Members Edit: Glossary of Emotions

Opening 14 Nov, 4-6pm
14 Nov - 23 Jan 2027
11-5pm
Members Edit

Glossary of Emotions, Małgorzata Dawidek

Glossary of Emotions by Małgorzata Dawidek is our fourth Members Edit at Bloc Projects. A light-and-text-based installation that contributes to a critical debate on identity, boundaries and the role of language and art in expressing emotions in multicultural communities. The work consists of thirty LED light plates on which the names of emotions with no English equivalents have been engraved. It demonstrates that emotions for which there are no terms in one language can be expressed in another. In this way, the work creates a bridge between different European and non-European cultures. Each plate contains definitions from languages such as Polish, Ukrainian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Hebrew, German, French, Swedish, Danish, Welsh and many others. A collection of plates in which individual emotions are situated within local cultural contexts forms a multilingual emotional dictionary.

Dawidek analyses the value and strength of cultural and linguistic identity against the backdrop of processes of globalisation. By looking at the ways in which human emotionality is expressed, the artist explores and exposes how the specificity of language can be used to transgress the unification produced by the Western world and the English language, recognised as a contemporary Lingua Franca. Her project highlights the power of multilingual communication as a formative value in seeking commonalities, creating social bonds and building horizons of hope. It shows that language and communication serve as both a protection and a tool, providing a sense of security in the critical experience of migration. Combining artistic and linguistic media, Dawidek’s work opens a space for reflection on inclusivity, tenderness, proximity and care. It also draws attention to the significance of the linguistic exchange of knowledge as a force for empowering human relationships with respect for diversity and the potency to create communities. The exhibition at Bloc Project will feature a selection of works from the Glossary of Emotions collection, complemented by the serigraphy A Wheel of Emotions, which illustrates the connections between basic and derived human emotions and feelings. Małgorzata Dawidek thanks the international group of artists, translators and linguists whose expertise and insights informed Glossary of Emotions: Florence Biteghe, Yvonne Feng, Nayoung Jeong, Irene Man, Nir Segal, Caryl Swift and Shino Yanai.

Małgorzata Dawidek has developed her artistic practice through the cross-pollination of diverse disciplines – history, philosophy, language, anthropology, archaeology, and humanistic medicine. Working across photography, performance, drawing, text, and installation, she draws on methodologies of (self-)observation, movement research, and environmental interaction, alongside collaborations with scientists, artists and cultural institutions. This comprehensive instrumentarium enables her to address the complexity of the human bodily experience.  At the core of her work lies the body understood as a form of storytelling. She examines its politics, languages, and diverse conditions while exploring the concept of soothing imagery and building visual narratives that acknowledge both bodily crises and the affirmation of life.  Holding two PhDs – in Art History (UAM, Poznań) and Fine Art Media (Slade/UCL, London) – she combines a rigorous, critical academic approach with poetic sensitivity. Her art projects have been exhibited across Europe, India, and the US, and are held in public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, Hünfeld (Germany), Aveiro City Museum (Portugal), The Art House Wakefield (UK), and Wroclaw Contemporary Museum (Poland). Her work has been awarded, among others, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant (New York, 2004-2005), Young Poland Award (2010), the Signature Art Prize (London, 2020), the Hastings Open Art Prize (Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, 2022), the Fundacja Koherencje Prize (Bydgoszcz, 2023) and the Arts Council England Grant (2026-2027).  www.dawidek.art     

Małgorzata Dawidek thanks the international group of artists, translators and linguists whose expertise and insights informed Glossary of Emotions: Florence Biteghe, Yvonne Feng, Nayoung Jeong, Irene Man, Nir Segal, Caryl Swift and Shino Yanai.