Join us for a performance by Filipka Rutkowska, which will take place on 25 April at 7:00 PM upstairs in the Studio Gallery. The „Cat on a Hot Wooden Raft” reflects on the artist’s intimate encounters with immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa who have recently arrived in Europe.

The event features Polish and English subtitles. Admission is included in the price of the exhibition ticket.

Using sexuality as a source of knowledge, the work creates subtle connections between the experiences of vulnerability and social exposure of LGBTQ+ individuals and the experiences of migration. Flea market objects, linked to Europe’s colonial past, are paired with charcoal portraits of anonymous lovers whose legal uncertainty prevents them from revealing their identities. The work unfolds to the soundtrack of the film Casanova, in which free love transcended social and national boundaries. In contrast, the performance highlights how the contemporary migration crisis reveals the harshness of Europe’s borders.

The performance was commissioned by the Labirynt Gallery in Lublin, 2023.