Nenúfars
On the second day of the Nobody Reads This: Art Book Fair, Saturday, 23 May 2026 at 2:00 pm, Nenúfars. Water Lilies in the Barcelona Pavilion – published by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute – will have its Polish premiere.
The book develops and documents Nenúfars blancs – an artistic intervention by the CENTRALA collective (Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Simone De Iacobis) and curator Aleksandra Kędziorek. The project brought water lilies back to the pool of the iconic Barcelona Pavilion designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, restoring a forgotten organic dimension to this modernist landmark. Modernism was never as sterile as it later came to be perceived: plants, insects, humidity, sounds and constant transformation were always integral to it.
Richly illustrated, the volume brings together archival materials, photographs and newly commissioned visual essays, weaving a narrative between the history of architecture, exhibition-making and botanical research. The book’s graphic design was created by Kaja Kusztra.
