Lost and Found – Biuro rzeczy znalezionych | Karolina Bujakowska, Vasiliki Vlachogianni

Lost and Found – Biuro rzeczy znalezionych | Karolina Bujakowska, Vasiliki Vlachogianni
Galeria Design, ul. Wolnica 9
wernisaż: 19.06.2026, godz. 17.00
19 – 28.06.2026

Curator: Witold Modrzejewski

The idea of leaving traces of presence has been evident since prehistoric times, when people intentionally left their marks on clay surfaces or painted the shapes of their hands on cave walls. These traces connected people with each other and the spaces in which they lived. The trace functions as proof of an existence that is no longer here. The project „Lost and Found – Biuro rzeczy znalezionych” explores the city as a site where such traces accumulate.

A key element of this practice is wandering through the city, whether through aimless or everyday movement. Stories that were previously hidden are now coming to light and the city appears as a place where people leave behind traces of their existence. Objects lost or abandoned on the streets become vessels of memory. The exhibition brings together two different perspectives on the same idea. The projects began separately but, over time, converged and evolved together.

On display are gloves, scarves, hats, and other everyday items all of which were found during the walks, items that someone lost and may still be looking for. By bringing these objects into the gallery, attention shifts to their materiality as a fundamental element that makes our world what it is. They are regarded as repositories of memory and an inherent part of what has passed through these places. The photographs were taken at various locations around the city. In contrast to the physical objects brought to the gallery, the interest here is primarily in useless or abandoned objects, things that few people would go out of their way to look for. Yet, as another flâneur, someone stops and attaches importance to them.

These two perspectives arise a conversation between presence and absence. The constant losing and displacement. Wandering around the city, sometimes one loses a part of oneself that will continue to exist around them even when they are not there. A path of voids is created, and one can not be sure what objects used to occupy that space. The stories that coexist in the same place no longer belong to individuals but become part of a larger whole.