FESTIVAL: 23. SURVIVAL ART REVIEW
June Art Break! The 23rd SURVIVAL Art Review in the Casemates of Leśnica Castle. Venue: former Forty Club and Leśnica Castle – plac Świętojański 1, 54-017 Wrocław.
Curatorial team: Michał Bieniek, Daniel Brożek, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, Ewa Pluta.
How much time do we spend bored, and how much working? The Art Transparent Foundation invites you to reflect on time, labor, and attention in an age of sensory overload. The 23rd edition of the SURVIVAL Art Review will take place over the long June weekend (June 18–22, 2025) in the casemates of the 800-year-old castle in Leśnica – within the space of the former Forty Club and the surrounding park.
Who will be exhibiting at the Review?
This year’s open call for artistic proposals received hundreds of submissions. The curatorial team – Michał Bieniek, Daniel Brożek, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, and Ewa Pluta – selected several works that will be presented in the Castle, the outbuilding, and the park.
Artists selected through the open call include: Martyna Baranowicz, Maciej Cholewa, Maks Cieślak, Roberto Cura, Ewa Dąbkowska, Jagoda Dobecka, Łukasz Horbów, Filip Jakubowski, Maja Janczar, Paweł Franciszek Jaskuła, Julia Królikowska, Jakub Leniart, Piotr Mlącki, Irmina Murawska, Miguel Rozas Balboa, Szymon Szewczyk, Anna Sztwiertnia, Kacper Wiatrak, Paulina Włostowska, Katarzyna Wójcicka, and the Babirot Collective (Olga Budzan, Ewa Głowacka, Emilia Konwerska, Dominika Kulczyńska, Laura Malinowska, Anna Pastuszka, Marta Sieczkowska, Ewa Zwarycz).
The full list of participating artists will be announced in mid-May.
Theme: Time and Focus
The 23rd SURVIVAL – titled “3s/8h” – focuses on the relationship between time, work, and attention. It references historical demands of labor movements for an eight-hour workday and contrasts them with today’s three-second attention span on social media. It is an invitation to reflect on how we manage time – as individuals and as a society – in the age of overstimulation, flexible employment, and constant availability.
The theme also resonates with the place and time of the exhibition (the long June weekend), highlighting the historical perception of time. Concepts like “leisure” or “boredom” were for centuries a privilege of the aristocracy and nobility. Today, attention has become the new measure of time and a currency in the information economy. Work is no longer tied to specific hours – efficiency and task completion matter more. At the same time, we are all participants in the attention economy, which disrupts traditional ideas of productivity.
Rest and Be Bored – Together
The Art Transparent team recommends arriving at the festival by bike – for example, via scenic routes along the Oder river embankments – or by train, just fifteen minutes from the Main Station. In the castle park, visitors will find the Festival Club with snacks and drinks – a place to connect with others or simply relax under the trees, on the grass, or on deckchairs. Lush greenery and nearby water will offer a refreshing escape during the June heat.
Each day, visitors can also attend accompanying events as part of the rich Social Stage program. There will be talks, lectures, and meetings. Alek Hudzik from Mint Magazine will discuss who stole our free time. The Narutowicz Institute will explore the economies of attention and anger. SWPS University will speak about new technologies in the context of human relationships and the sharing economy.
Anna Siekierska will invite guests to participate in a field game as part of her The Big Green project. The organizing team, along with partners from Southeast Africa, will again highlight the artistic initiatives and relationships built as part of the Deconfining project. The Polish premiere of the new film School of Mutants will also take place. The program also includes curatorial tours and guided visits for groups with special needs, such as families with children or linguistic minorities.
The SURVIVAL Art Review is organized by the Art Transparent Foundation, which has been supporting art in Wrocław for 20 years.