The Power of Secrets

In 1989, as Poland experienced political change with the fall of the Berlin wall, a nine-year-old Karol Radziszewski in Białystok filled his notebooks with drawings of princesses, dogs with mermaid tails, and seductive figures. These sketches, once secret, now resurface as self-portraits in his queer archive. Radziszewski, an artist, curator, and filmmaker, is also the founder of the Queer Archives Institute, a platform exploring the suppressed queer memory of Central and Eastern Europe.

His work blurs facts with fantasies, creating new ways to understand history, memory, and legislation. His archive not only reflects the past but also offers a queer vision for the future.