In November 2018, Arsenał Municipal Gallery in Poznań hosted the exhibition Everyday Life in Poland. Curated by Marek Wasilewski, apart from artworks it gathered historical records of everyday life from Archiwum Badań nad Życiem Codziennym (ABnŻC, Archives of Research on Daily Life). This ushered in a series of meetings of artists, designers, archival collections, and the researchers who co-authored the archives. Two years later, thanks to the collaboration of ABnŻC and Ostrov and the support of VOX, Arsenał Press publishes a book edited by Krystian Daszkowski, Zofia Małkowicz-Daszkowska and Wiktor Wolski titled Miejsca Codzienności (Places of everydayness). It presents photographs inspired by archival records as well as essays by scholars associated with ABnŻC.

The creation of a book that intertwines different perspectives on the perception of everyday life and the places where it occurs has highlighted the fact that these places are also working spaces. This perception seemed important to us inasmuch as, although we identify work with places distant from everyday venues, i.e. with offices, factories, shops, or workshops, we simultaneously work in our homes and take work there. This work thus becomes our everyday life and demonstrates both common and unusual aspects. This simple observation seems to us to be all the more important as it allows us to pose questions about the specific nature of work as human activity, about its role in our lives, about work time and work conditions.

During the meeting, we will reflect on the daily work and everyday life of people involved in creation, i.e. researchers, artists, designers, and architects. Let us try to ask questions about the specific features of their work, about where and how they work, about the importance of the places and the circumstances in which they carry out their professional duties. We will also ask why creation is frequently not seen as work and what the implications are.

participants: Paweł Błęcki, Krystian Daszkowski, Przemysław Jędrowski, Zofia Małkowicz-Daszkowska, Marta Skowrońska, Joanna Szpak Ostachowska, Dominik Wojciechowski, Karolina Wojtas, Wiktor Wolski

moderators: Marek Krajewski, Marek Wasilewski