exhibition

Weaving, which has brought us together, means something else for each of us.[…] I can see the fiber as the basic element building the organic world of our planet, as the greatest mystery of our surroundings. This fiber builds all the living organisms, plants, the tissue of leaves and ourselves, our nerves, our genetic code, our veins, our muscles. We are fibrous structures. Magdalena Abakanowicz

The works presented in the exhibition Let them weave! Contemporary Polish Sewn Sculpture comprises the works of artists connected with the Centre of Polish Sculpture over the last 40 years, as well as representatives of the young generation. They include, among others: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Teresa Murak, Maria Pinińska-Bereś and Franciszek Orłowski. 

Objects, installations and films presented in the space of the Studio Cannaregio in Venice establish a dialogue with the history of the Art Biennale. They also allude to the pandemic atmosphere of lockdown, which has left its mark on the functioning the Venice Biennale, previously visited by millions of tourists. Sanitary restrictions and the limitations in travelling resulted in the world coming to a standstill for a while. Tourists have vanished, and the places appropriated for some time by people, have been returned to nature.

The fiber or thread is only a pretext here. The presented works, on the one hand, address ecological issues, on the other – the issues pertaining to the need of community and collective thinking about the future of the world surrounding us.

The exhibition is a voice in the discussion about the condition of the world and humans. It calls for hope for a better future of humankind and the planet; it is a response to the fatigue with the recurring images of the climate disaster and armed conflicts destroying communities. It is a creative response to the helplessness in the face of the vision of disaster becoming commonplace and devaluation of the ‘Anthropocene’ – the term until quite recently, new and provoking reflections.

The exhibition presents the works of thirty Polish artists and two representatives of the Ukrainian art circles, whose artistic domain is textile art.