On January 17, artist Anna Raczyńska will launch her first monograph, New Beginnings, Old Habits, at KVOST. Together with collaborators on the book, we will explore the dualistic approach behind its visual concept – combining Polish and German language, designers, and writers – while reflecting on the complexity of Central and Eastern European identities, within which Raczyńska’s practice is situated. Michalina Sablik and Sophia Yvette Scherer, whose text contributions are featured in the book, will be in conversation with Anna.

Anna Raczyńska is a multidisciplinary visual artist, lecturer and researcher whose work is characterised by her keen interest in socio-political and socio-cultural issues. She focuses on the ongoing transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, from the remnants of Soviet communism to the rise of neoliberal capitalism in mass society. She questions the structural tensions between East and West, country and city, labour and capital, money and status, and the complex power relations of intersectionality. Her artistic methodology is based on an expanded understanding of sculpture. Using a variety of media and techniques, such as digital prints, 3D animations, objects, videos, large-scale installations and immersive environments, she blurs the boundaries between the digital and analogue worlds.

Michalina Sablik is an art historian, curator of exhibitions and public programs, exploring art as a critical and speculative tool, the politics of the surreal and post-identity narratives. She is currently completing her PhD at the University of Warsaw. Member of AICA and the Identity Crisis Network. Based between Warsaw and Barcelona. 

Sophia Yvette Scherer is a curator and writer engaging with contemporary practices and intermediary disciplines that weave together reflections on social construction in the public realm and aesthetic language. Based in Berlin, she has previously taught Curatorial Practice & Theory at Bauhaus-University in Weimar and University of the Arts in Berlin. Next to various curatorial projects, she is part of the mentoring program BPA// Berlin program for artists and works in the gallery sector. 

Co- financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland