2024
installation, steel, water

Niedźwiednik’s water pumping station inspired Anna Sztwiertnia to create an installation for the festival. The work’s form and name reference the mechanism designed to maintain constant pressure in the water supply system (the Polish word hydrofornia comes from the Greek hydor – water, and phoros – carrying). The installation seeks to visualise the hidden water-pumping infrastructure and simultaneously endow it with a spa function.

Through an installation that alludes to hydrotherapy traditions, the artist symbolically emphasises the healing properties of water. The shape of the installation, evoking medical equipment found in sanatoriums, calls to mind therapeutic treatments at spas, such as thermal baths and showers. In this way, the work merges a raw industrial form with the subtlety of nature and water’s therapeutic power. Through this contrast, the artist highlights the tension between the natural and industrialised worlds, initiating a dialogue between technology and water’s healing potential.

Cieplice
2018
video, 25’00”

The video depicts physical exercises classes at the Sobieski swimming pool located in the Cieplice health resort in Lower Silesia. By performing specific sequences of exercises, the patients strive to achieve an idealised vision of an improved psycho-physical state. Recorded by the artist, the synchronised movements they perform, following commands resounding in the background, transform into a ritual choreography of sorts.

The work’s presentation during the festival references the design principles adopted by Szczepan Baum and Danuta Dzierżanowska. In planning the estate, they aimed to create conditions conducive to a healthy and active lifestyle. This involved not only the green surroundings but also spaces that promote rest and recreation. The Baum family archive includes the estate’s execution plan, which featured numerous areas for sport and leisure – such as playgrounds and sports fields – and the ultimately unrealised swimming pool. Presented in the context of Niedźwiednik, the work serves as a reminder of the ideas that guided the estate’s creators.

ANNA SZTWIERTNIA (b. 1993) is a visual artist and designer. She graduated from the Faculty of Graphic Arts of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Sztwiertnia is a co-founder of the artist-run space Loteria Galeria. Acting at the intersection of various media, she is interested in phenomena related to spirituality, unconventional medicine, and sanatorium culture. She builds her own interpretations of rituals based on the emotional involvement of the audience. Her work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including the Art Bunker in Kraków, Warsaw’s POLIN Museum, and the Silesian Museum in Katowice.