Marta Grabowska
Curatorial Activism
Marta Grabowska
is a Polish-British art historian and independent curatoress who shares her time between London, United Kingdom, and Kraków, Poland. Her practice is informed by a passion for intersectional feminism, migrant and working-class perspectives in art, as well as the role of grassroots arts organizations in building a more just and diverse art world. She is a champion of audience engagement and accessibility that she exercises in her Slow Art Practice.
Marta curated exhibitions, residencies, and events in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, China, the USA, and online. She is a co-founder of two grassroots London-based art organizations, ONE Project (2016) and Red Zenith Collective (2020) which is a platform for women and non-binary creatives with a link to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Since 2018 she has been Producer and Talent Scout at artBLAB London. In 2021 she co-funded HERstory of Art Museum in Kraków, Poland, where she holds the position of Deputy Director and Head Curator of Contemporary Art.
In 2023 Marta was nominated for a Kazimiera Bujwidowa Award for exceptional women of Krakow, which is awarded to those whose acts and achievements have a significant impact on the reality around us, create innovative projects, work to empower women in the labor market, are involved in the life of local communities, are a model for the young generation, and inspire others with their civic initiatives.
Awards
2023 Kazimiera Bujwidowa Award, shortlisted
Professional Affiliations
2023 Saloon London
2022 British Art Network Emerging Curators
2021 Working Class Creatives
Slow Art, being a quiet form of activism that makes art more accessible to broader audiences, is at the core of my curatorial practices. I strongly believe in the idea of a gallery as an experience, rather than a place; not an overwhelming or intimidating but a safe and liberating space, where an encounter with art and exchange of emotions takes place.
Curatorial Experience & Production
2023 Jak nie zgubić sztuki kobiet? Conversation series, MuHER, Dom Norymberski
2023 Migrating Memoryscapes Creating Community for Migrants Through Art, Teatr Scena Supernova, Kraków, Poland
2023 Deep Sea Babies conference, We are all bodied of Water, short film screening, Dom Norymberski, Kraków, Poland
2023 (K)NOW POLISH ART, atyBLAB & the Brewery Tap, University of Arts Folkestone, UK
2022 We are All Bodies of Water, short film screening, Kino Paradox, Kraków, Poland
2022 Performative reading of Astrida Neimanis' essay We are all bodies of Water by Grupa Łono, kmwtw, Kraków, Poland
2022 Meditation of Liquid Tenderness, A. Chromik, kmwtw, Kraków, Poland
2022 Dreaming with Water, ŚOMI, kmwtw, Kraków, Poland
2022 Wate Rituals vol.2, kmwtw & MuHER, Kraków, Poland
2022 Water Rituals vol.1, KIOSK & MuHER, Kraków, Poland
2022 Our Common Histeria, HYSTERA, KIOSK & MuHER, Kraków, Poland
2022 Slow Art Day festival, National Museum Kraków and HERstory of Art Museum: Looking Slowly, Kraków, Poland
2022 Hilma af Klint. The Pioneer of Abstraction, film screening, Kino Pradox, Kraków, Poland
2022 Ariadna Zine launch, Eszeweria, Kraków, Poland
2022 I am by Ogi Ugonoh, Kino Paradox, Kraków, Poland
2022 Czas pozytywistek, production of satellite events during the literary conference, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
