the Other Side of Silence
When: July 3, 2026, to January 10, 2027
Where: Belvedere Museum [Lower Belvedere] – Vienna, Austria
On the Other Side of Silence, curated by Stephanie Auer, will display the paintings, drawings, and assemblages of post-war avant-garde legend Erna Rosenstein in the iconic Belvedere Museum. Her drawings, in particular, will be shown here for the first time outside of Poland. The artist’s chaotic, often abstract works send viewers down a surreal spiral into truly dark times, both in the world and in her personal life.
The themes she touches upon frequently involve grief, loss, historical events, and recontextualise time itself. Rosenstein’s work showcases the artist’s steadfast stances in both her political ideologies and her artistic identity. Impressions of war and the murder of her parents seared into her memory translate into haunting, yet beguiling pieces. Despite plunging deeper into biomorphic abstraction as time passed, the artist’s parents are omnipresent in the many portraits she created. Ghetto (1946) is especially poignant and unsettling, illustrating devastated subjects with tangible grief. The Burning of a Witch (1966), a more abstract painting, awes with colour combinations and the dark history of witch-hunting in Europe. Other works by Rosenstein also currently appear at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw as part of The Woman Question 1550–2025 exhibition, on display until May 3, 2026.
Written by Sophia Kalinowska-Werter
