The gallery is a chicken coop artists are hens and art is chicken eggs

This title was not intended to mock. It is absurd, whimsical, subversive and amusing. Made-up, and democratically chosen by a voting majority. We adults may be upset or disheartened: what do you mean… art extracted from chicken behinds? Once we abandon literality and let ourselves be transported by the metaphor, it reveals an entire universe of young curators’ digressions and associations. Let us not be afraid to discover art collections through their eyes – or indeed add our own connotations. What is contemporary art all about, after all – if not emotions, commentaries, entanglements, responses and questions? Furthermore, we have known since Slavic times that the world is an egg resting upon a chicken leg. The egg is also a medium allowing connection to spirits and supernatural forces. Everything adds up.

We hereby present you with our process, thoughts and emotions, our operating methods thrown in for good measure. We will discover landscapes created by juxtaposing works from the collection of the “Arsenal” Gallery in Białystok with the sensitivity and unfettered imagination of a child. The world of our exhibition is one of care and multiplicity of voices. We are showing works that have triggered emotions in children, ones they wished to describe, reference, and comment on. We see their commentary as equally valid to artists’ artworks. There is no need for asking what came first, chicken or egg. We have both hens and eggs in a chicken coop at the show.

Hen-referencing metaphors are not without importance: Polish language has a bespoke expression to describe a woman who has decided to sacrifice her whole life for her family, and spends it cooking, doing laundry, cleaning and raising children (kura domowa – domestic hen); a mother hen is an overprotective mother, sheltering her children or deciding for them in the name of their safety. Rather than pejorative, we perceive such expressions as arising from the protective nature and magical meaning of hens, which is why female artist hens rather than male artist cockerels have been chosen as the backdrop for our narrative. We have purposely selected works by female artists from the collection of the “Arsenal” Gallery in Białystok. The share of works by women in gallery and art collections worldwide (Poland included) is well-nigh identical, pieces by male artists overwhelmingly prevalent. We stand in opposition to such disproportions at our exhibition which proposes a fresh approach to art, inviting conversation, choosing a world with space for otherness and difference, and reversing overall privilege directions we are aware of through openness and inclusion. It is an invitation to enter a reality basing on a narrative by entities unheard and not approached seriously (children, women, animals; dreams, intuitions, care, compassions).

Traditionally, the social position of children has been – and frequently still is – all about doing as adults tell them to: speak when spoken to, get good grades, don’t run around or make noise; sitting still is the preferred option. In the education process, we train them in obedience. Our exhibition reverses the order, giving children a voice. We listen to their insights in an attempt at following their interests, their works and commentaries (whether written, spoken or drawn) becoming the pivotal point of reference. We should not fear empowering them this way: we adults may actually end up learning something new in the process, and/or improving our mindfulness. I have learned a lot from kids when working on the exhibition over a period of January until May 2023, in the course of our curatorship meetings. I take my hat off to them for their openness, trust and courage – and I thank them! I would truly want to encourage you – the young and the adult like – to follow them/us, and give in to adventure. You are also welcome to take the floor, and add something to the general picture.