Encyclopaedia

Weronika Gęsicka's acclaimed series ‘Encyclopaedia’ will be on view at Jednostka Gallery in Warsaw from December 8, 2025. The exhibition will feature premiere works from the series as well as the Encyclopaedia book, which is nominated for the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2026, was named Photographic Publication of the Year 2025 in Poland, and was also a finalist for the Book Award 2025 during the Les Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles festival in France. A special edition of the publication will have its Polish premiere at Jednostka. 

Encyclopaedia is a compendium of knowledge, which we refer to as a source of trustworthy, reliable information. It’s a database that dispels our doubts. It’s certainty. However, what if but a single mistake creeps into something certain and indisputable? Doesn’t it put everything else into question, prompting one to disregard it as useless? Can knowledge be objective in a world we find out more about each day? In a world where fake news are a daily occurrence?

Fake entries are bits of incorrect information in encyclopaedias, dictionaries and lexicons that have existed ever sincethose sources were first published. These deceitful notes were left by editors as a form of protection against copyright infringement. Some immediately raise suspicion regarding their factuality, while others would probably slip in unnoticedby most. Although these are usually singular cases, there are several publications riddled with such 'mistakes'. Still, theywould hardly be detected among the tens of thousands of other definitions.

'Encyclopaedia' is a project which comprises hundreds of such false entries found in various encyclopedias, dictionariesand lexicons from different places and time periods. Weronika Gęsicka illustrates them with collages based on stockphotographs and AI-generated images. The actual publications including such entries, bought by the artist at online auctions, are also displayed. Here, the truth functions on the same grounds as fiction.