Re-enchanting the World (December)

We rarely display masterpieces created in the 21st century due to copyright restrictions, but today we can show you an amazing artwork by the world-famous contemporary Polish artist Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, thanks to Zachęta, the National Gallery of Art in Warsaw. Enjoy!

The work is part of a 12-piece installation, shown for the first time at the artist’s exhibition in the Polish Pavilion at the International Art Exhibition in Venice in 2022. 

Re-enchanting the world is a manifestation of Roma art and identity. It is an attempt to expand art history to include the representation of Roma culture, the largest European minority. As her visual and ideological reference point, the artist chose the frescoes at Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara. 

The entire installation includes twelve large-format textiles that correspond to the twelve months in the calendar. The upper band presents the history of Roma migrations across Europe, in reference to the prints of a Lorraine engraver, Jacques Callot. Created in the 17th century, his engravings are full of anti-Roma stereotypes. The artist transforms that harmful narrative, and on the basis of historical works, creates her own large-format collages that portray the rich world of Roma history and mythology.

The middle band is an archive of Roma history, narrated from a female perspective. In recent years, Mirga-Tas has created many works about women who have been significant in her life, which have formed the Herstories cycle. Here, portraits of Roma women are accompanied by symbols from tarot cards and zodiac signs from the Palazzo Schifanoia. The combination of images of real women with magic and astrology turns the former into symbolic guardians of fortune, goddesses, and female prophets.

The bottom band of the composition includes twelve paintings that depict modern everyday life in the artist’s home village, Czarna Góra, and in the regions with which she feels the greatest connection:  Podhale (in the south of Lesser Poland) and the multicultural Spiš. They portray mostly women, their relationships, alliances, and activities performed together.

The “re-enchanting” from the title, inspired by Silvia Federici’s book, Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons (2018), is a non-violent process intended to change the unfortunate fate of this world, remove the bad spell cast upon it, and help regain a sense of community and rebuild human relationships.

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P.P.S. Explore the details of this extraordinary work that captivated visitors at the Venice Biennale in 2022!