In the performance POKUTJA the artist is using a broadly developed symbolism of poppy seeds and honey. These ingredients are essential for the preparation of Kutia [kind of a sweet grain pudding]. In folk culture honey was an oblation. When honey appears in dreams it means an exposition of a true “I”. Poppy seeds make people sleepy. The dishes containing poppy seeds and honey were being eaten “for deceased”.
The title is a combination of three words: ‘pokuta’ [expiation], ‘kutia’, and ‘ja’ [I]. As the artist puts it herself: “POKUTJA is an offering, showing gratitude and reverence to the «non-materialistic» forces. My goal was to establish inside of me a meeting place of two worlds.”
Documantation: CCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw/EPAF 2010
Transtatlion: Hanna Piątkiewicz