In 2018, Anna Karasińska took advantage of the moment exhibitions were being changed out and invited viewers to a performative guided tour of the empty rooms. In each room, she offered visitors a different kind of perception — the material to be ‘viewed’ was the presence of the viewers themselves, observed from different perspectives. The artist drew the viewer’s attention to themselves, their physical presence, relationship to the group, but also to the mechanism of attention and perception of time.

‘Karasińska is a vigilant and sensitive observer, and her works encourage the viewer to adopt a specific attitude: to see the obvious, as if for the first time’.

 ^{(Marcelina Obarska, Piotr Policht, Oswajanie Zachęty, Culture.pl, 2018)}

This year’s Open Room is an expansion of selected elements of the work from the previous year. The artist and performers invoice the audience to one of the rooms of the Zachęta Gallery, which will be open for this purpose.

concept, text, production: Anna Karasińska
performance: Karolina Harris, Natalia Oniśk, Michał Salwiński