When does the exhibition take place?

The exhibition runs from 11.09.2026; the presentation period is indicated as 12.06.2026 to 09.10.2026.

Is there an admission fee?

No, the exhibition is free of charge according to the official announcement.

Where is the venue located?

At the Polish Institute Düsseldorf, Citadellstraße 7, 40213 Düsseldorf.

What art forms can visitors expect?

Works between painting, video, objects, and performance will be on display.

What themes are central to the exhibition?

The center focuses on history, power, memory, resistance, and queer as well as trans perspectives.

Is there information about guided tours or mediation?

The exhibition will be accompanied by educational and mediation projects; further details will be provided on the institute's website.

Mikołaj Sobczak Opens Düsseldorf's View on History, Power, and Counter-Images

Name: Mikołaj Sobczak. Divide and Rule
Start: 2026-09-11T13:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-09T19:00:00+02:00
Location: Polnisches Institut Düsseldorf

Mikołaj Sobczak at the Polish Institute Düsseldorf: An Exhibition Between History, Power, and Counter-Images

With Divide and Rule, the Polish Institute Düsseldorf presents the first institutional solo exhibition of Mikołaj Sobczak in the city. The exhibition centers on an artist who connects painting, video, objects, and performance to create dense visual spaces, questioning historical narratives with great precision.

Alternative Historical Images Instead of Rigid Canons

Sobczak develops multi-layered, often surreal tableaux, where real protagonists meet and enter into dialogue across time. His works explore who tells history, who disappears from it, and how repressed perspectives become visible. His interest in queer and trans perspectives, as well as the experiences of marginalized groups, becomes particularly clear.

Between Painting, Video, and Performance

The exhibition brings together central works from different phases of his oeuvre, providing a concentrated insight into a practice that originates in painting and opens up to other media. This openness shapes the allure of the works: colors, figures, montage, and narrative fragments intertwine to create an exhibition atmosphere where political reflection and aesthetic experience reinforce each other.

Manifesta 16 Ruhr as a Historical Context

As a participant in the Manifesta 16 Ruhr, Sobczak is integrated into one of the most important contemporary art contexts today. The exhibition title refers to power structures, division, and interpretative authority. This is where his art comes into play: it questions historical visual orders, shifts perspectives, and designs alternative scenarios that make art history appear as an open field.

A Place for Cultural Education and Critical Present

The Polish Institute Düsseldorf complements the exhibition with a cultural mediation framework that promotes exchange and reflection. For art enthusiasts, this not only opens up an art experience but also access to questions of memory culture, identity, resistance, and representation. The clear curatorial positioning makes the visit particularly rewarding for those who wish to experience contemporary art in a social context.

Conclusion

Divide and Rule promises an exhibition of intellectual tension and visual power. Those interested in contemporary painting, artistic counterproposals to historiography, and socially engaged art should definitely experience this presentation in Düsseldorf live.