The exhibition "Okolica" (Neighbourhood) was a survey of works by selected artists associated with the Praga-Północ district. The exhibition was curated by two artists whose lives are inextricably interwoven with this part of Warsaw – it was here that their great-grandparents and grandparents lived, and here that their childhoods took place. Memories and stories heard in family homes gradually took on an oniroid, almost fairytale character.

The Solidarity Transport Hub (CPK) will be a major transport hub planned across three Masovian municipalities: Baranów, Teresin and Wiskitki. The exhibition Czas Przyszły Konceptualny. CPK i okolice (Future Conceptual Tense. CPK and Surroundings), presented from 18 June to 20 July 2025, constituted a spatiotemporal exploration of the surroundings of CPK – the Grodzisk, Żyrardów and Sochaczew counties – both in a speculative view and as presented through capitalist realism.

The starting point was the image of Masovian villages on the eve of the investment. This sleepy landscape referred to stories from the past and future, completed and unfulfilled. Its protagonists were: a bridge from Radziejowice, a viaduct from Hipolitów, a chimney from Moszna, sedge from Jaktorów, a signpost from Kaski, waterways of the Baranów municipality, a tick from Jaktorów, the Pisia river, animal farms, potato fields, asphalt roads, the A2 motorway, railway infrastructure, the Jaktorów Forest, Międzyborów Dunes, Baranów meadows, a park in Grodzisk, Bolimów Landscape Park, Mariańska Forest.

A lively debate has been going on for several years in connection with the investment, its periods of intensification overlapping with the Polish electoral calendar. We are interested in the place where the potential airport would be located. What is happening here? How was it here? And how could it be? What distinguishes a place that stands out for nothing? What can an investment lead to that has lost its form and idea, transforming into various scenarios depending on market conditions and chance? We attempted to answer these questions based on several years of research.

Accompanying events

• 28 June 2025, 12:00–18:00 – gallery duty, artist's tour by Anna Siekierska and Piotr Puldzian Płucienniczak
• 5 July 2025, 12:00–18:00 – gallery duty, artist's tour by Kuba Maria Mazurkiewicz
• 11 July 2025, 16:00–20:00 – gallery duty, artist's tour by Małgorzata Gurowska and Agata Szydłowska (Zoe)
• 19 July 2025, 20:00 – launch of the sight-seeing booklet Czasoprzestrzenna Podróż Krajoznawcza. Okolice Baranowa (Spatiotemporal Sightseeing Journey. Around Baranów), publ. Dar Dobryszyc 2025

Project funded from science funds of the Faculty of Sculpture (exhibition) and the Faculty of Artistic Research and Curatorial Studies (publication) of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

The exhibition „Ćwiczenia z podzwyczajności” [Exercises in Sub-ordinariness] presented a study of the body in space, focusing on the relationship between the body and social norms, with particular attention to deviations from these norms. An “elastic band in a pocket” – a metaphor for human discomfort in everyday situations – prompted the creation of a tender relationship with one's own unintended gestures. Galeria Pracownia Wschodnia transformed into an experiential field, the effect of which was further enhanced by the presence of performers in the exhibition space. The exhibition also documented the creative process, revealing its transparent, communal character. The research approach and collective practices served to expand the field of art and build relationships between creative individuals and the audience. The exhibition took place from 16 May to 6 June 2025.

My first step is going into the field, which allows me to change perspectives and look for worlds. I observe various cognitive aspects accompanying research, whether immersed in corporeality or scientific precision.

Krysia Jędrzejewska-Szmek

The exhibition shows interspecies relations, human-plant relations from various perspectives. Some works arise from the need to re-evaluate the scientific, biological approach of the researcher who organises and names. In others, looking at plants and "with plants" is a way of commenting on phenomena, both political and global. From a personal perspective, it is a space of quiet reflection and freedom, making it possible to search for other ways of experiencing what is often a difficult "reality".

Curator: Paulina Mirowska

Collaboration: Kasper Jakubowski, Mateusz Olszewski Zaumne, Hamza Aqrabawi, Łukasz Zembaty/PHU Sitex, Marek Sadowski

The exhibition Cieplarnia [Hothouse] presented works by Mikołaj Chylak, Anna Grochowska, Anna Grzymała, Piotr Kopik, Natan Kryszk, Paulina Mirowska, Maryna Sakowska, Julek Płoski, Kacper Tomaszewski, and Sasza Wiktor. The works explored the metaphor of the hothouse as a protected space conducive to artistic development and collaboration, but also as a place for contemplation on the threats facing independent creative practice. The inspiration came from the fear of losing Pracownia Wschodnia, while the installation itself, built by Piotr Kopik and Natan Kryszk, formed an artistic microclimate where the artists freely co-created the space.

The exhibition posed the questions: how to create places that will serve as artistic greenhouses, where ideas of unconstrained creativity, exchange, dialogue, freedom, and non-hierarchy can be nurtured safely? Can they be protected from sudden shifts in political and business conditions? Is it at all possible to create ideal circumstances for the emergence and development of art? Can content and ideas regarding the tensions of the outside world be developed within isolated, hothouse conditions? The exhibition symbolically celebrated the renewal of Pracownia Wschodnia’s lease.

