Current and announcement
Listening to the Institution – Sonic Hacking Vol. 2
Friday, 24.07.2026, 10:00 PM
BWA Katowice Basement
Can an institution imprison sounds? Can sounds imprison an institution? How do sounds shape institutional regimes? What do institutional rhythms sound like? Can an institution be described through sound? Can its actual dimensions be mapped through sound? How can we listen to the institutional body? What does the body of the art institution sound like?
During the second edition of Listening to the Institution, we will enter the basement spaces of the BWA Katowice pavilion—areas reclaimed for artistic use—to map their distinctive soundscapes while also recording, amplifying, and bringing to the surface the sounds that usually remain “unnoticed.” The basement will become a loudspeaker, and the walls will become membranes.
Join us in listening to the institution, collecting echoes, and acoustically testing the space under the guidance of Agata Polak.
Agata Polak is an intermedia artist and sound designer. She graduated from the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Silesia. She is a co-founder of the Castello Bizzarro festival and the Nerdka collective, and a recipient of the Creative Scholarship of the City of Kraków. Her works have been presented at institutions including Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, and Bielska BWA Gallery, as well as at numerous festivals.
The event is part of the SENSORIUM POSZERZONE_appendix project. This research and educational initiative explores the role of art in responding to the complex challenges associated with disability. The project brings together artistic practices, scientific perspectives, and participatory methods, creating a collaborative platform for artists, researchers, and participants with diverse sensory, cognitive, and motor impairments.
At the core of the project is a series of conceptual and hands-on workshops during which prototypes of technological, spatial, and social solutions are developed to enable activities that have previously been inaccessible or considered impossible. A key principle of the project is the equal involvement of people with disabilities in the design process while addressing their specific needs. We aim to create a space for testing new solutions where people with access needs can actively co-create new models of participation in culture.
Curator of SENSORIUM POSZERZONE_appendix: Łukasz Trzciński
Co-financed by the City of Katowice and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state special-purpose fund.