Curatorial team: Michał Bieniek, Daniel Brożek, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, Ewa Pluta

The motto “a finger in the heart” brings together science, violence, ignorance and emotion. The pioneering act of inserting a finger into a beating heart became a symbol of development and progress. Yet the history of science is also, in large part, a history of questioning and revising existing knowledge: what was once accepted as fact may now seem absurd. This is particularly evident in the history of Western medicine. The former Wrocław clinics were part of these processes, but alongside their many important achievements, there are also darker chapters in their past.

The exhibition Finger in the Heart reflects on violence as the dark underside of progress, as well as on the dogma of the infallibility of rational reason. It offers a starting point for examining the mechanisms that shape our understanding of the world, our belief in the rightness of human actions and the systems through which knowledge is distributed. Running alongside this narrative is an interest in mystery – that which is hidden and often irrational. The desire to approach the unknown is shared by both occult and Enlightenment traditions. A finger in the heart thus becomes a symbol of transgression, discovery and profanation – acts that need not debase the untouchable if they open up new fields of exploration.

Sound Art Forum situates soundscape practices and deep listening in dialogue with medical practices, focusing not only on the sounds of the body, but also on the dynamics of non-verbal communication.