22 January this year was an ordinary, somewhat cloudy, winter Sunday. Many of us were still shaking off the energy low brought about every year by the winter solstice. Grandpas were celebrating their holiday in the company of their grandchildren, and revellers were curing their hangover before resuming their Monday routine. Meanwhile, an immense celebration was still going on in China, where the day marked the beginning of the Year of the Water Rabbit. According to the horoscope, it is predicted to be a time of peace, harmony, and the reign of good energy. This results from the disposition bestowed by the stars on the zodiacal Rabbit sign: this exceptionally benign, gregarious animal can ease conflicts even between such temperamental signs as Dragon or Tiger. This year, the priority is safety.
On 22 January, Ewa Ciepielewska was sitting until late on a Sunday night in her studio in Krakow, preparing several dozen calendars of her own making for sending out. Every year, the artist hands out copies to her loved ones. In 2019, Ciepielewska devoted the twelve pages of her calendar to the Earth Pig, the following year – to the Metal Rat. This year’s calendar begins with a short preface:
“The solar year 2023 is year 4720 in the lunar calendar according to Chinese astrology, which recognises the 61st year of Emperor Huang Di as the beginning of this system. The ruler and patron of this year is the Water Rabbit, whom Chinese call ‘rabbit walking through the forest’. Do you remember? In the Hundred Acre Wood lives the rabbit as well as his relatives and friends. The adventures of Alice in Wonderland begin with the appearance of the White Rabbit, and the hare lives on the moon… I love the forest, stories and images. I also appreciate interpersonal contacts and this is why, yet another (15th) time, I’ve prepared for you, my dear Friends, a booklet that expresses my unwavering interest in You and our shared fate of space people on planet Earth. This time, my daughter Gaia has joined us with her images of Hares! Let’s send our best wishes to all sentient creatures.”
Around the same time, Martyna Czech was preparing an evening meal for her herd of rabbits. The menu never changes: hay, carrot, a mix of grains, and supplements for the seniors. There were eight of them in January, but sometimes even more than a dozen happen to be temporarily living there. Things that happen between rabbits are like things that happen between people: quarrels, broken hearts, romantic affairs, even fights.
This is how we have entered the year of the Water Rabbit. It’s hard to imagine a better time for an exhibition of works by Ewa Ciepielewska, who not only lives according to the rhythm of the Chinese horoscope and is a typically gregarious animal, but also spends several months each year in the water, sailing on the Vistula River. Ewa’s often told me that it’s easier for her to get along with a dog or a cat than with a fellow human being. She shares this experience with Martyna Czech, about whom Karolina Plinta wrote in 2017: “If she only could, Martyna would renounce affiliation with humankind”. The only disappointment caused by those she looks after is death, which always comes too soon.
The Year of the Water Rabbit is an opportunity for everyone to reflect on the quality of their interpersonal relations, relations between species and the relationship with oneself.
The patron of this year, observing us from paintings by Ciepielewska and Czech, will surely help us make it happen.

22 January this year was an ordinary, somewhat cloudy, winter Sunday. Many of us were still shaking off the energy low brought about every year by the winter solstice. Grandpas were celebrating their holiday in the company of their grandchildren, and revellers were curing their hangover before resuming their Monday routine. Meanwhile, an immense celebration was still going on in China, where the day marked the beginning of the Year of the Water Rabbit. According to the horoscope, it is predicted to be a time of peace, harmony, and the reign of good energy. This results from the disposition bestowed by the stars on the zodiacal Rabbit sign: this exceptionally benign, gregarious animal can ease conflicts even between such temperamental signs as Dragon or Tiger. This year, the priority is safety.
On 22 January, Ewa Ciepielewska was sitting until late on a Sunday night in her studio in Krakow, preparing several dozen calendars of her own making for sending out. Every year, the artist hands out copies to her loved ones. In 2019, Ciepielewska devoted the twelve pages of her calendar to the Earth Pig, the following year – to the Metal Rat. This year’s calendar begins with a short preface:
“The solar year 2023 is year 4720 in the lunar calendar according to Chinese astrology, which recognises the 61st year of Emperor Huang Di as the beginning of this system. The ruler and patron of this year is the Water Rabbit, whom Chinese call ‘rabbit walking through the forest’. Do you remember? In the Hundred Acre Wood lives the rabbit as well as his relatives and friends. The adventures of Alice in Wonderland begin with the appearance of the White Rabbit, and the hare lives on the moon… I love the forest, stories and images. I also appreciate interpersonal contacts and this is why, yet another (15th) time, I’ve prepared for you, my dear Friends, a booklet that expresses my unwavering interest in You and our shared fate of space people on planet Earth. This time, my daughter Gaia has joined us with her images of Hares! Let’s send our best wishes to all sentient creatures.”
Around the same time, Martyna Czech was preparing an evening meal for her herd of rabbits. The menu never changes: hay, carrot, a mix of grains, and supplements for the seniors. There were eight of them in January, but sometimes even more than a dozen happen to be temporarily living there. Things that happen between rabbits are like things that happen between people: quarrels, broken hearts, romantic affairs, even fights.
This is how we have entered the year of the Water Rabbit. It’s hard to imagine a better time for an exhibition of works by Ewa Ciepielewska, who not only lives according to the rhythm of the Chinese horoscope and is a typically gregarious animal, but also spends several months each year in the water, sailing on the Vistula River. Ewa’s often told me that it’s easier for her to get along with a dog or a cat than with a fellow human being. She shares this experience with Martyna Czech, about whom Karolina Plinta wrote in 2017: “If she only could, Martyna would renounce affiliation with humankind”. The only disappointment caused by those she looks after is death, which always comes too soon.
The Year of the Water Rabbit is an opportunity for everyone to reflect on the quality of their interpersonal relations, relations between species and the relationship with oneself.
The patron of this year, observing us from paintings by Ciepielewska and Czech, will surely help us make it happen.