At the exhibition we present the full design and production process of the original A00 chess sets.

The idea for A00 was born at Pracownia Wschodnia in Warsaw's Praga district. During countless conversations over coffee, the artists Kasia Rysiak and Agnieszka Wach, delving into the rules of chess, decided to design their own set. Its origin was the desire to own a chess set marked by elegance, contemporary design and noble materials.

In the new premises of Pracownia Wschodnia at pl. Hallera we present two chess sets: A00, which was unveiled in 2019 for the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus, and the Wulumulu set, which was designed for more mechanised production. The show is accompanied by sketches, clay and plaster models, casts, prototypes, and material and colour tests. The exhibition is complemented by photographs by Paulina Mirowska, made by the artist herself in the darkroom of Foto Pracownia Wschodnia, documenting the production of the first A00 chess set.

The concept of the exhibition is based on local activities. The idea for the chess sets was born in Praga, and it was largely realised here. A rigorous design process, followed by production work divided into stages: joinery, carving the pawns, bookbinding work, screen printing, and sewing the covers for the chessboard. Drawing on their own craft experience, the designers took an active part in the production of the A00 sets. The pieces and pawns were carved by the sculptor Agnieszka Wach.

Kasia Rysiak designed and sewed the chessboard covers and also prepared the drawings that were applied to the chessboards and graphic materials.The project was also realised by:Łukasz Zembaty- the printer, who made the screen prints on the boxes and chessboards.Kuba Omalecki- the joiner, who made the chessboards and boxes. The A00 set was produced in a limited collector's edition, and its name comes from the category of irregular chess openings.

What is work? The premises of the Praga Praca project:ENERGY, WOMEN AND LUXURY• Making the chess sets required creative energy and the involvement of specialists. A00 was created for people who like to spend time together over long, intellectual games.• The authors of the project are women. Creating within a circle of women craftspeople has an important personal and social aspect for them. Women make up over 50% of the production team and the majority of buyers.• The A00 chess sets were made from high-quality materials (beech, black oak), with respect for the natural environment and craft work.

Exhibition curators and producers: Kasia Rysiak, Paulina Mirowska.

Kasia Rysiak - designer and visual artist, associated with Pracownia Wschodnia in Warsaw for almost a decade. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, Faculty of Textiles and Fashion, and of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She ran the clothing brand Mamapiki (2009-2016). She currently works in photography, painting and design. Since 2021 she has co-created the Foto Department of Pracownia Wschodnia at pl. Hallera, where she carries out wide-ranging projects based on analogue photography techniques.

Agnieszka Wach comes from the Zagłębie Śląsko-Dąbrowskie region and currently lives and works in Warsaw. A graduate of the Faculty of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (2012). Doctor of Arts (2020). Since graduating she has been professionally connected with her home Faculty, collaborating with Roman Woźniak in the Spatial Activities Studio. Since 2015 she has belonged to the Pracownia Wschodnia creative collective.She creates interdisciplinary projects. She treats sculpture as a base for spatial and material experiments. She takes part in exhibitions and sometimes arranges them. She works in design teams. She is the author and co-author of many competition projects for realisation in public space.

Paulina Mirowska - Visual artist and activist. Born in 1987 in Warsaw. A graduate of the Faculty of Multimedia Communication at the University of the Arts in Poznań, in Photography and in Graphic Design and Visual Communication. She has worked in the Photography Studio at the Faculty of Graphic Arts of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw since 2011. She takes an active part in independent group and individual activities, combining and developing the fields of analogue photography, sculpture, printmaking and self-publishing. She has co-authored many community events and installations. Drawing on her knowledge, she engages in social activism, running multidirectional artistic projects. She is a member of the collective Grupa JEST, the Pracownia Wschodnia Association and the screen printing studio PHU Sitex.

The activity is carried out as part of the PRAGA PRACA project organised by OW SARP, Open Heritage and the European Union. The project is funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 programme, grant no. 776766.