2021 How to Design a Participatory Museum, virtual tour of the HERstory of Art Museum, Fundacja Galerii Piana, Kraków, Poland
2021 Touch. Presence. Rebirth, performance by I.Jastrzębska, Finsbury Park, London
2021 Immunity.Geography, The Enjoy Museum of Art, Shanghai, China
2021 W a (y) s t (o) e d Freedom, M. Drohomirecka, Centrala Gallery, Birmingham
2021 Slow Art Day festival, Red Zenith Collective & Entrance Gallery: What is Slow Art? Kraków, Poland/ Prague, Czech Rep./ online
2021 24x Young Artists Residency, re:kultura, Kraków/ Leipzig, Germany
2020 Text. Innovative poetry Exhibition, artBLAB online
2020 Faces of Racism in CEE, the Red Zenith Collective seminar, online
2020 Slow Art Day festival, artBLABx ONE Project: No return to Comfort Zone, online
2020 Beyond C, Saskia Rodriguez, London, UK
2020 ONE Book Residency vol.2: Ways of Seeing by John Berger, online
2020 ONE Project Messe, Truman Social, London, UK
2019 Saturday Crit, M. Żołędź, T. Lohani, Museum of Internet, E17 London, UK
2018 You Are Only an Image to Me, M. Żołędź, T. Litra, San Mei Gallery, London, UK
2018 Scarlet House, I. Jastrzębska, 971620 GALLERY, Luton, UK
2015 Chinese Whispers, Karin Jansson Project Space, London & Gallerie Nasty Alice, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2015 Speed Networking for Creatives, Ziferblat, London, UK
coming soon
2023 Sprawię, że oszalejesz, Malw Miel, Opole, Poland
2023 Autostrata, Stroboskop Art Space, Warsaw, Poland
Conducted Interviews
artBLAB online, an online series of Q&A's with interdisciplinary artists from the UK and beyond:
2020 Swimming in Soup w/Niamh Seana Meehan
2020 The Mystery Beyond the Rostrum w/I-Chien Tang
2021 The Face of the Other w/ Marta and Mathew Hawkins, artBLAB online
RED ZENITH DIALOGUES, an online series for the Red Zenith Collective. interviews with women and non-binary creatives with a link to CEE:
Dec 2021 Women 21 Century Collective w/ Maja Kolarz
Nov 2021 The Ambiguity of Visual Representations of Trauma and other photographic projects w/ Linda Zhengová
Nov 2021 The Polonia Case w/ Małgorzata Drohomirecka
Jul 2021 Echo Gone Wrong magazine w/ Vitalija Jasaitė and Neringa Černiauskaitė
Jun 2021 The Hidden Mothers Project w/ Tereza Bušková
Apr 2021 Independent curating and the "real face" of the art world w/ Vanessa Giorgio
Apr 2021 What is Slow Art? Slow Exhibition-making w/ Entrance Gallery curators Tereza Jindrová and Veronika Čechová
Apr 2021 I am the emotional gradation of my colors w/ Anca Stefanescu
Mar 2021 Being one of the 100 Artists of Tomorrow w/ Kinga Nowak
Mar 2021 Take your # off my vag w/ dr Alicja Pawluczuk aka HYSTERA
Feb 2021 B-East Association and Polish folk cut-outs w/ Karolina Kazimierska
Feb 2021 Running an independent art gallery - Stroboskop Art Space w/ Kathryn Zazenski
Dec 2020 BLM Movement in Arts and the Power of Dance w/ Julia Stachura
Nov 2020 Aims and values of ZA*Group w/ Vera Zalatuskaya and Yulia Krivich
Oct 2020 Directing the Narva Art Residency w/ Ann Mirjam Vaikla
Sep 2020 LGBTQI+ rights in Romania w/ Antonella Lerca
Aug 2020 Women Cinema and the Demakijaż Film Festival in Lublin w/Joanna Bednarczyk and Jolanta Prochowicz
Jul 2020 Curating and the curatorial in CEE w/ Karina Cabaniková
HERstory of Art Museum's Jak nie zgubić sztuki kobiet/ How Not to Lose Women's Art, at Dom Norymberski, Kraków, Poland:
