The Light of a Variable Star. Women Artists in the Collection of the Arsenal Gallery

The collection of the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok brings together works by outstanding Polish women artists who debuted at different times and represented a wide range of artistic approaches. Their presence in the collection is largely the result of the efforts of art historian Bożena Kowalska (1930–2023), who in the 1980s actively worked to introduce women’s artistic practices into the holdings of the Białystok institution. As such, the collection offers a compelling point of departure for exploring multiple dimensions of the Polish herstory of art. A meeting with Marika Kuźmicz will illuminate selected aspects of this history and provide an opportunity to engage more closely with both the works and the biographies of their creators, including Zofia Artymowska (1923–2000), Aleksandra Jachtoma (b. 1932), Maria Michałowska (1925–2018), and Erna Rosenstein (1913–2004). The event will also address strategies for recalling, recontextualising, and rediscovering the achievements of women artists across different cultural institutions.

The Light of a Variable Star. Women Artists in the Collection of the Arsenal Gallery
08.03.2026 (Sunday), noon
Arsenal Gallery power station
13 Elektryczna Street (entrance from Świętojańska Street), Białystok
free admission

Dr Marika Kuźmicz is an art historian, curator, and researcher. She is a lecturer and Dean of the Faculty of Artistic Research and Curatorial Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, and also teaches at Collegium Civitas in Warsaw. Her research centres on Polish art of the 1970s, with a particular focus on performance, photography, video art, and women’s art. She initiated the international database Forgotten Heritage (www.forgottenheritage.eu). In 2010, she founded the non-profit Arton Foundation in Warsaw, dedicated to researching and processing women artists’ archives. She also initiated the Edward Hartwig Foundation, serving as its President until 2024. Since November 2022, she has been working at Muzeum Susch as Research Curator for the Instituto Susch, where she focuses on women artists from Central and Eastern Europe. Dr Kuźmicz is the author, co-author, and editor of dozens of publications on art and has curated numerous exhibitions in Poland and internationally. In 2024, she was awarded the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture “Gloria Artis.”