26 September 2025 – 29 March 2026
10PLN / 15PLN, on Thursdays admission fee is 1PLN

WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Older City

Is Warsaw a city for people of all ages? Is it ready for the demographic changes, for a society living longer than ever? Do we realise that the question of old age concerns each and every one of us?

WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Older City exhibition revolves around the experience of aging and the place of older people in the life of the city. 

The exhibition at the Wola Museum is part of the 17th edition of the WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION festival. The theme of old age in the context of the city is explored through the prism of art.

Visitors will admire works by artists in the league of, e.g., Władysław Hasior, Zbigniew Libera, Monika Mamzeta, Roman Opałka, and Agata Zbylut. New works have also been produced specially for the exhibition by Janusz Byszewski, Mariusz Libel (associate of the Twożywo Group), Ewa Cieniak, Magda Mosiewicz, Franciszek Orłowski and Liliana Zeic.

The theme of old age is presented here from various perspectives—the exhibition gives voice to seniors, as well as to those who care for elderly relatives and those who earn their living as caregivers.

It presents both historical and contemporary solutions and aid institutions, designed by organizations and individuals striving for social change. It shows aging not as a problem, but rather as a stage of life that concerns each and every one of us.

An important part of the exhibition’s preparations was the collaboration with the club operating at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, as well as with senior groups meeting at Intergenerational Activity Centers across the city. The results of these workshops and creative activities can be seen at the Wola Museum. The exhibition will also include the premiere of a film directed by Franciszek Orłowski, serving as an extension of his work Manifest seniorów (Seniors’ Manifesto).

“Old age should not be a taboo subject”

“Seniors should contribute to the museum’s program”

These slogans are among the many demands set out in the Seniors’ Manifesto, a work by Franciszek Orłowski created in collaboration with the Modern Seniors’ Club and the Nowolipie Intergenerational Activity Center.

The exhibition also gives voice to caregivers, mainly Ukrainian women, organized as the Domestic Workers’ Commission. They speak about their work in the installation A Room with No Door, a continuation of the project titled Caregivers. We Want a Full Life. The experience of caring for the elderly and for the loved ones who fell ill is reflected in works by Zbigniew Libera, Monika Mamzeta and a new installation by Magda Mosiewicz titled A Course in Falling Down Nimbly.

A city for people of all ages

Many factors influence the processes of aging, and one of the most important is the environment—that is, the city. There are international networks and think tanks dedicated to designing cities that are friendly to people of all ages. As early as 2013, the editors of Magazyn Miasta (in the issue that inspired us when choosing the exhibition’s title) pointed to the need to redesign the city so that it fosters intergenerational inclusivity.

The exhibition at the Wola Museum offers an opportunity to look at new institutions operating in Warsaw, such as the Intergenerational Activity Centres. Alongside them, visitors will encounter solutions “from the past era”, such as the ‘Builders’ Social Welfare Home, opened in the 1970s and still in operation today. The ideas of earlier generations may surprise us with pioneering solutions that we no longer remember.

WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION FESTIVAL

This year’s edition of WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION festival is organised by the Museum of Warsaw. Previous editions were organised in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art. Since 2023, WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION has been realised alternately by the two institutions.

The WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION festival was established at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw in 2009. It addresses all sorts of design issues—from industrial design and applied graphics to architecture, urban planning and social design.

Some of the works presented at the exhibition were created as part of the project “Scenarios of Old Age. Intergenerational Participatory Museum,” co-financed by the City of Warsaw as part of the Cultural Institutions Fund.

COLOPHONE

curators Wanda Kaczor, Magdalena Staroszczyk

expert consultants Marta Białek-Graczyk, Janina Petelczyc, Marta Trakul

cooperation Janusz Byszewski, Franciszek Orłowski, Jolanta Woch, Ela Hołoweńko, Maria Potrząsaj, Modern Seniors Club, Association of Theatre Educators, Intergenerational Activity Centre, University of the Third Age in Wola and Bemowo districts, City of Warsaw Office, Praga-North District

production Monika Mazurek

exhibition design Karolina Fandrejewska

Studio Karolina Fandrejewska

Lead designer: Karolina Fandrejewska

Project team: Mikołaj Niewęgłowski, Anna Langowska, Mirosław Falkowski

graphic design Łukasz Izert

design and production of comics for the exhibition Jacek Świdziński

graphic design of the poster and promotional materials, typographic system for the Museum of Warsaw’s exhibitions Anna Światłowska

pre-press Kaja Gliwa

translation Marcin Wawrzyńczak

editing and proofreading Lingventa sp. z o.o.

framing and implementation Michał Bogumił, Zofia Cur, Ksenia Góreczna, Paweł Grochowalski, Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, Piotr Lipiński, Juliusz Mielczarek, Artur Miniewicz, Katarzyna Radecka, Tomasz Raubo, Leszek Sokołowski, Filip Wielechowski-Olszak, Adam Wrzosek

Artmontage – Alena Trafimava

Wall print Design Your Wall – Ewelina Tobiasz, Paweł Tobiasz

conservation care Piotr Kaczkiełło, Julia Kłosińska, Anna Konopko, Igor Nowak, Karolina Nowicka, Piotr Popławski

digitalization coordination Mikołaj Kalina

external loans Janusz Kurczak

internal loans Tomasz Lewandowski, Zuzanna Sieroszewska-Rolewicz

accompanying program Wanda Kaczor, Konrad Schiller, Magdalena Staroszczyk

educational program Katarzyna Żukowska

PR Karina Dąbska, Anna Dobrowolska-Balcerzak, Agata Fijałkowska, Agata Fronczyk, Wojciech Gadomski, Olga Gaertner, Anna Ładna, Magdalena Nazimek, Nela Sobieszczańska, Martyna Sowińska

artworks from institutions and private collections

CSW Zamek Ujazdowski, Centrum Aktywności Międzypokoleniowej, DPS „Budowlani” w Warszawie, fundacja „Na miejscu”, Muzeum ASP w Warszawie, Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi, Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie, SimEdu sp. z o.o., Stowarzyszenie Pedagogów Teatru, Towarzystwo Inicjatyw Twórczych „ę”, Wajda Studio sp. z o.o., Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej

Rafał Bakalarczyk, Karolina Balcer, Janusz Byszewski, Ewa Cieniak, Aldona Doliszna, Izabela Hejne-Krystosiak, Elżbieta Hołoweńko, Tomasz Kaczor, Jolanta Kosak, Elżbieta Krajewska, Mariusz Libel, Maria Teresa Majerczyk, Monika Mamzeta, Dominika Matuszewska, Jarosław Milewski, Marek Mogilski, Magda Mosiewicz, Donata Naumienko, Agnieszka Odziemkowska, Franciszek Orłowski, Kinga Pawlikowska, Jadwiga Piwko-Górkiewicz, Anna Rendecka, Marta Romankiv, Halina Rudzka, Daniel Rumiancew, Józefa Siesicka, Anna Stefopulos, Iga Sturlis, Jolanta Woch, Jaśmina Wójcik, Agata Zbylut, Liliana Zeic, Elżbieta Zielińska

and from the Museum of Warsaw’s own collections