Ways of Seeing. Collection of Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź

The exhibiotion focuses on the phenomenon of seeing – both as a biological function and as a cultural and political act. Divided into several thematic chapters, it presents art as a tool of inquiry, posing questions about how and why we look. Among the issues explored are: the relationship between vision and memory, the social contexts of looking, perception as a form of knowledge and a tool of resistance, as well as questions of identity, corporeality, and the sensorial experience of reality.

The title of the exhibition refers to John Berger’s celebrated series Ways of Seeing and Władysław Strzemiński’s Theory of Seeing. Both serve as points of reference grounded in the conviction that looking is never neutral – it is always culturally, historically, and emotionally conditioned.

The exhibition features works by, among others, Katarzyna Kobro, Maria Jarema, Franciszka and Stefan Themerson, Zofia Rydet, Alina Szapocznikow, R.H. Quaytman, Katja Novitskova, Marysia Lewandowska, Frank Bowling, and Zbigniew Libera. The works are not arranged chronologically. Instead, the exhibition guides visitors through chapters titled after selected works on view, such as Description of a Photograph, Multiple Portrait, Wheel of Acceleration, Superobjects, or A Gaze is a Bridge.

An important context for the exhibition is Gifts of Friendship – nearly one hundred works donated to the Muzeum Sztuki by artists from around the world. This act of solidarity recalls the avant-garde roots of the institution, which in 1931 initiated the International Collection of Modern Art through artists’ donations. The 2025 contributions include works by Liam Gillick, Sharon Lockhart, Nikita Kadan, Ghislaine Leung, Kateryna Lysovenko, Goshka Macuga, Wilhelm Sasnal, Jasmina Cibic, IRWIN, and Zuzanna Janin. A selection of these will be on view from October as part of the new permanent exhibition.

The exhibition is accompanied by two publications: an illustrated catalogue with essays by Mieke Bal and Łukasz Zaremba, and an anthology of texts by artists reflecting on vision, perception, and the co-creation of meaning. Like the exhibition itself, these books treat art as a mode of thinking and as a dialogue with reality.

The exhibition Ways of Seeing. Collection of Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź is under the honorary patronage of Marta Cienkowska , the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and Joanna Skrzydlewska, the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship.

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