Two portraits

Exhibition: “Give Us This Day...“
june – july, 2021
Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok, Poland
Curator: Ewa Chacianowska
Photo: Maciej Zaniewski

The tradition of greeting important guests with bread and salt has been known for a long time. The refreshments offered on the doorstep of the house were to establish a relationship of friendship and trust between the host and the newcomer. Currently, such customs and traditions are deformed and transformed into a more comfortable or even less engaging form. Economic and political instability is causing people to move between countries. It happens that we are invited to places where we are offered seemingly friendly conditions, but often they do not provide stability and peace at all. In a situation where you have no choice but to agree to all conditions, the experience of being hosted is replaced by a sense of hopelessness (not being able to decide for yourself and feeling lost). Behind the invitation and the illusion of good refreshments, there is a counterfeit.