18.05.2023 Jak samej o sobie nie zapominać? Dylematy nie tylko artystek z w/Marcelina Amelia
25.05.2023 Jakich krakowskich artystek – na pewno! – nie chcemy zapomnieć?
w/Alicja Zioło
1.06.2023 ak nie szufladkować kobiet? Sztuka nie do szuflady w/Agata Kokoryn
other
2022 Abstract Dialogues: Joanna Pottle and Julia Leś, STAKKATO, Kraków, Poland 2021 The Polonia Case: Artist Discussion, Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Izabela Morska, Ula Chowaniec, Centrala Gallery, Birmingham, UK
Publications
2022 Aridna zine: Abstraction issue, MuHER Press, Editor-in-Chief
2022 Slow Art Day with HERstory of Art Museum, Maria Pinińska-Bereś at National Museum in Kraków, co-written with Zofia Ozaist-Zgodzińska, MuHER Press
2021 Slow Art: Accessibility, Equality, Unlearning, and Dialogue with Art, UTOPIA zine
2021 How to Design Utopia? Ideas for Beginners, UTOPIA zine
2021 Slow Looking and Equality, the Red Zenith Collective EQUALITY zine
2021 Guide to Slow Looking. Slow Art Exercises - Pandemic Edition, self-published
2020 The Art of Slow Looking, Toolbox Type magazine, online
Meditations & Workshops
2023 Slow Art Meditation of "What the Water Gave Me" by Frida Kahlo + art therapy workshop at VOICE Amplified Centre for Women and Girls in Crisis, Kraków, Poland 2022 Zine Making Workshop, Spółdzielnia Ogniwo, Kraków, Poland
2022 Art Meditation: Tetiana Jabłońska, online
2021 Art Meditation: Leonora Carrington, online
2021 Slow Art Meditation & Collage Workshop, Centrala Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2021 Art Meditation for Uprootedness & Hybridity – Artistic seminar on intergenerational trauma in Eastern Europe, Refugee week, Counterpoints Arts, online
Teaching & Talks
2023 How to Design Utopia? Curatorial Activism Workshop at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, PL
2022 Demakijaż Festival of Women's Art: Care, Lublin, Poland
2020 The Art of Slow Looking, art talk, artBLAB, online
2018 Independent Curating, art talk for artBLAB London, UK
“I didn't have time to be anyone's muse... I was too busy rebelling against my family and learning to be an artist.”
― Leonora Carrington
Work Experience
2022- present
Deputy Director, Contemporary HERstory of Art
HERstory of Art Museum Foundation, Kraków, Poland
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Curatorial strategy and overseeing the implementation of all art exhibitions, events, and productions, such as the international History of Art and Literature conference, including cinema screening, exhibitions and tours “Czas Pozytywistek”, Slow Art Day 2022&2023
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Conducted in-depth research on a broad spectrum of subjects for projects and exhibitions, ranging from medical misogyny to Kraków Poetic Heritage to accesibility in art institutions and more
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Securing and managing partnerships and opportunities with collaborative organisations (National Museum, Jagiellonian University, Google Arts and Culture etc.) and artists
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Editor-in-chief of herstory of art zine “Ariadna”, focusing on championing artists-women
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Managing social media campaigns and producing content in collaboration with a team of copywriters, graphic designers, etc.
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Updating, and implementation of schedules, budgets, documentation, and contracts,
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Management of project teams, control of the implementation of projects and settlement of their results, and preparation of substantive and financial reports.
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Coordinator of "Jak nie zgubić sztuki kobiet" project - a series of events, interviews, and movie screening in collaboration with MuHER, Lost Women Art, Dom Norymberski w Krakowie, and ASP w Krakowie
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Coordinator of "Migrating Memoryscapes" - a project aiming to build a community for Ukrainian migrants and Polish citizens, in collaboration with Salam Lab, Voice Amplified, Centrum Wielokulturowe Kraków, MuHER, and Muzeum Krakowa
2022
International Art Residency Producer
24x young artists network and Re:Kultura, Kraków, Poland
Through my active search for collaboration from outside of my “bubble”, I connected with a 24x young artists network for whom I facilitated a 3-week international artists residency. Attracting artists from Poland, Germany, and England the residency generated art focussing on ideas of a free press, migration, and governmental Policy.
