The Nesting. The Lifery exhibition-situation. Autumn Season

This autumn, The Lifery BWA Wrocław will turn inward toward The Nesting. Catching the tail end of summer’s rays, Magdalena Kreis, curator of this season’s exhibition-situation, invites us to look ahead to autumn with affection, inspiring reflections on comfort, pleasure, nourishment, and safety. The inauguration of the autumn season will take place on Saturday, September 26, at 5:00 p.m., accompanied by the Ukojenie Collective’s performance (a Lifery tradition), a guided tour, and a performance by Magdalena Skotnicka.

The Lifery has emerged as a singular space on the map of Wrocław—a gallery in which art provides respite, drawing inspiration from the sanatorium culture of Lower Silesia. Since its reopening in January of this year, it has developed in step with the cycles of nature, twining with the rhythms of regeneration and dissolution with the participation of a host of artists and curators. Winter was ushered in by Katarzyna Roj, creator of the gallery’s concept, marking the launch of The Lifery as an exhibition-situation unfolding across twelve months. Spring was heralded by Karol Pałka, who probed the dual nature of the sanatorium. Summer was illuminated by Bogna Świątkowska, examining how we adapt to the Sun’s demands and our perceptions of the present. And this autumn, curator, cultural animator, and educator Magdalena Kreis will layer The Lifery with pleasure and artworks, building a nest to envelop and shelter us as chilly days descend.

Let ourselves be cocooned…

In nature conservation, the Polish otulina is a buffer zone: a belt of land surrounding a national park or nature reserve, insulating it from harmful external forces. The Lifery’s autumn interior becomes a protective otulina in its own right. As described by Magdalena Kreis: “Soft objects, textiles, nests, and dens—the artworks in the gallery space are meant to convey feelings of comfort, pleasure, and a chance for the body and our senses to regenerate. The Nesting will allow visitors to gather autumnal goodness and richness. All that is worth harvesting.”

Some of the artworks within The Lifery have been present in the space since the beginning of the year. Others have found their place across the seasons, kindling the imagination and interpreting the curatorial themes of each edition. Magdalena Kreis will introduce works that navigate the transition from summer to autumn, the latter framed as a season of reassuring comfort rather than one of drizzle and Baudelairean spleen. Textile works, in particular, will symbolically swaddle the self and nurture the senses: Julita Goździk’s Dreaming Body, embroidered on a duvet; textile objects by Karolina Balcer, including Kitchen Mess; and Magdalena Skotnicka’s installation Hugi, which channels the gesture of embracing. Joanna Piotrowska’s works from her Shelters series will return us to the realm of childhood and den-building. Autumn in our culture is also a time for celebrating the harvest and gathering of stores. This thread will be present in the exhibition in various forms, including Jakub Jakobiszyn’s zine Harvest Festival Welcomers and Jagoda Dobecka’s Comfort Is cookbooks. Anna Jochymek will examine the stockpiling of provisions in her characteristically slant way through video, while Edgar Bąk will fill part of the gallery with a graphic intervention created especially for The Lifery.

…this autumn at The Lifery 

In its narrative, The Nesting twines autumnal themes and associations—autumn’s traditional aesthetic and the timeworn rituals that accompany it—sometimes with a gentle wink. It also evokes childhood memories, allowing both adults and children the chance to freely roam The Lifery’s space, as much on foot as in the mind. Leaves and needles falling to the ground, straw mattresses (sienniki), soft textiles cushioning domestic interiors and hugging the human body: these will be some of the lingering images and impressions from a visit to The Lifery this autumn. As we prepare ourselves for winter…

The Lifery BWA Wrocław is open Wednesday through Friday from 12:00 to 8:00 p.m., and weekends from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Magdalena Kreis – a curator, cultural animator, and educator. She works from idea to realization: conceiving, initiating, coordinating, supporting. For over fifteen years she has developed original projects in the field of contemporary art—exhibitions, workshops, educational programs, and publications—aimed at engaging audiences of all ages. She gives particular attention to projects created for and with children and their families, seeking ways of speaking about art that bring it closer to everyday experience. Context—the specific conditions of each project—is always the point of departure for further work. She collaborates with cultural institutions and nongovernmental organizations in Poland and abroad, including in Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Ukraine, Japan, and South Korea. Her recent projects include: the family exhibition Šerosvit (Children’s Gallery Lapidárium, Broumov Monastery, Czechia); the single-work gallery Primo! (Krupa Art Foundation, Wrocław); and the exhibition View from Above (BWA Olsztyn). Since 2019, she has co-created the independent exhibition space NOWY ZŁOTY, located in a kiosk in the Ołbin district of Wrocław. More at magdalenakreis.pl

The Lifery is held under the Honorary Patronage of the Mayor of Wrocław.