It ran from 13 September to 10 November 2024 and was part of FRINGE Warszawa 2024. Collaborations included:

• Staromiejski Dom Kultury
• Instytut Adama Mickiewicza
• Bęc Zmiana
• Magazyn KMAG
• Magazyn MINT
• Magazyn MOST
• Magazyn SZUM

The exhibition “Stoję tu na stromym zboczu” [I Stand Here on a Steep Slope] presented dialogue, cooperation and co-creation. Artists from Galeria Pracownia Wschodnia each invited one person to participate, and the works were presented in pairs, each accompanied by a joint, co-written text. The participants included: Antek Lisowski + Natalia Borczi, Jan Cieślak + Mikołaj Starowieyski, Mikołaj Chylak + Paweł Mysera, Paulina Mirowska + Klara Woźniak, Jędrek Owsiński + Ania Siekierska, Natak Kryszk + Paulina Koleśnikowa, and Piotr Kopik + Olga Lubacz.

The exhibition ran from 7 March to 19 April 2024. 

Kafka wanted his works to be destroyed, but Brod saved them – thanks to which we know them today. Did Kafka need a friend? Perhaps deep down he knew that Brod would not listen to him?

Curatorial care was provided by Antek Lisowski and Janek Cieślak, and the poster was designed by Janek Cieślak. 

FB event

GDZIE KTOŚ ROBI - TAM KTOŚ PATRZY [WHERE SOMEONE MAKES - THERE SOMEONE LOOKS]

It was a record of an experiment. Although each person adopted a different strategy and working model, most of the artists creating Pracownia Wschodnia had experience of sharing a common studio. Such a situation had its drawbacks and advantages. On the one hand, space had to be negotiated, someone else's work not stepped on, and a colleague's difficult music accepted. On the other hand, much could be gained by squeezing into a single box: art materials moved from hand to hand, and ideas, fragments of conversations, and opinions circulated similarly. The open workshop remained ready to come alive in an instant and spit out an unexpected combination. And then fall silent again.

The ambiguity of this place's name - Galeria Pracownia Wschodnia - was reflected in the project. We wanted to be a studio and a gallery at the same time. For three weeks, we transformed the exhibition space into a workshop to spend time together and observe each other at work. Discovering how artworks were created stripped them of their aura of untouchability. The tension between the creator's decisions and the role of chance became more visible. The shift in perspective was attractive because it shortened the distance between the artist and the viewer. Conversation at the exhibition could be more relaxed, unpretentious, and direct.

Poster: Michał Kasperek

Accompanying events

• 17 February - Antek Lisowski "nabijanie płótna" [stretching canvas]
• 18 February - Jan Cieślak "malowanie malarza" [painting the painter]
• 24 February - Antek Lisowski "nabijanie płótna"
• 25 February - Jan Cieślak "martwa natura" [still life]
• 2 March - Paulina Mirowska "sito z martwą" [screen printing with still life]
• 3 March - Łukasz Zembaty "sito z martwą"
• 8 March - Tymek Bryndal concert "You should do something with that laugh"
• 10 March - Tomasz Januchta concert "Urodziny Arcydziełka" [Birthday of the Little Masterpiece]

The exhibition took place from 17 February to 28 March 2024.

Kontemplacyjna twórczość Kasi Rysiak stanowiła kontrast wobec rozemocjonowanego mainstreamu malarskiego. Poszukiwanie harmonii i spokoju w budowaniu relacji przestrzennych pomiędzy płaszczyznami barw i tekstur, wektorami linii – malowanych, wycinanych, naklejanych i wyszywanych – wynikało u artystki z fenomenologicznych badań nad doświadczeniem relacji obrazów do otoczenia, ich rezonowania w przestrzeni, współbrzmienia w zgrupowaniu z innymi pracami, czy wreszcie oddziaływania po pierwsze na artystkę, a następnie na widzów.
Działania Rysiak nasuwały natychmiastowe skojarzenia ze spuścizną konstruktywizmu, np. Kompozycjami architektonicznymi Władysława Strzemińskiego, przywodząc także na myśl Kąty energetyczne Józefa Robakowskiego, abstrakcyjne efemery Michała Budnego czy fascynację czernią u Rafała Bujnowskiego. Obaj artyści lubili posługiwać się węglem – u Kasi jego opiłki nadawały subtelną fakturę i walor przypruszonym szarością geometrycznym kompozycjom.
Wprowadzając aspekt poetyckiego minimalizmu, artystka przenosiła akcent na to, co pomiędzy, na marginesie, w kącie czy wręcz poza obrazem. Motyw cienia rzucanego przez obraz był osobnym tematem, asumptem do powstania nowego cyklu prac. Poprzez zastosowane materiały i techniki jak np. introligatorskie płótno czy tekturę stosowane w oprawach książek, dokonywało się swoiste uwznioślenie rzemiosła.
Ten minimalistyczny, awangardowy etos został u Rysiak podważony drobnymi, choć subwersywnymi gestami, wprowadzającymi wrażenie lekkości, ulotności i delikatności. Półprzezroczyste woale układające się w warstwowe, reliefowe kompozycje, element swobody w podejściu do kompozycji malowanej i haftowanej na fragmencie luźno zwisającej tkaniny, wyzierający nieoczekiwanie spod kompozycji neonowy kolor czy wreszcie płótna, z których wyłaziły łaskoczące oko niteczki – wprowadzały element eksperymentu i zabawy, zachęcającej widzów do uważniejszego spojrzenia, a także rozgoszczenia się w stworzonej przez artystkę sytuacji.

The exhibition ran from 26 October to 5 November 2023.

The theme of the exhibition was a grocery shop. 

The people invited to the exhibition presented objects that tell stories about the products we buy constantly.