Czuwaga.
Fabric about connectivity

Exhibition

The exhibition is dedicated to the theme of mindfulness and the possibilities of practicing Eastern meditative thought in Polish contexts. Drawing on the traditional double-warp weaving from Podlasie, the artist creatively reinterprets the characteristic optical illusions and sensory-visual impressions experienced during deep meditation.

The exhibition features jacquard fabrics manipulated by hand. Their dimensions range from 140 cm x 300 cm to 100 cm x 140 cm. They are woven from cotton and linen yarns in a Polish weaving mill.

Technological supervision of the fabric production was provided by Iza Sojka from The Most. The weaving was carried out by Textus.
The project was funded by grants from Zaiks and the UKEN Research Fund. Special thanks to the Gmina Żydowska Kraków for providing the venue.

Concert

A performance by a vocal group inspired by the traditional music of various cultures. The program includes songs from Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland, presented in personal interpretations and sung polyphonically in multiple voices.

Hosted by: Aleksandra Zawłocka Harmonia Głosu
Choir Members: Magda Tarka, Monika Łabędzka, Agnieszka Rybacka, Katarzyna Żychoń, Katarzyna Zaborska, Paulina Laguado, Barbara Janczak, Marta Knast, Anna Kama Żakowska

Czuwaga

Zosia Małysa-Janczy
curatorial text

Inhale. Your body gently claims space. You are here and now, but also there and once before. You wait for something to take your breath away, but all around, there are mostly advertisements, pastel kitsch, and traffic jams. Still, you enjoy this mix of sensory stimuli. A swallowtail butterfly on a fluffy dandelion, a whiff of diesel on a cold cheek. Weeds creeping through decorative stones, the irregular vibration of a tram breaking the mathematical logic of Bach. You savor the juicy peach-colored façade as if it were dessert.

Exhale. You head home, though it’s not really yours. You’re neither east nor west, neither south nor north. You search for a golden mean, an alliance of productivity and idleness, usefulness and playfulness. You drown the sadness of overtime in the warmth of wood paneling. You wrap yourself in a blanket.

Inhale. The blanket rises.

Exhale. The fabric falls. You quiet your eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. You decolonize private space. Stimuli bounce off your body, astonished at how soft this armor is.

Inhale. Your hands rest freely alongside your body. No one asks what you’re working on now.

Exhale. A wave of warmth carries you. An oceanic feeling without an ocean in sight. Just the body, only the body, and yet the body. With it, you touch the essence of the world, moving closer to a sense of meaning.

Inhale. You open your eyes. You look around, observe, inspect, and examine this pattern.

Exhale. The works you see are the fruit of the body’s labor, though machine-woven. Like the traditional double-warp fabric from Podlasie, Barbara Janczak’s weavings are dense and visually rich. They demand great mindfulness to design, to weave, and to truly see.

Inhale. Meditation in the weaves of the sacred and the profane.

Exhale.