Mama I’m coming home, 2018

Sylwester Ambroziak’s installation Mama, I’m Coming Home combined sculpture, animation, and sound. Created for Poznań’s Art Haven, the project balanced on the border between theater, visual arts, and film.

The exhibition addressed the issues of uprooting, forced migration, and alienation faced by people in today’s world. Referencing the dramatic consequences of global inequalities, armed conflicts, and migration, the artist explored the fate of so-called global orphans — children deprived of parental care, experiencing loneliness and the rupture of family bonds. The installation asked how Western civilization — immersed in the idea of progress — shapes our understanding of humanity, while drawing attention to basic human rights, including the right to freedom.

Mama, I’m Coming Home revealed the childlike simplicity of spirit as a universal language of communication — present in play, ritual, and community — while also exposing how fragile and vulnerable that innocence becomes when confronted with the realities of the modern world.

At the heart of the exhibition was Sandbox — an oversized cage filled with sculptures that defined the square between Concordia Design and the Bałtyk office building. Surrounding it were some 40 sculptures, some equipped with mechanisms that set them in motion and added sound. The project was accompanied by screenings of five 3D animated films, presented in specially designed containers.