Elena Filipovic on Curating Alina Szapocznikow's First Major Retrospective Outside Poland

Elena Filipovic, the Senior Curator at WIELS Contemporary Art Centre in Brussels, collaborated with Joanna Mytkowska to co-curate the traveling exhibition 'Alina Szapocznikow: Sculpture Undone, 1955–1972.' This retrospective debuted at WIELS in 2011 before moving to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. Filipovic sought to present Szapocznikow's art to Western viewers, highlighting its omission from discussions of 1960s and 1970s art, despite its relevance today. She prioritized the artist's formal innovations over personal narratives linked to her experiences in concentration camps and her battle with breast cancer. Influences from curators like Connie Butler and Allegra Pesenti shaped the exhibition’s varying focuses. Earlier shows by Anke Kempkes also generated international interest. Filipovic's curatorial philosophy, shaped by her work on the Felix Gonzalez-Torres retrospective, emphasized the materiality and instability of the artworks.