The Waves Are Rumbling So Loud, a solo exhibition by Polish artist Karolina Breguła, features the artist’s newly commissioned video installations, The Fish and The Storm, alongside her earlier moving-image works and photographs that share the same concerns and conceptual queries.

Breguła is a storyteller who works in a deeply researched-based and collective manner, digging deep into questions of architecture, societal shifts, and urban spaces that affect communities. This exhibition revolves around a poetic and rather troubling account of the collective experiences of and reflections on the condition of the seas in the face of the climate crisis.

The Storm portrays an image of the sea and a distant island observed by five characters who reveal their most hidden emotions as the destructive wind and waves grow bigger. The threatening weather uncovers social tensions and conflicts within the small community, which seems to be unprepared to face the coming dangers together.

Through her extensive and experimental film language, the artist creates situations in which collective storytelling becomes possible. Breguła considers collaborative fiction writing a political activity that supports the process of diagnosing, expressing, and discussing societal problems.

The artist’s latest film, The Fish, imagines the poetic transformation of a fisherwoman into a sea being. After she comes to understand the severe condition of her beloved sea, the protagonist rather abruptly changes her alliances and decides to stay under the water’s surface.

The film takes inspiration from the urgent stories of communities facing serious disturbances caused by the climate crisis and the devastation of the sea. Its narrative is partially based on real people, and in particular the life experience of a Swedish fisherwoman, Manjula, with whom the artist worked closely, not just as a protagonist but also as a co-creator of the story. Many of Breguła’s film projects—which demonstrate a rich filmic language and elaborated conceptual approaches—are co-created with their protagonists and participants, blurring the boundaries between professional and amateur artistic activity. Short stories collaboratively written by Breguła and the participants of her projects are also included in the exhibition.

From the jury’s statement:

Karolina Breguła is a Polish artist working with film, photography, installation, and performative actions. The central topic of Bregula’s proposal, Flood, also emerged in several other applications: the climate crisis, and in particular rising sea levels that will cause housing and employment insecurity across the planet. Breguła’s elaboration on the issue is exciting and promising, as it explores the experiences of various communities and the research into various scientific disciplines, all while connecting the lived experiences and personal fears of inhabitants across different geographies. Many of her previous film projects—which demonstrate a rich filmic language and elaborated conceptual approaches—are co-created with their protagonists and participants, blurring the borders between professional and amateur artistic activity. For this new project, the artist plans to collaborate with scientists and the residents of coastal cities and villages in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, and Taiwan. The film will tell the pressing story of communities facing severe climate disturbance to their lives and livelihoods, encompassing short films on the past, current, and future predicaments of particular places, as well as photography and local performances. A book, collaboratively written by Breluga and the participants, will accompany the film.

Karolina Breguła was the 2023 recipient of the Media Art Grant from the Stiftung Niedersachsen at the Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art.