Book Club of Muzeum Sztuki: Kora Tea Kowalska "Look Down. On Collecting Things" | Muzeum Sztuki ms1

We will trace things worth saving, pull them from oblivion and make them visible. "Little separates garbage from a collector's object. It takes merely a gesture of lifting: you pick something up from the ground – and it becomes a thing, you put it back on the scrap heap – it returns to garbage" – writes Kowalska, an archaeologist, cultural scholar and collector, in her essay "Look Down. On Collecting Things." Kowalska combines elements of the social history of collecting, stories about people sharing the passion for gathering, and memories of her own journey to becoming a collector of things and memories. The author creates a personal code of conscious collecting, consisting of principles that will likely challenge every collector. "Look Down" is also a tender narrative about Gdańsk, a city repeatedly transformed.