"Postcards from War" is an artistic-historical exploration inspired by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The project collages Soviet propaganda postcards with contemporary war photographs. This juxtaposition highlights both the ideological source and the grim reality of imperialist aspirations. The project also pays homage to Martha Rosler's book "House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home" (1967–1972). The works were presented as part of the exhibition "Lost Territories. Tracing Imperial Violence" by the Sputnik Photos collective (of which Agnieszka Rayss is a member and co-founder) at Fotodok in Utrecht from November 27, 2025, to March 1, 2026. The exhibition was organized with the financial support of the City of Utrecht and the Mondriaan Fund. The project was first made public as part of the international Archivo LAB 2024 project "Archivo and Conflict", during an open video meeting on July 7, 2024. Selected works from the series were printed in 50 copies, in size 24 x 30 cm, and are available on the Archivo website.
Osiągnięcia artystycznePrace artystyczneauthorship of an artwork at an event
The subject of Agnieszka Rayss's "Grinds" series of photographs and collages is the materiality of raw glass and its multifaceted presence at the Julia glassworks. Crystal glass appears in several forms, at various stages of its existence in the form of decorated vessels. From its immaterial, purely pictorial presence in the drawings of design concepts in the factory archive, through semi-finished glass in the form of transparent pellets awaiting melting in the furnace, or a vessel with a mesh applied to it ready for decoration, to production-damaged waste. The series of works was presented at an exhibition at the BWA Wrocław SiC Gallery from November 14, 2025, to March 8, 2026. In addition to Agnieszka Rayss, the exhibition featured works by Aleksander Baszyński, Katarzyna Harasym, and Ewa Klekot. Agnieszka Rayss, together with Ewa Klekot, served as curators for the exhibition. The exhibition was organised by BWA Wrocław, co-organised by the Julia Crystal Glassworks, and the SWPS University was the substantive partner and co-financer of the event.
Osiągnięcia artystycznePrace artystyczneauthorship of an artwork at an event
Galeria Fotodok w Utrechcie, Opolski Festiwal Fotografii, Festiwal "Artbook Fair", Galeria Zbrojownia Sztuki w Gdańsku, Festiwal Rencontres de la Photographie w Arles
Daria Tuminas (Utrecht)
The series "Last Conversation with Academician Sakharov" is a 2020 photo essay about the nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. The series of photographs was presented during the exhibition "Lost Territories. Tracing Imperial Violence" at the Fotodok gallery in Utrecht from November 27, 2025 to March 1, 2026, along with the presentation of a 2022 photography book published by Sputnik Photos, containing works from the series and their descriptions. The 2025 publication was presented at an exhibition of photography books during the 15th edition of the Opole Festival of Photography and was included in the Opole Collection of Polish Photographic Books. In 2023, it received the distinction of "Photopublication of the Year 2023" awarded by the Foundation for Visual Education. The series of photographs was first presented to the public in 2020 at a group exhibition at the "Artbook Fair" festival in Kaunas, organized by the "Fotofestiwal" festival in Łódź, the Krakow Month of Photography, and the TIFF International Photography Festival in Wrocław. In 2023, the series of works was presented at the "(Un)Told" exhibition at the Zbrojownia Sztuki Gallery in Gdańsk and at the Rencontres de la Photographie Arles festival in France.
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Galeria Fotodok w Utrechcie, Muzeum Fotografii w Krakowie
Daria Tuminas (Utrecht), Marta Szymańska (Kraków)
Agnieszka Rayss's video work "Miru Mir" was filmed in Pyramiden, an abandoned Soviet mining town on the island of Spitsbergen in Arctic Norway. Founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927, Pyramiden was a model socialist settlement. This small settlement included a cultural center, sports complex, swimming pool, cafeteria, and school, serving a community of approximately 1,000 miners and their families. "Miru Mir" is a Soviet motto from the 1950s meaning "peace for the world." Agnieszka Rayss's video work contemplates the absurd reality that the Soviet Union, arming itself to the teeth during the Cold War (1947–1991), declared its wish for world peace. The contradictions in the word "mir" are even more profound today. In 2025, the work was presented during the Sputnik Photos collective exhibition (of which Agnieszka Rayss is a member and co-founder) entitled "Lost Territories. Tracing Imperial Violence" at the Fotodok gallery in Utrecht, from November 27, 2025, to March 1, 2026. The exhibition was organized with financial support from the City of Utrecht and the Mondriaan Fund. In 2026, the work was presented during the Sputnik Photos collective exhibition "TOGETHER" on the occasion of the collective's 20th anniversary at the Museum of Photography in Krakow. This exhibition was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Cultural Promotion Fund.
Osiągnięcia artystycznePrace artystyczneauthorship of an artwork at an event
