Soon Everything Will Change

Until 4 October 2026, three works by Joanna Rajkowska - the Polish artist behind Warsaw’s famous artificial palm tree - stand in the Royal Gardens and the Outer Courtyard of Wawel Castle: a giant blue blackbird’s egg (“The Hatchling”), a real crows’ nest (“The Nest”) and an amethyst geode (“Soon Everything Will Change”). The first two need a garden ticket; the geode is free to see.

Wawel Royal Castle on the exhibition:

Joanna Rajkowska is one of the most important and distinctive figures in Polish contemporary art, known for projects that permanently alter the fabric of cities and our sensibilities. Her work, acclaimed worldwide, redefines public space, prompting deep reflection on the relationship between humanity, nature and history.

This extraordinary exhibition engages the senses and invites visitors to experience Wawel Hill at a completely new pace.

“The Hatchling. Common Blackbird”

The blue blackbird’s egg measures 240 by 160 centimetres, and the castle encourages you to touch it. Put your ear to the shell and you hear vibrations and the heartbeat of a bird about to hatch, so walk right up to it - from a distance it is just a sculpture.

“The Nest”

Hooded crows built this nest at the top of the artificial palm tree Rajkowska installed in Warsaw for her project “Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue”. The birds treated the fake tree like any other. The castle presents the nest as an example of nature taking over even the most artificial piece of a city.

What to expect

Alongside the Hatchling and the Nest, the third work is the geode “Soon Everything Will Change” - an amethyst-filled block set into the ground in the Outer Courtyard, as if it had been dug up from Wawel’s own archaeological layers. The show was conceived as a subtle intervention into the historic grounds of Wawel Hill, connecting contemporary art with the site’s landscape, geology and history; its curator is Dr Bogumiła Wiśniewska. Unlike the Hatchling and the Nest, which stand in the Royal Gardens, the geode sits in the freely accessible part of the courtyard and can be seen without a ticket.

Context

Joanna Rajkowska is one of Poland’s best-known public-space artists, and her most famous work remains “Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue” (2002) - the artificial palm tree still standing in central Warsaw, which over more than two decades has become an informal gathering point for protests and gestures of solidarity. The Nest at Wawel is literally a piece of that history: a real crow’s nest found at the top of the Warsaw palm in 2019, now relocated to Wawel Hill. Rajkowska’s work consistently treats living and non-living matter as equal participants in a place’s history, which is why the geode’s reference to “deep time” and the pulsing energy of the egg are meant to be read here as partners to Wawel’s own archaeological layers, not as background to them.

Tickets and time

The Hatchling and the Nest are covered by the standard Royal Gardens ticket (11 PLN regular, 9 PLN reduced), while the geode in the Outer Courtyard can be seen free of charge. A ticket to any of the castle’s other exhibitions, or to the “Wawel - najcenniejsze” (most precious) guided route, also gets you into the gardens at no extra cost. If you are touring the royal chambers anyway, do not buy a separate garden ticket.

Until the show closes, the gardens are open Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-17:00 and Monday 10:00-16:00, with last entry 20 minutes before closing. The Outer Courtyard with the geode, like the rest of the hill, is free to enter until 19:00, and until 18:00 from 1 October. The castle’s English exhibition page gives 7 pm as the gardens’ closing time in September and October, but its Polish page and the ticket listing both say 17:00, so plan for 17:00. On Monday 28 September, a free same-day pass to the Castle Underground or Between the Walls also covers the Royal Gardens; passes are issued only at the ticket desks, while the daily pool lasts.

Last days: the exhibition closes on Sunday 4 October 2026, with last entry to the gardens at 16:40 that day. The Royal Gardens end their season on the same day, so this is not a visit you can push back.

Allow 20-30 minutes to see all three installations - a good add-on if you are already visiting the Royal Gardens or walking Wawel Hill, less worthwhile as a standalone destination from the other side of the city.

Events

The castle now publishes a dated programme, but only on the Polish version of the exhibition page, and no English-language session is announced. Three tours remain before the show closes, and a fourth event follows after it. All are for visitors aged 16 and over, and tickets are sold online by the castle.

• 26 Sep 2026, 11:00 - curator’s tour with Dr Bogumiła Wiśniewska, meeting point at the Royal Gardens entrance, 25 PLN, tickets online: event page .
• 27 Sep 2026, 10:00-10:40 - a shorter curator’s tour during the “Wawel jest Wasz!” (Wawel Is Yours!) interpretation festival, meeting point in front of the Royal Gardens entrance, 20 PLN: event page .
• 3 Oct 2026, 11:00 - tour with the artist, Joanna Rajkowska, meeting point at the Royal Gardens entrance, 25 PLN; under the national “Weekend Seniora z Kulturą” (Seniors’ Culture Weekend) scheme, visitors aged 60 and over pay 1 PLN: event page .
• 13 Oct 2026, 17:00-18:00 - “Usłyszeć więcej” (Hear More), a sensory listening workshop in the Sala Poselska on the castle’s second floor, held after the exhibition has closed and building on it; 25 PLN, bring a smartphone: event page .

If you can make only one date, choose 3 October: it is the last chance to hear about the materials and the story behind the works from the artist herself, and visitors over 60 pay a token 1 PLN.

What the press says

Tygodnik Powszechny (05.05.2026, Aleksander Hudzik, Polish outlet - our translation): the piece describes how working in such a historically loaded space pushed Rajkowska to rethink her own role - she says herself that at Wawel, art plays only a “servant’s” function to the place - link .

LoveKraków.pl (26.04.2026, editorial staff, Polish-language source): an opening-day report that quotes Rajkowska hoping visitors will experience the show with their bodies, and focuses on the sensory character of the Hatchling - descriptive, promotional tone rather than in-depth criticism - link .

Updates

• 13 Sep 2026 - added the description of the geode, context on the Warsaw palm tree, ticket and hours details and two press items; the exhibition dates (24 April - 4 October 2026) confirmed on the museum’s own page.
• 22 Sep 2026 - the castle published a dated programme of accompanying events; the dates until the show closes were added (source: exhibition page ).

See also

• Lares and Penates - Wawel’s next temporary exhibition, inside the castle from 24 September 2026: Poland’s project from the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale on how we build a sense of security. At 5 PLN it is an easy add-on to a walk through the gardens.
• Ecologies of Togetherness - an exhibition at MOCAK directly addressing humanity’s relationship with nature and matter, close to the ecological frame Rajkowska sets her installations in. It runs until 18 October 2026, so you can still catch it after the Wawel gardens close.

Tickets, opening hours, and current details are on the Wawel Royal Castle website .

Museum profile: Wawel Royal Castle .