11 September 2025

Exhibition: DIGNITAS HOMINIS, or Exercises in Pain and Suffering for Artificial Intelligence

Is there room for contemporary art in a hospital? "DIGNITAS HOMINIS, or Exercises in Pain and Suffering for Artificial Intelligence" is a pioneering project built on the idea of combining two seemingly incompatible things — a machine, a computer system, with emotions and experiences that are through and through human. The artist Paweł Kowalewski used artificial intelligence to create images describing, in visual language, feelings reserved only for living beings. Pain and suffering in the artist's works turn into abstract forms; some bright and full of intricate emblems, others rounded and dark, drawing the viewer into their gloom, in which only occasionally does a point of light appear. An important aspect of the event is drawing attention to the potential such initiatives hold. This is a rare example of an exhibition organised in a public institution in collaboration with a professional museum institution and an established, well-regarded artist. The partnership between the Museum of Photography in Kraków (MuFo) and Paweł Kowalewski with the University Hospital in Kraków shows that such collaborations are possible. Public institutions such as courts, offices, or universities rarely make use of the possibilities and benefits that come from human contact with art. Encountering it outside a museum context, in our down-to-earth and often difficult everyday life, opens us up to new emotions and can offer support, or become a moment of experiencing beauty, curiosity, and inspiration. Who knows — it might even bring new strength, so needed in overcoming illness. Cheerful pictures in children's wards surprise no one; they're meant to lift patients' spirits and give them a little comfort and joy. The project carries the thesis that similar support should be available to all patients, regardless of age. The subject of illness, naturally present in a hospital space, is not foreign to MuFo either — its recent exhibition "Don't Look Away. Reflections on the Display of Katarzyna Kozyra's Olympia" invited the public to jointly experience traumas connected with pain and suffering, and above all to reflect on dignity, corporeality and transience. That is why the participation of a museum institution in this event guarantees quality and should inspire further initiatives that could take place in public institutions across the whole country. The place of contemporary art can extend far beyond familiar frames and museum walls — as the public space of Kraków's University Hospital, filled with Paweł Kowalewski's works, so clearly proves. The exhibition is open from 11 September — admission free, everyone welcome!