The appointment of Janusz Janowski, a conservative artist with no leadership experience, is seen as a political move from the rightwing government
The Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw last week announced the appointment of Janusz Janowski, a painter and musician with no previous experience of running a museum, as its new director, causing outcry in the Polish art community. Janowski was selected by Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr Gliński without an open competition, a move deplored by many as the latest attempt from the rightwing government to control art institutions across the country.
The appointment follows the departure in July of Hanna Wróblewska, who had been at the helm of the institution since 2010, after it emerged that her contract would not be renewed. At the time, many artists and cultural workers denounced her ousting by the government as politically motivated, and penned a letter signed by over 1,000 Polish arts professionals that claimed Wróblewska was at the ‘height of her potential’.
The Zachęta is one of Poland’s leading modern and contemporary art museums, with over 3,500 works in its collections and a progressive and diverse programme of exhibitions and events; it is also responsible for the country’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Janowski’s experience has been limited to regional arts, serving as president of the main board of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers trade union, leading critics to question his suitability for the role as well as the selection process. Speaking to The Art Newspaper, Wróblewska stated that her successor has ‘no programme, no managerial experience, no knowledge of the operation of public institutions and no knowledge of the Polish or global art scene,’ adding that the appointment process for a national institution like Zachęta should be ‘transparent’.
Among other critics is former Zachęta director Anda Rottenberg, who in an oped for the Polish edition of Vogue warned that ‘Zachęta is in danger of switching to a program from the time of the Polish People’s Republic, without the avant-garde.’ Rottenberg, along with other journalists, pointed to similar conservative appointments in the cultural sector made by the governing Law and Justice party, such as the placing of Piotr Bernatowicz at the head of Warsaw’s Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in 2019.
