Exhibition "When I am in Ukraine, everyone asks me about Poland. When I am in Poland, everyone asks me about Ukraine"

"When I am in Ukraine, everyone asks me about Poland. When I am in Poland, everyone asks me about Ukraine" is a solo exhibition by Polish artist and curator Waldemar Tatarczuk. Its opening will take place on December 17th at 6:30 PM at the Artsvit Gallery.

The exhibition marks Tatarczuk's return to artistic practice after many years of directing the "Labirynt" Gallery in Lublin, located 100 km from the Polish-Ukrainian border, where he focused on supporting the work of other artists. This experience significantly influenced his artistic language, shaping the key features of his work: political sensitivity, attention to the Other, collaboration, and coexistence. The work that opens the exhibition—"Moving East"—literally embodies both the political and artistic movement of the artist towards Ukrainian art: its support and its constant presence in this cultural space.

The project consists of two parts. The first brings together works created in collaboration with Ukrainian artists—longtime friends and colleagues who accepted Tatarczuk's invitation to participate in a joint artistic dialogue. This part echoes the spirit of the "Labirynt" Gallery, which, under Tatarczuk’s direction, became an experimental institution with a distinct anti-institutional approach. During periods of political and social upheaval in Poland, "Labirynt" remained active and sensitive, focusing on artistic rather than bureaucratic logic. The gallery played a vital role in supporting Ukrainian artists and developing Polish-Ukrainian artistic cooperation since the very beginning of Tatarczuk's work there.

The second part of the exhibition delves into the artist's inner world, presenting his individual works and documentation of his performances. This intimate, reflective space reveals a personal dimension that long remained overshadowed by his curatorial activities. Although the Dnipro audience is already familiar with Tatarczuk as an educator and curator, this archival part of the exhibition clearly shows him as an important performer who has consistently explored the intersection of the corporal and the political since the late 1980s, moving towards empathy, solidarity, and co-existence.

Admission is free. The exhibition will run until March 14, 2026.

Curators: Kateryna Yakovlenko, Stakh Shablovskyi.

Participants: Waldemar Tatarczuk, Kateryna Aliiinyk, Vlodko Kaufman, Zhanna Kadyrova, Nikita Kadan, Pavlo Kovach Jr., Denys Pankratov, Anton Saienko, Vasyl Tkachenko (Liakh), Stanislav Turina, Yaroslav Futymskyi.

Project Organizers: Fundacja Sztuki Performance, Artsvit Gallery. Partner: Polish Institute in Kyiv.

Coordination PL: Paulina Kempisty, Pawel Korbus. Coordination UA: Iryna Polikarchuk.

Design: Alla Sorochana. Spatial Solutions: Yevhen Obraztsov.

Project Team UA: Oleksandra Shovkun, Stanislav Pyvnonos, Viktoriia Nikitina, Bohdan Somov.

Financing from the budget of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state earmarked fund.