26 June – 8 November 2026

artists: Karolina Balcer, Bettina Bereś, Iwona Demko, Zuza Dolega, Monika Drożyńska, Edyta Duduś, Nezaket Ekici, Sylvie Fleury, Alexandra Grant, Romana Hałat, Jenny Holzer, Elżbieta Jabłońska, Katarzyna Józefowicz, Anna Krenz, Barbara Kruger, Monika Mamzeta, Helena Minginowicz, Jessica Ostrowicz, Ewa Partum, Johanna Reich, Martyna Rzepecka, Jadwiga Sawicka, Karen Scheper, Jana Shostak, Joanna Sitarz, Irmina Staś, Nora Turato, Karolina Wiktor

curators: Marta Smolińska, Natalia Cieślak
coordination: Paulina Brzuskiewicz-Kuhn, Aleksandra Wantuch
graphic identity: Katarzyna Ostrowska
production: Wojciech Ruminski
lights: Mikołaj Makiłła

Hosted by Toruń’s Centre of Contemporary Art, Word Embodied is an internation exhibition featuring the work of contemporary women artists who work with text and verbal statements in any shape or form, transgressing the traditional framing of word as a pure sign. Western philosophy views language as a tool subordinate to reason, truth, meaning or the Absolute. By programmatically rejecting the rationalised and conceptual nature of language, the artists challenge this tradition with their works. They bring into focus word that is embodied and sensualised and, at the same time, fiercely committed. The works on view make it plain that language is not divorced from reality – on the contrary, it is rooted in the body, emotions and experience. Here word becomes action: be it a whisper, a manifesto, or a scream. Combined with a variety of media – from textiles and embroidery, to neon signs and pictorial media, to video projections and interactive pieces – it gains materiality and impact. Also underscored at the exhibition is the feminist dimension of language, applied by women as a tool of reclaiming their voice and their space. The artists make use of it to comment on contemporary sociopolitical reality, accentuate their activistic stance and oppose the oppressive structures of patriarchy.

Word Embodied makes for an encounter of female artists from various countries, including such icons of committed art as Jenny Holzer and Barbara Kruger whose pieces enter into dialogue with works by Polish artists, resulting in a transnational narrative of women’s experiences. Their statements differ in tone – from poetical and private to critical and political – and resonate with the sensitivity of viewers on many levels. The exhibition offers an opportunity to listen together to a multi-voiced international choir of women artists as they relate a story of language as a living force: acting, moving and transforming.

The exhibition is held under the Honorary Patronage of the Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
The Main Partner / Event Patron is the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
The project is co-financed by the European Funds for Kuyavia and Pomerania.
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Co-financed by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.
The ZAK Zentrum für Aktuelle Kunst in Berlin is the partner of the exhibition.
Partners: PGE Energia Kultury – Patron of CSW Educational Programs, TZMO S.A., Sharp Europe, BMW Dynamic Motors Sp. z o.o., Szeroka No. 9, Filmowe Kujawy i Pomorze (Kuyavia and Pomerania Film Commission).