Bogs as Unintended Archives: Neither Water Nor Land at Ujazdowski Castle

The exhibition 'Neither Water Nor Land' at Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw explores peatlands as sites where decay is suspended, preserving bodies, fabrics, seeds, and wooden tools for millennia. Bog bodies, often bearing traces of ritual violence, emerge from the peat with wounds, ropes, and fractures beneath a deceptive smooth surface. The swamp becomes a question about social order and the cost of maintaining it—who was sacrificed and why. Wetlands have also historically served as refuges for deserters and partisans. The exhibition reframes bogs as unintended archives holding stories societies would rather discard, suspended in a damp, uneasy present.