Tomasz Górnicki and Igor Dobrowolski. Underneath

On 24 October 2026 Bunkier Sztuki will open a show in a place normally closed to the public: the cellars of a palace annexe at ulica Piłsudskiego 4, unused for years. Visits are in guided groups, entry is booked on the PAŁAC website, and the gallery intends it for adults only; it runs until 29 November.

Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery on the exhibition (the gallery’s own English text):

“Underneath” addresses what lies beyond our field of vision: homelessness, depression, and maladjustment, as well as the inner shadow - that which is uncomfortable, shameful, and difficult to accept.

Tomasz Górnicki’s sculptures situate psychological states within abandoned architecture, treating it as a material counterpart to the subconscious - a repressed yet ever-present realm. Igor Dobrowolski’s works play on the tension between documentary realism and the gesture of a child’s drawing. Hyper-realistic depictions of individuals experiencing homelessness draw attention to people whose presence we either do not wish to see or are unable to perceive.

The exhibition offers a moment to pause and reflect on what usually remains on the margins - what is repressed, unwanted, and uncomfortable - whether within the individual, society, or physical space.

What to expect

Bunkier opens two shows at the same address on the same day. The work of Tomasz Górnicki and Igor Dobrowolski goes into the cellars of the annexe. In PAŁAC itself, a new restaurant and cultural venue, Agata Kus’s painting show “Spirits” begins, with different opening hours.

Both artists were born in the late 1980s and both deal with violence and exclusion, though from different directions. Górnicki, a sculptor trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, makes site-specific work and draws on religious, philosophical and psychological symbols. Dobrowolski combines painting with photography, performance and activism.

The gallery does not say how many works there are or what they are called. The cellar is not a backdrop here: the PAŁAC booking page states plainly that the darkness, the damp and the uneven floor are part of the show itself.

The show comes with a catalogue edited by Delfina Jałowik, with texts by Georgina Gryboś and the curator, photographs by Norbert Piwowarczyk and an English translation (ISBN 978-83-978145-6-1). In the Bunkier online shop it costs 39 PLN; the shop works in Polish only, as its English version is temporarily closed. The curator is Delfina Jałowik, director of Bunkier Sztuki.

Context

The Ogiński and Potulicki Palace was built in 1879 to a design by Filip Pokutyński, in Nowy Świat, within Krakow’s Old Town district. It later housed riding societies and the Resursa Krakowska. Bombed during the Second World War, it was bought by the archdiocese through the efforts of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha and faithfully rebuilt for the seminary.

Today the building houses PAŁAC, with a restaurant and rooms for hire. Agata Kus’s show launches Bunkier’s partnership with PAŁAC: the gallery plans a new exhibition space here called “Bunkier w PAŁACU” and, in future, an artists’ residency programme.

Bunkier is a municipal gallery without a permanent collection display, and this is not the first time it has taken art outside its building on plac Szczepański. Until 31 October a second such show is still on in Krakow: Celine Levitan’s “The Language of Pearls” in the Wyspiański Pavilion.

Tickets and time

• Booking: entry is booked through the form on the PAŁAC exhibitions page , which the “Book a tour” button on Bunkier’s page links to. Entry slots are every 30 minutes, with at most 25 people per entry slot. PAŁAC confirms bookings of up to 10 people at once and confirms larger groups separately.
• Without a booking? Neither Bunkier nor PAŁAC says whether someone without a booking can join the next group. With groups of 25, do not take the chance: book.
• Price: neither the exhibition page nor the PAŁAC page gives an admission price. On 22 October the PAŁAC booking system provided for no payment at all, and Bunkier’s price list on its “For visitors” page does not mention PAŁAC. For certainty, call the gallery’s ticket office: +48 668 808 352.
• Hours: Friday 16:00-19:00 (4 PM-7 PM), Saturday and Sunday 11:00-17:00, closed Monday to Thursday. The PAŁAC page gives 11:00-19:00 for weekends, but its booking system agrees with Bunkier: last entry at 16:30 on Saturday and Sunday, and at 18:30 on Friday.
• Opening day and 1 November: on the opening day, Saturday 24 October, entry slots run only from 16:00 to 18:30. Bunkier lists 1 November among the days the gallery is closed, yet the PAŁAC system also takes bookings for that Sunday; if you plan to go that day, check with the gallery first.
• Adults only. The gallery intends the show for adults only, because of the space and the nature of the works. For a visit with children, choose the main building on plac Szczepański instead.
• Accessibility: limited. The route involves stairs and uneven floors, in a dark and damp cellar. Wheelchair users and visitors on crutches should ask the gallery before booking whether they can manage the route. Conditions are entirely different from Bunkier’s main building, which has a ramp and a lift to every floor.
• On site: the cellars are entered through the gate on the left-hand side of the building, and staff hand out shoe covers. In a damp underground space in late autumn, an extra warm layer will come in handy.
• How long: the gallery does not say how long a visit takes. Entry every half hour suggests a route of roughly that length; allow an hour including getting there and waiting at the gate.
• Best for: anyone interested in socially engaged art and in interiors normally closed to the public. Skip if: you do not cope well with dark underground spaces or want a light afternoon out, since the subjects are homelessness, depression and violence.
• Two shows, two timetables: Agata Kus’s “Spirits” at the same address is open Monday to Thursday 18:00-24:00 and Friday to Sunday 16:00-24:00. On a Friday after 16:00 you can see both in one evening.
• English on site: the gallery publishes the exhibition text in English and PAŁAC runs its booking page in English. Neither says whether the guided tour in the cellars is given in English, so ask when you book.

See also

• Agata Kus. Spirits - at the same address, in PAŁAC, from 24 October 2026 to 28 February 2027. Five painted objects and ten oil paintings that start from phone photos and family albums.
• Celine Levitan. The Language of Pearls - another Bunkier show outside its own building, in the Wyspiański Pavilion, until 31 October. Stitched paintings of embroidery, sequins and faux pearls.
• Kinga Nowak. A tropikal fiva uv regrejt - in Bunkier’s main building on plac Szczepański, until 3 January 2027. Painting and sculpture on the traces of colonialism in European and Polish culture.
• Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery - the gallery’s brutalist building on plac Szczepański, where every exhibition is ticketed separately.

Opening hours and current details are on the Bunkier Sztuki website .

Museum profile: Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery .