From the Ashes

15.03 – 26.05.2024 From the Ashes

Zachęta – National Gallery of Art

artistic persons: Hanna Antonsson, Sara Bezovšek, Justyna Górowska, Ewelina Jarosz, Marcin Janusz, Karolina Jarzębak, Ida Karkoszka, Agata Lankamer, Aleksandra Liput, Julia Lohmann, Antonina Nowacka, Pity (Kasia Piątkowska), Agata Polak, Aleksandra Wieliczko, Klara Woźniak, X-Philes (Rafał Domagała, Maja Gomulska, Bartosz Jakubowski, Gabriela Sułkowska), Xtreme Girl (Lena Peplińska, Laura Radzewicz), Ada Zielińska
curator: Michalina Sablik
exhibition design: Iza Koczanowska, Aleksandra Szpocińska
visual identification: Paulina Trzeciak
exhibition production: Dominika Kaszewska, Karolina Jezierska-Pomorska, Anna Muszyńska
editing: Andrzej Bialik, Dariusz Bochenek, Remigiusz Olszewski, Grzegorz Ostromecki, Paweł Ostromecki, Piotr Wierzejski
communication: Alicja Malicka, Milena Liebe, Zofia Koźniewska, Aleksandra Sienkiewicz, Justyna Wydra
inventory: Monika Zaleszczuk
conservation care: Michalina Sobierajska
accessibility department: Emilia Rudzka
public program: Daria Kubilisz

The world around us is on fire. A figure with a foolish expression is drinking coffee and says: ‘This is fine.’ Humorously sad, reconciled with the raging apocalypse, memes reflect the belief that nature and the human world are like the mythical phoenix, always rising from the ashes. In many cultures, this fantastic creature, associated with solar deities, symbolised the cyclic character of nature, immortality and the rebirth of life. Indeed, for centuries the phoenix was believed to burn itself to death at the end of its life and be reborn as a mighty bird.

Global environmental crises are challenging the long-held belief that nature, like the mythical phoenix, has an infinite capacity for regeneration. As the Basque philosopher Michael Marder writes in The Phoenix Complex (2023), belief in rebirth is limiting and conservative, and the hope it conveys can be dangerous. It implies that people do not need to change anything or take any drastic measures because nature will defend itself. Only deep despair can inspire radical change.

In the exhibition we present works made by artists after 2020, which are divided into two themes. The first part, Flame, speaks of the reality of multiple crises — climate, economic, social — communicated through media images and the internet. Many of the pieces apply digital aesthetics or have been created using new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D design or robotics. In turn, the second part, Birth, presents speculative visions of an ecological-technological future created in the spirit of collectivism and posthumanist feminism, introducing utopian and solarpunk narratives.

Wandering Jeans Association | Photo documentation
  • Grafika obiektu: Wandering Jeans Association
    mediateka / films
    Wandering Jeans Association
  • Grafika obiektu: X-Philes collective. Wandering Jeans Association
    mediateka / photo gallery
    X-Philes collective. Wandering Jeans Association
  • mediateka / audio-description
Related media
  • mediateka / audio
    Kolektyw X-Philes, Dom na ewentualne przyszłości
  • mediateka / audio
    Agata Lankamer
  • mediateka / audio
    Część 2
  • mediateka / audio
    Extreme girl
  • mediateka / audio
    Feniks w kulturze
  • mediateka / audio
    Hanna Antonson
  • mediateka / audio
    Ida Karkoszka
  • mediateka / audio
    Julia Lochman
  • mediateka / audio
    Justyna Gorowska
  • mediateka / audio
    Karolina Jarzebak
  • mediateka / audio
    Kompleks Feniksa
  • mediateka / audio
    Marcin Janusz
  • mediateka / audio
    Prolog
  • mediateka / audio
    SND
  • mediateka / audio
    Waste
  • mediateka / audio
    X-philes
  • mediateka / audio
    Część 1
  • mediateka / audio
    Aleksandra Wieliczko
  • mediateka / audio
    Aleksandra Liput
  • mediateka / audio
    Wstęp
  • mediateka / audio
    Ada Zielińska
  • Grafika obiektu: Education Archives #12
    mediateka / audio
    Education Archives #12
    Kelp is on the way. Learning from algae about how to be a kinder humankind. Julia Lohmann
  • Grafika obiektu: Wandering Jeans Association
    mediateka / films
    Wandering Jeans Association
  • mediateka / folders / Texts
    X-Philes collective, Wandering Jeans Association
  • mediateka / folders / Texts
    Kolektyw X-Philes, Poezja
  • Grafika obiektu: X-Philes collective. Wandering Jeans Association
    mediateka / photo gallery
    X-Philes collective. Wandering Jeans Association
Related events
  • 16.03 (Sat) 14:00
    Kelp is on the way – learning from algae about how to be a kinder humankind
    Lecture in english
    Zachęta / cinema room (entrance through the cloakroom )Zachęta / cinema room (entrance through the cloakroom )
  • 17.03 (Sun) 12:15
    Phoenix and other stories from the watershed era
    (in Polish)
    Zachęta – National Gallery of ArtZachęta
  • 26.03 (Tue) 16:30
    Creative generation workshop. Artificial intelligence, and creativity
    Zachęta / cinema room (entrance through the cloakroom )Zachęta / cinema room (entrance through the cloakroom )
  • 18.04 (Thu) 19:00
    Dream meditation with the Planeta
    Zachęta / workshop room (entrance through the main hall)Zachęta / workshop room (entrance through the main hall)
  • 27.04 (Sat) 12:15
    From the Ashes
    (in Polish)
    Zachęta – National Gallery of ArtZachęta
  • 12.05 (Sun) 12:15
    From the Ashes
    (in Polish)
    Zachęta – National Gallery of ArtZachęta
  • 19.05 (Sun) 16:00
    Phoenix and other stories from the time of the breakthrough
    (in Polish)
    Zachęta – National Gallery of ArtZachęta
  • 19.05 (Sun) 19:00
    Sylphine Soporifera
    Acoustic concert by Antonina Nowacka
    Zachęta – National Gallery of ArtZachęta

Information

From the Ashes
15.03 – 26.05.2024

Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
pl. Małachowskiego 3, 00-916 Warsaw
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Godziny otwarcia:
Tuesday – Sunday 12–8 p.m.
Thursday – free entry
ticket office is open until 7.30 p.m.

Institution financed by:
MKiDN

Patron of the Gallery:

media patronage:

Partner: