Applied Herstories: Irena Huml

Applied Herstories: Irena Huml

Arton Foundation
Foksal 11/4, Warsaw
Exhibition: 22 November 2025–10 January 2026
Opening: 22 November 2025, 7 p.m.

Curator: Marika Kuźmicz
Collaboration: Dariusz Mikołajczak, Adam Parol

The exhibition Applied Herstories revisits the work and biography of Professor Irena Huml – art historian, curator, critic, lecturer, and a key figure in Poland’s post-war artistic life. It seeks to highlight selected themes from her many years of activity, which often took the form of pioneering research on applied arts and textile art, particularly the work of women artists, as well as her contributions as a journalist, curator, and head of the Gallery of the District Board of the Women’s League (1967–1980).

The main visual focus of the exhibition is a private collection of woven miniatures, donated to Irena Huml by numerous artists over the years. This collection forms a kind of visual narrative of gratitude, understanding, and reciprocity that characterized her relationships with creative individuals. Each miniature stands as a material trace of the many exhibitions, conferences, and competitions in which she took part.

Through this exhibition, we also wish to draw attention to the fact that her writings were – and in many cases remain – the only critical voice or study devoted to certain artists’ work. Irena Huml was an attentive observer and active participant in the artistic life of the Polish People’s Republic, often directing her focus toward significant yet generally underappreciated female artists whose work she championed both in Poland and abroad. She gathered around her diverse artistic circles, particularly jewelers and artists working with textiles.

Huml’s output has had, and continues to have, great significance for the work of the Arton Foundation team. We frequently refer to her articles published in Projekt magazine, which in many cases have served as our only points of reference for research – as, for instance, in the case of the work of Hanna Orzechowska.

An important, though relatively little-known, aspect of Irena Huml’s professional activity was her organizational and curatorial work at the Gallery of the District Board of the Women’s League, which is also addressed in the Arton Foundation exhibition. During this period, she prepared around fifty exhibitions, featuring artists such as Anna Buczkowska, Hanna Jung, and Krystyna Wojtyna-Drouet, among others.

Irena Huml introduced new concepts, including that of “object art.” Throughout her career, she practiced an inclusive and open model of art history that continues to resonate with contemporary needs and tendencies.

The exhibition was prepared in collaboration with Justyna Bacz, Irena Huml’s daughter.

Irena Zofia Huml-Bacz (born 13 November 1928 in Warsaw, died 19 May 2015) graduated from the Institute of Art History at the University of Warsaw in 1957. From the beginning of her academic career, she was affiliated with the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where, in addition to her own research, she conducted highly regarded doctoral seminars in interior design, applied arts, and design for more than thirty years (1981–2014). As an educator, she mentored successive generations of art historians, fostering their development and scholarly independence. Her doctoral dissertation (1970) focused on the Krakow Workshops, while her habilitation thesis, Polish Applied Art of the 20th Century, was defended in 1979. In 1989, her book Współczesna tkanina polska [Contemporary Polish Textiles] was published, and in 1992 she was awarded the title of full professor. Her studies on twentieth-century applied art and interior design – including academic publications, biographical essays, critical texts, reviews, and catalogue introductions for both Polish and international exhibitions – have become part of the canon of professional literature. Art created by women held a special place in her research.

The exhibition was created as part of the project Unwritten Warsaw Herstories: a series of exhibitions, workshops, and an educational program.
The project is co-financed by the Capital City of Warsaw.