About ArtBrut Gallery

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio is working in a hybrid mode.

The gallery is open to the public on Thursdays 3:00-6:00 pm and Fridays 2:00-5:00 pm

We are currently changing the exhibition. For the next exhibition we invite you on 17 March.

During activities and events at the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio, current sanitary guidelines and restrictions will apply.

ArtBrut Gallery & Studio for Socio-Cultural Inclusion in Wrocław

The Gallery & Studio have been run by the World of Hope Association at 46A Ruska Street in Wroclaw, since 2009. Its tasks consist in presenting and actively promoting art and creative output of intellectually handicapped artists and persons with mental disorders, facilitating their social inclusion as well as searching for and implementing effective forms of support.

This is a long-term and non-commercial project of the Association. Funds for the project are raised from diversified sources. This is the only project of this kind in Wroclaw and one of very few in Poland. The activities of the Gallery & Studio include a series of exhibitions, art workshops, meetings with artists and authors as well as various social inclusion actions and creative animations. ArtBrut Gallery has so far organised over 70 collective & solo exhibitions and presentations of art brut and outsider art, has built up its own art collection, maintains extensive records of its activities.

In 2013 the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio received the ‘It’s Worth It’ cultural award from Gazeta Wyborcza – Wroclaw in the visual arts category. Projects by the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio form a part of the application as well as the programme of European Capital of Culture 2016.

Major external exhibitions presenting the artists of the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio include:

• > ON THE COMMON. WAVES EVERYWHERE 2 / 15th Media Art Biennale WRO 2013 PIONEERING VALUES, Wroclaw 2013;
• > ANTIDOTUM / 12th Survival Art Review ‘CITY – INFLAMATORY STATE’ in 2014;
• > HANDLE WITH CARE / OSTRALE’015 Dresden, Germany 2015;
• > EAT ART / ‘openHUB Europe’ project, Milan, Italy 2015;
• > PAR-DELÀ LES TABOUS / ‘Art et Déchirure’ Festival, in Rouen, France 2016;
• > 5TH BIENNALE OF URBAN ART – OUT OF STH – OCCUPATION. BWA, Wroclaw 2017;
• > ART. BRUT / Retroperspektywy Festival; Art Incubator – Fabryka Sztuki, Lodz 2018.

The works and texts of the artists of the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio which have been featured in publications and books and have inspired various performances:

• > I DO NOT FIT IN MY SKIN, an art book published by the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio in cooperation with the European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016;
• > UNDER A COMMON UMBRELLA, publication designed by Krystyna Paraszkiewicz-Pater, published by Wroclaw Centre for Social Development;
• > BIURO – BWA Wrocław Press Agency / art magazine;
• > RITA BAUM / art and literary magazine;
• > NOT EXCLUDED LOVE – a theatrical performance by students of the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow – Wrocław Branch, as part of the research project of Bogusława Sztencel and Jolanta Solarz-Szwed;
• > WORDS – a multimedia performance by musicians Igor Gawlikowski & Krzysztof Konieczny and a multimedia artist Jacek Zachodny.

As part of our projects and activities, the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio have been co-operation with many artists and partners active in Wroclaw, Poland and abroad, both in the broadly understood area of culture and arts, as well as in the field of art brut and outsider art, including among others:
BWA galleries: Awangarda, Wrocław Glowny, Dizajn, SIC! and Studio; WRO Art Centre; Entropia Gallery; National Museum in Wrocław and Four Domes Pavilion; Wrocław Contemporary Museum; City Gallery; Wrocław City Museum; National Forum of Music; OP ENHEIM House of Culture; ART TRANSPARENT Contemporary Art Foundation; Vivid Gallery; Wrocław Puppet Theatre; Song of the Goat Theatre and Brave Kids Project; Capitol Music Theatre; Polish Theatre currently in the Underground, White Stork Synagogue, WuWA; New Horizons Association; Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, Bourgeois Brewery, MiserArt – creative zone in the maze of exclusion; Polish Poster Gallery in Wrocław; OKAP (Centre for Cultural Backyard Animation), Graphic Arts Workshop – Światowid Cultural Centre, ATELIER Si, Pb..., Open Studio of Jerzy Kosałka and LuXsus Group, Neon Side Gallery and Club, Tyc Art. – Gate Gallery, Firlej Music Club, Reception – Culture Zone, Cocofli – books art cafe wine bar, Lower Silesian Film Centre; ‘Tak’ Gallery in Poznan, Theatre 21 in Warsaw, Art Brut Gallery of Lublin, Ostrale Dresden Foundation, ArtiLabo Gallery of Breda, Galerie Art Cru Berlin, MAM Galerie Rouen and Centre Dramatique National de Haute-Normandie.

Developing long-term co-operation enables the exploration and implementation of modern methods and customized solutions in social and professional inclusion of people with special needs. Our primary task is to overcome the fear of contacting and working with mentally handicapped persons resulting either from negative perception or stereotypes. What is important is to engage in social dialogue and the development of a new quality of relations.

The aim of the Gallery & Studio is also to improve the quality of life and functioning of people with intellectual disabilities and mental disorders.

Currently, a group of ca. 20 artists with mental disabilities and mental disorders are associated with the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio. They participate in our activities receiving help in life activation as well as in social and cultural inclusion.

The space of the Gallery and the Studio is also available for an open group of recipients – including people at risk of social exclusion, but also for people interested in art brut and outsider out. The ArtBrut Gallery & Studio have hosted, among others, charges of institutions for people with special needs, e.g. 'Art' the Lower Silesian Association for Active Rehabilitation, the Lower Silesian Foundation 'Care and Prevenance', the Ostoja Association, students of Special Education Centres No. 1, No. 10 and No. 11 in Wrocław, seniors from the Yellow Umbrella Association, members of the Femina-Fenix Amazon Association, the Association of Ukrainians in Poland, the Society of Friends of Bulgaria, students of the Erasmus+ programme, as well as students and lecturers of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, the Academy of Theatre Arts in Wrocław or the Interdisciplinary Intercollegiate Faculty of Arttherapy in Katowice.

It is important that people associated with the Gallery & Studio have a sense of ownership of their own place for meetings, creation and exchange of experiences, a space they can shape according to their needs and dreams.

The ArtBrut Gallery & Studio for Socio-Cultural Inclusion have become an important Wroclaw venue of integration through art.

From the very beginning, the activity of the ArtBrut Gallery and Studio has been supported by the Municipality of Wroclaw. In the years 2016–2018, 2019–2021, 2022 and 2023 the Gallery and Studio have operated thanks to the targeted financial support of the Municipality of Wroclaw (www.wroclaw.pl) as part of the task: RUNNING THE ARTBRUT GALLERY AND STUDIO FOR SOCIO-CULTURAL INCLUSION FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND MENTAL DISORDERS.

Accessibility

The website of ArtBrut Gallery has been developed in compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Font size has been adjusted for the visually impaired and text may be enlarged. Contrast also may be modified, which is particularly useful for people with various visual impairments. Moreover, the site has a specially designed layout, which enables intuitive navigation with the use of ideograms, which help to navigate the website for people with intellectual disabilities and reading difficulties. Site navigation controls (menu items, artist ideograms) use elements of the works created by our artists. Navigation is possible both with a keyboard and a mouse. Text can be read with screen readers (e.g. NVDA).