‘Rhizopolis’
Joanna Rajkowski

Zacheta National Gallery of Art
Warsaw, Poland

01.02. - 08.08.2021

https://zacheta.art.pl/en/wystawy/rhizopolis-joanna-rajkowska?setlang=1

curator: Aneta Szyłak

collaboration from the part of Zachęta: Michał Kubiak

academic collaboration: Urszula Zajączkowska

exhibition design: Michał Rudnicki

exhibition production: Anna Muszyńska and Andrzej Bialik, Dariusz Bochenek, Mateusz Korycki, Remigiusz Olszewski, Grzegorz Ostromecki, Paweł Ostromecki, design studio "Pracownia" (Mateusz Czapi, Jędrzej Iwanicki, Michał Szwaczyk, Piotr Wierzejski)

Walking through the contemporary gallery spaces of Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, the visitor journey leads to a narrow corridor and the entrance to the installation by Joanna Rajkowski ‘Rhizopolis’. In contrast to the white spaces, the darkness is striking at first, slowly changing into the mysterious atmosphere. The gallery room is fulfilled with the raw, hanging from the ceiling, trees roots. Although, the space is disturbing by its coldness, the curiosity of unknown is inviting the viewers to explore the installation. Deep, tense and sensorial experiencing of the space contradicts the other exhibitions arrangement in the gallery. After a while, another room is being discovered and the viewers are welcomed to the projection room, where the film of them watching the installation is being displayed with the 2 minutes delay. The viewer itself is becoming the crucial part of a non-existing science fiction movie. Observing themselves ‘experiencing’, inverts the narration from the typical Western structure of the story with its introduction and conclusion, taking the sensory closeness of the unknown and the sequence out from the Eastern culture.

‘Rhizopolis’ is a dystopian scenario of the environmental catastrophe that might end the world. Creating this scenography, Rajkowska evokes a tension, questioning the current ecological state of our planet. Leaving the open ending of the story, the exhibition successfully invites the viewer to interact with the artwork by creating personal narration. However, the exhibition also opens up the space for the political and sociological discussions. Relating to the mass tear up of the trees in Poland, ordered by the Polish Government in 2017, the installation creates the echo of its results, making the visitors aware of the possible further damage of the deforestation. Perhaps, we already live in the tragic apocalypse of the environmental issues?

The curation of both the exhibition and the artwork is unified by the control of the viewer perception. ‘To feel’, by all the senses and getting immersed into the fictional world is the strategy used to evoke personal reflections about the dystopian scenarios, but also to provoke a debate about current environmental issues and sustainability of our actions. Referring to the political and environmental situation, makes the exhibition relevant to the visitor of Zacheta National Gallery of Art, bringing art closer to our society in the context of its cultural changes. Thinking about the audience, the proximity to the artwork is brought closer by turning the viewer into the important part of the story. The narrative wouldn’t be possible without the human. Thus, the existence of the audience is as important as the artwork. The viewer is forced to interact - by exploring the space, watching the projection or creating the distinctive narrative. Even if the interaction is only passive, as watching oneself exploring the space on the screen, the moment of reflection is evoked. And this perhaps is be the most important aim for the art exhibition.