Mikołaj Sobczak at the Polish Institute Düsseldorf: See history anew
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Mikołaj Sobczak in Düsseldorf: Painting as a counter-archive of history
With Mikołaj Sobczak. Share and rule, the Polish Institute Düsseldorf presents the first institutional solo exhibition of the artist in the city. The exhibition accompanies the program of Manifesta 16 Ruhr and gathers key works from several creative phases. Sobczak combines painting, video, objects, and performance into an artistic experience that reorders historical narratives and makes marginalized voices visible. ([instytutpolski.pl](https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/pl/2026/07/07/mikolaj-sobczak-teilen-und-herrschen/))
Reimagining historical painting
Sobczak works with the strategies of historical painting, but intentionally tilts their canon into the open. In multilayered, often surreal tableaux, figures meet across temporal boundaries, as if the past and present are anchored in the same visual space. The exhibition in Düsseldorf makes this method tangible: history does not appear here as a fixed chronicle but as a fragile, contested fabric of memory, power, and resistance. ([instytutpolski.pl](https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/pl/2026/07/07/mikolaj-sobczak-teilen-und-herrschen/))
Queer perspectives, political bodies, alternative communities
At the center are queer and trans* perspectives, as well as biographies of people who stand at the margins of official historiography. Works such as The Peasants, Adam Gawron, Eva Kotchever, and Misteria unfold a visually powerful reflection on exclusion, religious dissent, social struggles, and the possibility of new communities. Sobczak links historical research with poetic condensation, creating images that simultaneously appear narrative, political, and highly contemporary. ([instytutpolski.pl](https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/pl/2026/07/07/mikolaj-sobczak-teilen-und-herrschen/))
Curatorial framework and educational value
Curated by Krzysztof Kościuczuk, the exhibition provides a precise insight into Sobczak's artistic practice, which originates from painting and expands into performative and media forms. The Polish Institute Düsseldorf thereby makes a strong statement for cultural education: the exhibition opens access to art history, culture of remembrance, and contemporary art alike. ([instytutpolski.pl](https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/pl/2026/07/07/mikolaj-sobczak-teilen-und-herrschen/))
Visitor experience at the Polish Institute Düsseldorf
The gallery of the Polish Institute Düsseldorf is located at Citadellstraße 7 in 40213 Düsseldorf. According to the institute, the gallery is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and on Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The exhibition runs from June 12, 2026, to October 9, 2026, and admission is free. ([instytutpolski.pl](https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/pl/2026/07/07/mikolaj-sobczak-teilen-und-herrschen/))
Visitor opinions
The public response is curious and eager for discussion: the exhibition garners interest because it does not illustrate history but interrogates it, and because it intertwines political and aesthetic perspectives. ([instytutpolski.pl](https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/pl/2026/07/07/mikolaj-sobczak-teilen-und-herrschen/))
Anyone who loves art as a space for thought will find an exhibition full of tensions, precise imagery, and intellectual depth here. Mikołaj Sobczak. Share and rule is definitely worth a visit: as an aesthetic experience, as a prompt for reflection, and as an invitation to read history with open eyes. ([instytutpolski.pl](https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/pl/2026/07/07/mikolaj-sobczak-teilen-und-herrschen/))
Official channels of the Polish Institute Düsseldorf:
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- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/PolnischesInstitut
- Website: https://instytutpolski.pl/duesseldorf/
