WARSAW.- One of the most important Polish artists of the young generation, Joanna Piotrowska, together with the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, has decided to support the Feminoteka Foundation, fighting with gender discrimination and violence against women. The first 100 people who make a donation of at least 500 PLN to the Foundation using the zrzutka.pl platform will receive a limited edition copy of a photograph by the artist. The campaign will begin on 9 November and will last until the end of the month.

With exhibitions in leading art institutions around the world (including Tate Britain in London and MoMA in New York) Joanna Piotrowska is today one of the most recognisable Polish artists on the international arena. For years, her work has been closely related to the problem of violence against women — both physical and mental, often considered the norm and socially sanctioned. Not only do her works highlight the problem of oppression against women, but they are also a story of women’s and girls’ rebellion, a constant struggle for the right to make decisions about one’s own body.




The judgement of the Constitutional Court on abortion has sparked unprecedented protests in the country. The artist, for whom promoting equal rights is very important, wants to thank those who support organisations fighting for women’s rights in Poland. The first 100 people who donate at least 500 PLN to the Feminoteka Foundation via the zrzutka.pl platform will receive a limited edition copy of one of the artist’s photographs. For over 10 years, Feminoteka has been running, among others Crisis Intervention Telephone, where legal and psychological advice is provided free of charge to women, including transsexual women, experiencing physical, mental, economic or sexual violence. The aim of the action is to encourage donations and, as a result, to fund the Feminoteka account with at least 50,000 PLN. Payments should be made using the zrzutka.pl platform.

‘A few days ago, millions of Polish women and I were stripped of our agency. Millions of women who are doctors, writers, academics, economists, lawyers, architects and civil servants were deprived of the right to make decisions about their private lives. This strike is the voice of thousands of people who are demanding fundamental human rights. It is also my voice, and I would like to, however I can, to contribute to the change’, Joanna Piotrowska commented on her decision.

The work Untitled is the reverse of one of the artist’s most famous photographs from 2014, showing a woman’s face restrained by a man’s hand. This time, in the context of the extraordinary scale of social mobilisation and the courage of Polish women, we see a female hand in a gesture of self-defence and taking control of the situation. Only 100 prints of the photographs were created, each of them is 21 x 27 cm in size and has a unique marking.