Poison ⚗️

Barbara Gryka (Końskowola, PL) and Danill Revkovskyi (Kharkiv, UA) participated in an artist residency at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Opole in 2024. During this residency, they explored the urban fabric of Opole through the lens of flânerie.

The project “Jad” (” Poison”), prepared for GSW in Opole, serves as an introduction to the further activities of their artistic group, drawing inspiration from song festivals during the PRL (Polish People’s Republic) and USSR eras.

The exhibition at the Aneks GSW gallery is based on the story of a fictional musical group, “Barbara’s Vocal Group,” supposedly active in 1974. Barbara unearthed the hidden story of her tragically deceased grandmother, Maria Witkowska, who had lived in Opole. This family history had been obscured for years, as no one truly knew the full truth. Barbara’s grandmother and her partner were poisoned with cyanide just before their wedding. All that remained of her grandmother were photographs; neither Barbara nor Danill could even locate her grave.

The artists reconstructed the biography of Maria Witkowska and the narrative of her artistic journey, even creating an album attributed to her. The boundaries between truth and fabrication remain deliberately blurred. Can one hold a memory of someone they’ve never met? The creators also questioned whether their family history had undergone proper historical revision and whether, as artists, they could challenge the very existence of the protagonist of familial legends.

Curated by: Agnieszka Dela-Kropiowska
Text by: Agnieszka Dela-Kropiowska
Contemporary Art Gallery in Opole (PL)
Pictures by: M. Węgrzyn