what’s seen / Mikołaj Grynberg

Writer and photographer. Photographer. Writer. In Mikołaj Grynberg's life, images and words are two very important languages through which the world can be told. He began his creative journey as a photographer. For many years he mainly focused on portraiture but also worked in advertising. Eventually, the need to take photographs gave way to the need to listen and take notes, most often of other people's stories. And so, the photographer gave way to the writer. Today, he is returning.

The exhibition ‘what's seen’ premieres a month after the release of Grynberg's latest book, ‘The Year I Didn't Die’ (published by Agora). In his most personal prose to date, the author recounts his extreme experiences, his heart attack, his fears, death, but also joy and love. It turns out that the photographer accompanied the writer throughout everything. ‘It's nice to take photos quietly,’ says Grynberg. ‘Some things need to be recorded in words, and some only in pictures. The individual pieces came together to form a whole and resulted in »what's seen«.’ The exhibition offers a glimpse into Mikołaj Grynberg's private archive. These are photographs he took only for himself. There were no deadlines, concepts or project. There were moments and places he wanted to remember, to record. Something reflected, shone, cast a shadow. Something grew, blossomed, withered. It lived, died, disappeared. Everyday shots, photos from the road of a well-known author. Multiple trips, journeys, meetings, hotels, beds. One after the other. Empty spaces. And again, a hotel, slightly different. And yet it feels as if we were travelling with the author. There is one longer stop on the journey. A hospital bed. 

The year in which Mikołaj Grynberg published his most personal book, he is opening an exhibition of his most intimate photographs.

Mikołaj Grynberg (born 1966)

A writer and photographer, educated as a psychologist. The author of the albums ‘Dużo kobiet’ (‘Many women’) and ‘Auschwitz – co ja tu robię?’ (‘Auschwitz – What Am I Doing Here?’). His photographs have been exhibited almost worldwide. He has published collections of conversations titled ‘Ocaleni z XX wieku’ (‘Survivors of the 20th Century’), ‘Oskarżam Auschwitz. Opowieści rodzinne’ (‘Accusing Auschwitz: Family Stories’), and ‘Księga wyjścia’ (‘The Book of Exodus’), as well as two volumes of short stories: ‘Rejwach’, which was nominated for the Nike Literary Award and the Angelus Central European Literature Award, with its American edition translated by Sean Gasper Bye making it to the finals of the National Jewish Book Awards 2022 and being nominated for The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and ‘Poufne’ (‘Confidential’). In 2021, he made his directorial debut with the documentary film ‘Dowód tożsamości’ (‘Proof of Identity’), produced by the Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN. For years, he has been exploring the issues and history of Polish Jews in the 20th century, asking himself and his interviewees questions about what it’s like to be Jewish in Poland and what it truly means. For several years, he has been conducting workshops on personal history writing. His two latest books ‘Jezus umarł w Polsce’ (‘Jesus Died in Poland’) (2023) and ‘Rok, w którym nie umarłem’ (‘The Year I Didn’t Die’) (2025) were published by Agora Publishing.

Partner: Artesola Gallery

The exhibition is funded by the City of Warsaw as part of the Kulturalna Jednostka 2025 project.