Blank Petals

Curated by Julia Harrauer
Supported by flat1_artspace
Residency Program: Nobody’s baby

How do we reconstruct lost tales, and what is revealed when we focus on their fragmented memories? By examining forgotten mythologies, Julia Woronowicz delves into ethnofictional narratives and alternative versions of history — not just as stories, but as a complex weave of legends, myths, and beliefs. It’s not only about tales of heroines and villains, but reflections on societies. Many of the once-told stories are fragmented, with blank pages and passages erased by history.

Like the Mazonian area, an alternative feminist culture that is said to have flourished from the 6th to the 17th century. This area is not a geographically or politically defined term; rather, it is a fictional and cultural concept, where myths speak of Amazons who once served as warriors and protectors. These stories can be understood as symbolic narratives about female strength and the desire for independence. Not just as narratives, but as constituting forces that shape collective consciousness, a network of perceptions. It is a place of contradictions, where utopias can turn into nightmares.

This tension between symbolic fragility and enduring strength is echoed in cultural expressions, such as a common Polish saying: “You cannot hit a girl, not even with a flower,” implying that women are even more fragile than flowers and therefore in need of protection. But this fragility is deceptive. Their power often stems from the ability to endure and respond. A fleeting moment of weakness can unfold into a powerful act of resistance. The stillness of fragility is the beginning of strength.

In mythology, there are many endings, many storylines. In the end, it is not the final chapter that defines them — it is the journey, the fight. The stories that we still have to tell. This exploration doesn’t offer a conclusion. Instead, it presents a collection of fragments — memories that refuse to fade. Tales that resist being forgotten.