Rita Kowalska. Afterimage

The Lublin painter Rita Kowalska is bringing paintings from three of her cycles to Biłgoraj. “Powidok” (Afterimage) will run in the main building of the Museum of the Biłgoraj Land, 87 Kościuszki Street, from 23 October 2026 to 17 January 2027. It opens with a Friday reception attended by the artist. The museum publishes no English text on the show; the words below are our translation of its Polish announcement.

Museum of the Biłgoraj Land on the exhibition:

Rita uses an expressive painterly language and fragmentary figuration to create a surreal world on the borderline of dream, memory and imagination. Through light, colour and the substance of paint she builds an atmosphere of mystery and mysticism. Her paintings merge with the world of dream and imagination, summoning both traces of what has passed and premonitions of what may yet happen. Hidden in the dynamically applied layers of paint are meanings and emotions that cannot be read unambiguously.

What to expect

The show brings together works from the cycles “The Shape of Tomorrow”, “Wychodząc do jutra” (Going Out to Tomorrow) and “Odbicia niepamięci” (Reflections of Oblivion). The museum groups them to trace successive stages of the painter’s work, but gives neither the number of paintings, their sizes nor the room. The exhibition poster shows cropped details of compositions: circles, rectangles, bands of gold and a sharp burst of blue on a muted beige ground.

The curator is Maria Sapeta. The museum pairs the opening with a meeting with the artist, so that is the best day to ask the painter herself about the work.

Allow 20-30 minutes for the show itself. Together with the permanent display “Nad Tanwią i Ładą” in the same building, plan on an hour to an hour and a half. That is our estimate; the museum gives no visiting time.

Until 7 November 2026 the same building also holds the archaeology show “A Different Światowid”. Between 23 October and 7 November you can therefore see both in one visit.

Context

According to the museum, Rita Kowalska comes from Lublin and trained as a visual artist. She has exhibited at the Lublin Conference Centre, at the r_z Art Gallery of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers in Rzeszów and at Medina Art Gallery in Rome, among other places. Since 2025 her paintings have been on permanent display at Kamienica Legend (the House of Legends) in Lublin’s Old Town. Beyond the museum’s announcement, no biography or press discussion of her painting could be found.

The title has a precise meaning in Polish. A “powidok”, or afterimage, is an optical effect: after you look away from a distinct shape, the eye goes on seeing it for a moment in the complementary colour. In Polish art the word recalls Władysław Strzemiński, who in 1948-1949 painted a cycle of pictures recording afterimages of the sun, and Andrzej Wajda’s last film, “Powidoki” (Afterimage), from 2016. The museum does not explain the title or link it to either reference.

Tickets and time

Tickets: at the main building, 87 Kościuszki Street, a full ticket costs 10 PLN and a reduced one 8 PLN. Every kind of Polish Large Family Card (Karta Dużej Rodziny) gives 50% off any ticket. The museum announces no separate ticket for temporary shows, so that the main-building ticket covers “Powidok” is our reading of the visiting page .

Free Tuesday: admission is free every Tuesday at all of the museum’s sites. The museum does not exclude temporary shows from this, but it does not mention them either.

Hours: from 1 October 2026 to mid-May 2027, which covers the whole run, the autumn and winter schedule applies (museum notice of 29 September 2026 ). The building at 87 Kościuszki Street opens Monday to Thursday 8:00-16:00 (8 AM to 4 PM), Friday 8:00-17:00 and at weekends 12:00-17:00. The visiting page still shows the summer schedule, with a 9:00 opening and weekends closed until the end of October; the newer notice wins.

Holidays: the notice says nothing about public holidays. If you plan to come on 1 or 11 November, or between 24 December and 6 January, call +48 84 686 27 33 first.

Who it is for: worth it if you are drawn to contemporary expressive painting with a surreal edge and want to discover an artist outside the big-gallery circuit. The opening is the best date, as the artist will be there. Skip it if you are in Biłgoraj for the region’s history - the permanent display will serve you better. The museum states nothing about English labels or tours in English.

Getting there: the bus station on Bohaterów Monte Cassino Street is about 400 metres from the museum, a five-minute walk. Biłgoraj is about 95 km from Lublin and 50 km from Zamość. Rail is of little use: the town is served only by two long-distance trains on the Hrubieszów - Kraków line.

Events

• 23 October 2026, 17:00 - exhibition opening and meeting with Rita Kowalska, main building at 87 Kościuszki Street, free admission - museum announcement (in Polish)

See also

• Museum of the Biłgoraj Land profile - the permanent display “Nad Tanwią i Ładą” in the same building, from prehistory to the present; a good complement for anyone who wants to get to know the region on the same visit.
• A Different Światowid - a show on the Zbruch idol in the same building, until 7 November 2026; until then you can see both shows in one visit.
• Rays of the South. Lights of the Borderlands - paintings and drawings by Mariusz Woszczyński at the Museum of the Chełm Land, until 20 November 2026; another autumn show of contemporary painting in the region.

Museum profile: Museum of the Biłgoraj Land in Biłgoraj .