Kruche obrazy / Fragile Images

Kruche obrazy / Fragile Images is an interdisciplinary project of a team of curators from Poland, Slovakia and Romania under the framework of the 2025 edition of the Three Seas Art Festival. Using museum objects, as well as works by contemporary artists, the exhibition encourages reflection on the fragility of artworks and the brittle nature of the material from which they have been made. On display are the folk glass paintings from the collection of the Ethnographic Museum in Kraków and the works of contemporary artists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine and Poland. The works from such a multitude of places make us think about the cultural riches of the countries of the Three Seas and their heritage preserved in the museum and gathered on a daily basis with future generations in mind. We show how contemporary artists become inspired by their cultures and how being rooted in the places from which they come is essential to them and shapes their artistic output, giving rise to new evocative, fragile creations.  

                                                                                         Maria Działo-Nosal, Grzegorz Graff


The Three Seas Art Festival is a new event that fosters cooperation between artists, curators and cultural institutions from Central and Eastern Europe. The first edition, held in 2025, will welcome nearly 100 artists from 14 countries. The Festival features artistic residency, exhibitions, panel discussions and workshops, creating space for reflection on fair development of the region. The exhibition Kruche obrazy / Fragile Images at the Ethnographic Museum in Kraków is part of the Festival. Bringing together traditional glass painting and contemporary interpretations of 10 artists from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it acts as a dialogue between contemporary art and old aesthetics. The word dialogue, by the way, seems to me a perfect description of how the idea of Fragile Images was developed. The collaboration of museologists, curators and artists shows that cultural heritage is not a thing of the past but living matter, shaped and reshaped by new generations.

                                                                                                                     Marzena Kolarz


Contemporary artists invited to the exhibition: Irina Botea Bucan, Yana Hudzan, Pavel Jestřáb, Marzena Kolarz, Bella Logachova, Andrzej Najder, Jozef Pilát, Barbora Šaroun Šemberová, Ivana Sláviková, Dan Vezentan

Exhibition opening: 25 April 2025, 18.00
Location: Esterka House, 46 Krakowska Street

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Kruche obrazy / Fragile Images
Esterka House
26.04 - 29.06.2025

Curators team: Jana Babušiaková, Maria Działo-Nosal, Grzegorz Graff, Marzena Kolarz, Raluca Oancea
Exhibition design: Andrzej Sułkowski
Graphic design: Anna Zabdyrska 
Brochure design: Marzena Kolarz
Animations: Piotr Filipiuk
Editing and proofreading of the Polish texts: Anna Kowalczyk
Translation: Anna Sak
Conservation supervision: Renata Palka
Objects maintenance: Iwona Matuła, Krzysztof Wójtowicz
Exhibition production: Grzegorz Kurek, Tomasz Ostafin, Paweł Przybylski, Walor s.c.
Technical consultation and coordination: Adrian Tomasik, Jacek Szymański
 Educational programme: Mirosław Bury, Anna Koblak, Urszula Sobczyk, Agata Ziomek 
Photographs: Anna Tarko, Marcin Jędrysiak
Promotion: Piotr Bujakiewicz, Joanna Grabeus, Maria Suska 
Accessibility coordinator: Anna Szelingowska


The exhibition is a result of collaboration between the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków and the University of the National Education Commission

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