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Planned, sourced venue and funds, managed an open call, selected participants
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Delivered workshops and scheduled daily entertainment for residents, managed social media and press contact
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Curated final exhibition and zine publication “Searching for Utopia”
2020-2022
Co-founder, Programme Manager & Producer
Red Zenith Collective, London, United Kingdom
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Guest-curated the “Immunity Geography”, at the Enjoy Museum in Beijing, China
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Produced and curated show of Małgorzata Drohomirecka at Centrala Gallery in Birmingham, UK
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Delivered workshops engaging with parents and children from migrant backgrounds in the UK
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Produced and hosted “Faces of Racism in CEE” a seminar that facilitated conversations challenging the stereotypes of homogeneity and provided the public with an opportunity to meet representatives of Nigerian, Afgan, and Vietnamese diaspora based in CEE countries
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Edited in-house online publications, from Open Call to launch event
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Collaborated with Counterpoints Arts Refugee Week 2021 on “Uprootedness and Hybridity”
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Developed the public engagement platform and branding guidelines to build a network of over 2,000 artists and artivists from Central and Eastern Europe, hosted regular artist interviews titled “Red Zenith Dialogues”
2018-2022
Talent Scout and Community Manager
artBLAB London, London, United Kingdom
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Led digital transformation during the Covid-19 pandemic from in-person to online using Instagram and website
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Managed social media content to generate a following of 1,500 within 2 months
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Data entry for CRM database of artists, active talent scouting opportunities, and scheduling
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Portfolio reviews for artists and help with the curation of their shows
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Built a Slow Art meditation program to introduce people from an underprivileged background to arts
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Produced 50+ live Q&A', scripted questions, liaised with artists
2019
PR Assistant
The London Illustration Fair, London, United Kingdom
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Promoted the festival on social media and on-site
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Ticket sales and cashing-up
2016-2020
Lead Curator
ONE Project, London, United Kingdom & Kraków, Poland
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Co-founded the platform and liaised with venues and artists
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Curated exhibitions and produced international art residencies in galleries and non “white-cube” spaces
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Liaised with vendors and external partners
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Developed and implemented social media strategy and branding, responsible for content creation and blogging
2014-2020
Copywriter and Translator
Freelance, London, United Kingdom
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Producing copy and translating content for clients across UK and Poland for social media and advertisement
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Working on creative briefs in collaboration with graphic designers and other copywriters
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Administration and management of operating freelance service
2014
Gallery and Personal Assistant
Karin Janssen Project Space, London, United Kingdom
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Given the fantastic opportunity to learn and work with Hackney-based, Netherlands-born artist, Karin Jassen, I worked closely to peek behind the scenes and get hands-on with responsibilities
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Co-curated ‘Chinese Whispers’, a 60+ artists exhibition that traveled between the UK, and the Netherlands
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Responsible for social media including contact with the press, blog updates, and liaising with artists and buyers
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Logistics of Art transportation between the Netherlands and the UK
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Launch event production preparation and assistance

Education
Feminist Art and Exhibitions: History and Challenges
March - April 2021
Node Centre for Curatorial Studies, Berlin, Germany.
This course looks at how feminist thinking has influenced the arts since the 1960s, both in Western as well as selected non-Western contexts. Presenting the foundational feminist theories that furthered the radicalization of female artists and trace their manifestation in the visual arts. Due to its strong political content and often taboo-breaking visuality, feminist art continues to present its own set of challenges to curators and museum professionals. The course introduces students to the most important exhibitions of feminist art and discuss their strategies, premises, and criticism. In addition, the course presents curatorial practices and exhibition formats that follow feminist premises.
Contemporary Art Theories
2020
MoMA, NYC, US.
This course addressed the question what is contemporary art? by exploring a variety of perspectives on what art can do today, who makes it, what it is made of, and why it takes so many forms. Based on MoMA's collection.
History of Art with Curating
2016-2020
BA at Birkbeck, University of London, UK.
Main field of research: Slow Art and the ideas of slow looking.
Secondary interest: Modernism and Young Poland movement, Gesamtkunstwerk - total work of art.
Curating
2014
Central Saint Martins, UAL, London, UK.
Curatorial course led by Sarah Spakres.
History of Art and Architecture
2012-2014
Certificate of Higher Education at Birkbeck, University of London, UK.
Creative Photography
2007-2010
ND at Krakow School of Art and Fashion Design, Krakow, Poland. Specialisation: Staged Photography and set design.