White skies, white worlds

U–jazdowski / Program / Project Room / {Project Room}... / White skies, white worlds

01/05—14/06/2026

Ania Grzymała

Ania Grzymała’s latest series of paintings focuses on communities founded on exclusion and the normalisation of dangerous views and beliefs. Scenes from the daily lives of hooded figures, rendered in pastel tones, evoke a family photo album. However, tension emerges once we recognise their distinctive attire, which conjures the ghosts of bygone eras and a long history of racially motivated violence. The depicted figures are members of the Ku Klux Klan, shown in moments of play, rest or leisure. Upon entering the exhibition, the viewer is immersed in the atmosphere of an idyllic outdoor family gathering, which is further reinforced by the exhibition design, which includes a picnic platform and an inflatable castle.

Yet the scenes are permeated by a subtle sense of unease. Set against a clear sky and a green horizon, the colour white acquires the critical weight of imperial amnesia. The white hoods are like white gloves: they conceal responsibility and soften the memory of colonial conquest, slavery and exploitation. The white festival proves hospitable only to its own – to those bound by a shared delusion of superiority. Can we feel safe in such a space? Do we stand as insiders or outsiders? And, ultimately, do we acquiesce to racism and white supremacy?

The first Ku Klux Klan, founded by young Confederate infantry officers, was established in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee. Initially conceived as a secret society for innocent amusement, its horseback escapades in white robes and hoods were associated with the wandering spirits of fallen Civil War soldiers. These seemingly harmless nocturnal spectres, however, soon evolved into a fundamentalist racist organisation. Between 1915 and 1944, fuelled by widespread hate propaganda and the exploitation of social anxieties, the Klan developed into a mass movement. Black communities, along with immigrants, Jews, Catholics and striking workers became targets of systemic persecution. Under the guise of upholding patriotic and Protestant values, it advanced the notion of racial purity – one of the most destructive ideas in modern history.

Although widely recognised as extremist since the 1960s, the Klan continues to persist in dispersed forms. In many respects, it resembles European and Polish groups united by an internally generated hatred toward an external – often imagined – enemy. Katarzyna Surmiak-Domańska aptly describes the contemporary masking of dangerous ideologies within socially acceptable narratives, using the KKK as an example: “hatred can be spread just as effectively by promoting love – for the nation, race, tradition, Jesus Christ, and above all, for the family.” [1]

In the context of deepening social divisions, white skin continues to function as a privilege. This, however, does not stem from any ideology of inherent superiority, as modern genetics clearly demonstrates. Regardless of national myths, “(...) every Nazi has Jewish ancestors. Every White supremacist has Middle Eastern ancestors. Every racist has African, Indian, Chinese, American Indian, and Aboriginal Australian ancestors, as does everyone else, and not just in the sense that humankind is an African species in deep prehistory, but at a minimum from classical times, and probably much more recently. Racial purity is a pure fantasy. For humans, there are no purebloods, only mongrels enriched by the blood of multitudes.” [2]

White skies, white worlds seeks to sharpen our awareness of prejudices that increasingly pass unnoticed. These are subtly woven into everyday gestures, behaviours, even advertising slogans. Among them are forms of micro-racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, national stereotyping and an ever more elusive nationalism. If we ignore them, the white festival may come to seem a safe and welcoming place.

Paweł Wątroba
- is a cultural studies scholar, curator, producer of artistic projects and events, editor and performer. He graduated from the Faculty of Philology at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Since 2014, he has been affiliated with the Kronika Centre for Contemporary Art, where he develops exhibitions and projects, including Daddies, Kings & Sissy Boys (2025), Get Over It (2024) and Napływ sił (2022), as well as editorial initiatives such as Krzycz, Siostro, krzycz! (2024), XXX. CSW Kronika (2022) and Najpiękniejsza katastrofa (2019). In his curatorial practice, he explores subversive artistic strategies, feminist and postcolonial narratives, and questions of gender performativity. Since 2022, he has been a member of the Śląsk Przegięty collective. He lives in Katowice.