Alina Szapocznikow | Outdoor Exhibition

What?

An outdoor exhibition dedicated to Alina Szapocznikow explores the key themes of her work, beginning with specific pieces, their evolving forms, and the materials used by one of the most important Polish sculptors of the 20th century.

The subsequent sections of the exhibition explore recurring themes in her art: femininity, the quest for freedom, and interpersonal relationships. They also highlight Szapocznikow’s radically innovative approach to sculpture—her interest in the body and the object, and her blurring of the boundary between them in the context of an evolving consumer culture.

At the same time, the exhibition does not overlook the experiences that shaped the artist’s life: the Holocaust and her progressive illness. However, Szapocznikow did not treat these events solely as autobiographical themes—she incorporated the experience of her own body directly into her artistic practice, transforming its fragility and physical decay into an extraordinarily intense affirmation of life. The exhibition shows how strongly her personal biography was intertwined with her uncompromising creative courage.

Who?

Alina Szapocznikow—one of the most important Polish artists of the 20th century, a sculptor whose work centered on the body, memory, transience, and materiality. Her experiments with form and unconventional materials allowed her to radically redefine the boundaries of sculpture, and her works remain an incredibly relevant voice in the discussion of corporeality, femininity, and the individual experience.

Maria Szulc—exhibition curator, art historian, assistant professor at the Museum of Independence Traditions in Łódź (Radegast Station branch), and doctoral candidate at the University of Łódź. She coordinates activities related to the celebration of the Year of Alina Szapocznikow in Łódź.

For Whom?

The exhibition is open to everyone, but we especially recommend it to young people aged 13 and older and to adults interested in art, 20th-century history, and narratives about memory, physicality, and women’s experiences. Thanks to its outdoor format, the exhibition can serve both as a first encounter with Alina Szapocznikow’s work and as an opportunity to revisit her art through the connections between her biography, materials, and artistic experimentation.

Why is it worth it?

Alina Szapocznikow’s biography transcends national borders, languages, and experiences—marked by the history of 20th-century Europe, the Holocaust, and migration, but also by an extraordinary will to live and a passion for creative freedom. That is why her art resonates so strongly with the spirit of the Łódź Multicultural Festival, which views history not as a collection of isolated stories of individual communities, but as a network of intertwined human destinies.

At the same time, the exhibition allows us to see Szapocznikow not only through the dramatic experiences of her life. The focus remains on her radical, experimental art—a body of work that used the body, its pleasures, fragility, and transience as material to explore the human condition. This is an opportunity to encounter an artist who, drawing on deeply personal experience, was able to create a language that remains universal and surprisingly contemporary.

Muzeum Tradycji Niepodległościowych is a partner of the exhibition.

Availability

The exhibition is an outdoor event and is located in front of the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center, in the space between the parking lots.