Happy Family is a family project, and the impulse to create it was the situation in which my older brother Filip found himself, or rather repeatedly did. Despite the fact that our family home did not lack anything to live on, he was homeless at times. We sometimes didn't have contact with him for a long time, we didn't know where he was, how he was getting on and whether he was still alive at all. Now I know how complicated the problem of homelessness is, the nature of which precludes a closed and unambiguous classification of causes. Among the most common are: social exclusion caused by mental illness and disorders, addiction and long-term incarceration. Through personal experience, I am able to tell you a real, honest story and perhaps break the taboo surrounding the topic of mental health.

The exhibition 'Happy Family, a home counselling centre' is a collection of works metaphorically representing the mental health issues described. Starting from the 'sweeping of problems under the carpet', a process I wanted to highlight as damaging and only multiplying problems, I made objects using tufting techniques and a broad textile method. With the support of family members who are actively involved in the performances I undertake, I have been able to make personal and technically sophisticated works.

Karolina Balcer

The guided tour will be translated into Ukrainian.

Funded by the Stabilisation Fund for Culture and Education 2022 of the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut.