art residency at the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Opole, Poland
Trees and grass fill the spaces between the blocks. The sticky September air carries the smell of schabowy and ziemniaczki. "One you have to eat, the other you can leave," as our moms used to say. The Armii Krajowej estate in Opole, built in the late ’70s and early ’80s, consists of prefabricated panel blocks, their grayness broken by colorful balconies.
People follow their own paths here.
Przedepty/Desire Paths began with long walks. I watched the subtle shifts in the space and looked for the so-called “desire paths”—traces of the paths people carve for themselves, defying the sidewalks.
Unlike the cold, modern, concrete monotony that dominates many Polish cities, "Osiedle AK" is alive, sometimes untamed. Desire paths, graffiti, toys scattered in the sandbox, mirabelle plums among the flowerbeds—all of it comes together into an authentic, lived-in atmosphere, full of small surprises.
From these observations came sketches. Lines, hollows, and impressions were transferred onto paper, freed from their context. The abstracted shapes often recall a landscape’s contours or a riverbed, shaped by flowing water.
Twenty-four compositions—each pairing a photograph with its corresponding sketch. In these traces lie the residents’ daily choices and their search for freedom within the urban space.
Festival curator: Agnieszka Dela-Kropiowska
The residency took place at the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Opole from September 1–7, 2025, as part of the Festiwal Jednego Osiedla (Festival of a Single Estate).
The Festiwal Jednego Osiedla—Blok Kultury was co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage through the National Centre for Culture program: Culture – Interventions, 2025 edition.