About the exhibitions
“Forms of Presence. Art of Lemkos/Carpatho-Rusyns” is the first exhibition in history to showcase the artistic achievements of this Carpathian community on such a wide scale. It features both renowned creators — like Andy Warhol, Epifaniusz Drowniak (Nikifor), and Jerzy Nowosielski — and artists who have so far been outside the main canon.
Lemkos, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, are an ethnic group that has inhabited both the northern and southern slopes of the main ridge of the Carpathians for centuries. The exhibition restores visibility to their artistic heritage, which has remained marginalised in dominant narratives about European art for years. It demonstrates that the art of Lemkos/Carpatho-Rusyns is not a folkloric curiosity, but a living, autonomous, and multidimensional part of culture — capable of engaging in dialogue with both the spiritual heritage of the Carpathians and contemporary aesthetics.
An essential backdrop to this history includes the experiences of forced migrations, assimilation, the Talerhof internment camp, and Operation Vistula. Memories of these traumatic events resurface in the works of artists and in everyday objects originating from Lemko/Carpatho-Rusyn homes. Within the exhibition space, they become living witnesses of history and symbols of a community’s endurance which — despite scattering — has managed to preserve its language, identity, and memory.
The exhibition covers a wide geographical scope — from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Serbia, through the Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine, and Croatia, to the diaspora in the United States. In this context, Andy Warhol’s famous words “I’m from nowhere” take on a new significance: they express an identity that endures beyond borders and changing locations.
The temporary exhibition “Forms of Presence. Art of Lemkos/Carpatho-Rusyns” breaks a long-standing silence, revealing the exclusions embedded in the institutional history of art. By restoring the voice to those who were denied it for decades, it shows that the heritage of Lemkos/Carpatho-Rusyns does not merely return but persistently endures, despite attempts to erase or assimilate it, as a living element of contemporary culture.
List of artists
Milan Bandurčin, Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Jozef Bokšaj, Julia Chomka, Mikulaš Dic, Orest Dubay, Epifaniusz Drowniak (Nikifor), Laura Dyczko, Vojtech Erdélyi, Mykołaj Fedak, Atanaz Fedinecz, Stefan Hapak, Darjan Hardi, Aleksandra Hryńczuk, A. Jachimówna, Maria Janko, Bogdan Kareł, Andrej Andrejevič Kocka, Julijan Kolesar, Andryj Kopcza, Juraj Kresila, Piotr Krynicki, Teodor Kuziak, Jan Łabowski, Maria Maciejczyk, Justyna Maksymczak, Olena Mandićova, Jozef Miklošík, Dezider Milly, Július Muška, Jan Mychalak, Dorota Nieznalska, Jerzy Nowosielski, Mychajlo Orysyk, Anna Pałyńska, Anna Pec, Grzegorz Pecuch, Paraska Płytka-Horytstvit, Aleksandra Polańska-Hryńczuk, Anna Pyszniak, Michal Rebej, Władysław Rewak, Iwan Rusenko, Ivan Šafranko, Michal Sirik, Dmytro Solynko, Andryj Suchorski, Katarzyna Szweda, Joanna Śpiak-Jadłosz, Stefan Telep, Kamila Trochanowska, Mirosław Trochanowski, Tyrsus Wenhrynowicz, Julia Warhola, Andy Warhol, Dawid Zdobylak.
About the curator
Dr. Michał Szymko is an art historian, cultural studies scholar, Łemko studies specialist, and Ukrainian studies researcher affiliated with the University of Warsaw. His research interests include Łemko/Rusyn and Ukrainian art, as well as marginalized topics in European art history, particularly the creative output of ethnic minorities. He also works broadly on issues related to the Carpathian ethno-region. Dr. Szymko is the author of scholarly publications and a popularizer of knowledge about Central and Eastern European culture, as well as a curator of exhibitions dedicated to these subjects. For over a decade, he has collaborated with cultural institutions in Warsaw, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Teatr Powszechny, participating in programmatic, research, and organizational projects. His doctoral dissertation focused on the issue of identity in contemporary Łemko art, analyzed from the perspectives of memory studies, visual anthropology, and minority studies. He was awarded the Santander Universidades Scholarship for Outstanding Doctoral Candidates in 2021.
People creating the exhibition
Director of the State Etnographic Museum in Warsaw: dr Magdalena Wróblewska
Curator: dr Michał Szymko
Project coordinator: Agnieszka Kleszcz
Texts author: dr Michał Szymko, prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Stopka, Dorota Nieznalska
Translation: Mateusz Myszka (ENG); Marta Watral, Anna Maślana (RUE)
Exhibition design: Bartłomiej Buczek ART INDUSTRY STANDARD
Production coordination and logistics: Marta Ancelewska
Visual identification: Beata Śliwińska Barrakuz
Graphic design and typesetting: Kuba Maria Mazurkiewicz
Copyediting and proofreading: Małgorzata Kunecka, Agnieszka Grabowska, Agnieszka Kleszcz, Michał Głuszek
Artefact movements: Joanna Szczypa, Anna Zdankiewicz
Conservatorial care: Marcin Burzymowski, Katarzyna Górzyńska, Krystyna Tomasik
Archival material digitisation and movement: Joanna Bartuszek
Accesibility: Justyna Zieniuk, Wielozmysły
Technical team and organisational assistance: Mariusz Horoś, ART-TRANSPORTER Krzysztof Pawłowski, Bartłomiej Buczek ART INDUSTRY STANDARD
Financial coordination: Kamila Smakulska-Kurek
Accompanying program: Dział Edukacji PME
PR and communication: Łukasz Gackowski, Patrycja Lewandowska, Jakub Nowociński, Marta Matysiak, Przemysław Walczak
Exhibition from the collections of the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw and the collections of:
SNM – Múzeum rusínskej kultúry v Prešove
SNM – Múzeum ukrajinskej kultúry vo Svidníku
Oravská galéria
Východoslovenská galéria, Košice
Krajská galéria v Prešove
Muzeum Kultury Łemkowskiej w Zyndranowej
Fedinecz Atanáz Magyarországi Ruszinok Közérdekű Muzeális Gyűjteménye és Kiállítóhelye
Slovenská národná galéria
Muzeum Lubuskie im. Jana Dekerta w Gorzowie Wielkopolskim
Muzeum Regionalne w Jaśle
Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie
Muzeum Ziemi Sądeckiej
Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie
Muzeum Tatrzańskie w Zakopanem
Muzeum Łazienki Królewskie w Warszawie
Muzeum Etnograficzne – Oddział Muzeum Narodowego we Wrocławiu
Paraska Płytka-Horytsvit’s Photo Archive Preservation Group
Galeria Studio
Nitrianska galéria
Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej w Krakowie MOCAK
Central Gallery in Prague
Lerac Collection
Thanks for sharing the works to: Andrzeja Starmacha, Very Kolesar, Michała Szymko, Very Giricz, Dawida Zdobylaka, Alexandry Bodnarchuk, Darjana Hardiego, Mirosława Trochanowskiego, Justyny Maksymczak, Piotra Krynickiego, Doroty Nieznalskiej, Katarzyny Szwedy, Kamili Trochanowskiej, Laury Dyczko, Joanny Śpiak.
Media patronage
