ZAMEK Culture Centre

Can we look at nature and still see what will soon change, never to be the same again?

The World As a Herbarium: Nature in Art from the 17th to the 21st Century takes you on an extraordinary journey through more than four centuries of artistic visions in which nature becomes the protagonist, a witness to history and a powerful prompt to reflect on the contemporary climate crisis.

The interiors of the Castle witness an encounter of the works by old master painters and contemporary pieces; European painting meets Japanese art; classical herbariums, botanical illustrations, prints, sculptures, installations and works created specially for this exhibition all come together. This is a story of flowers, birds, landscapes and the non-human inhabitants of the world, whose presence has shaped culture over the centuries.

Discover the fascinating botanical illustrations of Maria Sibylla Merian and Elizabeth Blackwell; explore the extraordinary interpretations of nature by Wojciech Weiss, Jan Stanisławski, Julian Fałat and Stanisław Wyspiański, marvel at Watanabe Seitei’s Japanese kachō-ga, and see how contemporary artists engage with the challenges of the Anthropocene.

The World As a Herbarium is a moving and through-provoking reflection on what we are losing, how our reality is changing, and how art helps us perceive what often remains unseen.

Come and see the world captured in images, before it is altered forever.

curator/visual arrangement: Anna Król

collaboration: Kaja Mucha

visual identity: Antonina Kieliszewska

producer: Magdalena Tomczewska

Our programme of accompanying events is intended to highlight the beauty of the exhibited works, but also to encourage viewers to step outside—both literally and figuratively—the boundaries of botanical art. What do plants mean to us? How have they accompanied us over the centuries, and how do we accompany them? Who were the botanists and artists whose works we may see at the exhibition?

Do take part in our accompanying events to hear fascinating stories, explore the natural world around us, and try your hand at depicting nature. The plants and animals you will see here will also serve as a starting point to discuss what is very much a human concern: transience and the bonds between us.

The programme surrounding the exhibition has been prepared for a broad audience interested in botany, art and history—including children, young people, adults and senior citizens.

check it