Life can be a fairytale if you break the silence – aleXsandro Palombo

Between November 7 and 21, 2019, the Bałtyk skyscraper hosted the exhibition Life Is Not a Fairy Tale by Italian artist and activist aleXsandro Palombo. The timing was deliberate, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25.

The exhibition featured works from the acclaimed series Life Can Be a Fairy Tale If You Break the Silence, in which pop culture icons and fairy-tale heroines are depicted as victims of domestic violence. These images urged women to speak out and emphasized that violence can affect anyone, regardless of social status or public image.

Also on display was the series Do You Still Like Us? — provocative portraits of Disney princesses with disabilities, redefining concepts of perfection and physical beauty. In addition, the Freedom cycle presented three symbolic gestures expressing the desire for absolute freedom at the intersection of art and design.

Throughout his work, aleXsandro Palombo has employed the language of pop culture and irony to challenge notions of equality, human rights, and social sensitivity. The Poznań exhibition became a powerful visual manifesto against violence and exclusion.