Where is the line between repairing and enhancing the human body? This year’s Przemiany Festival will take a closer look at the prefix “super” as an expression of the spirit of our time (Zeitgeist), in which the future of homo sapiens is driven by the need for an increasingly efficient and longer life. Today, the latest achievements in regenerative medicine and robotics go hand in hand with the dynamic development of the fitness and well-being market. Are we ready for an intervention in the biochemical structure of our bodies and a technological upgrade? Do we want to cross physical and intellectual limitations to resemble the now-so-popular superheroes? After all, from the perspective of our bodies’ ecology, we are all “super” from the moment we are born. And this is by no means any individual’s personal accomplishment.
Even though we treat our body as personal property, it is, in fact, common property. The human body is a conglomerate of life, which – in addition to eukaryotic cells – consists of bacteria, fungi, archaea and viruses, i.e. our microbiome. This population of more than 100 trillion microorganisms, colonising virtually every external and internal surface of the body, makes the human an ecosystem as complex as a rainforest or a coral reef. It is estimated that 70-90% of all cells in the human body are bacteria, representing about 10,000 different species. This bacterial diversity shapes our biology from birth to the grave, affecting our health, metabolism and well-being. An imbalance can lead to disaster, one clear example of which can be seen in the growing antibiotic resistance caused by excessive and unjustified use of antibiotics in humans.
Thanks to its extraordinary biodiversity and importance for basic life processes, the microbiome challenges traditional categories of identity and, consequently, blurs the biological boundaries through which we define ourselves. Therefore, “I” becomes “we” – a living collective, a superorganism. Although this concept generally refers to specific species whose individuals form specialised groups, similar to organs in the body (this applies especially to colonies of social insects, such as ants or termites), increasingly, scientists postulate using the word ‘superorganism’ when referring to humans. We are “super” because we are a multiplicity based on symbiotic connections stretching back over billions of years of evolution. However, the vision of a superhuman does not end there.
Let us now move on from microbiology to the subject of human thought and imagination, which determines and guides the development of science. Mechanistic theories of nature dating back to the 16th century have accustomed us to perceiving the body as an extraordinary machine that – if well-oiled and maintained – could theoretically work indefinitely. In this view, the diseases we experience and, finally, death are the result of a technical malfunction – for example, the heart stops pumping blood, and the liver becomes fibrous and necrotic. Maybe we should, therefore, grow a replacement liver or design a new, improved version of the heart with a structure minimising the risk of embolism!
The impressive progress of genetic engineering, regenerative medicine, nanotechnology and robotics has set a new horizon in historical terms of the so-called assisted evolution. Research on stem cells, tissue and organ printing, as well as new drugs and gene therapies are becoming routine, eliminating further genetic diseases or helping body regeneration after serious injuries and diseases. At the same time, innovations in bionic prostheses and brain implants are bringing hope to countless people with disabilities. If we add to this the vision of millions of nanorobots circulating in our bloodstream, removing infections, fighting cancer cells or re-writing DNA, the future of our species looks more than optimistic. However, basic ethical questions also arise. Who will foremost benefit from the medicine of the future? Will we use new therapies and drugs only to fix defects, or will we use them to make a biochemical upgrade to the human machine?
Each of us carries an idea of the best version of ourselves, where we use our physical and intellectual potential to the fullest extent. In the pursuit of being “super”, we continue to cross biological and cultural boundaries. We want to be stronger, wiser, and live longer. We want to set new standards of vitality. With so many scientific tools at our disposal, it is worth pausing for a moment and – as if in addition to the great plans to strengthen and improve our bodies – thinking about what we should keep unaltered.
Przemiany is the laboratory of the future. A platform for sharing ideas between scientists, technologists, designers, artists and anyone interested in the possible directions of development on various levels of social life. This year, we invite everyone to reflect on the human body perceived as an information carrier, a network of interspecies connections and a brilliant biological machine. The Festival agenda includes interdisciplinary expert panels, debates on biohackers, soldiers and athletes of the future, film screenings, performances and an art & science exhibition. There will also be electronic music concerts with visualisations displayed on the planetarium dome, as well as meetings and workshops in the festival cafe. We will summarise the main themes of the festival at a special meeting attended by Jacek Dukaj, an outstanding sci-fi writer, and Jowita Michalska, the founder of Digital University.
See you all at the Przemiany Festival!
Rafał Kosewski
Curator of the Przemiany Festival
Ruth Dudek-Wicher, PhD Pharm – pharmacist, assistant professor at the Department and Chair of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Parasitology at the Wrocław Medical University. Her main scientific interests include biofilm, oral cavity diseases, microbiome, essential oils and rational antibiotic therapy. She is currently in the course of completing a specialisation in clinical pharmacy. Winner of the 2018 FameLab competition, the 30 Creative People of Wrocław and 2020 Personality of the Year awards. She is the author of 20 scientific publications. She also has experience in the field of Good Distribution Practice and Pharmacovigilance.
Olivia Arthur – London-based photographer known for in-depth research on personal and cultural identity. In her first book, "Jeddah Diary", she describes the lives of young women in Saudi Arabia. Her second book, "Stranger", describes a journey to Dubai from the perspective of a shipwreck survivor. Recently, Arthur has also begun to explore people’s relationship with their bodies, their physicality and their relationship with technology. She is the co-founder of the Fishbar photography space in London. In 2013, she became the Magnum Photos agency member, and in 2020–2021 she was its president. Her pieces were exhibited worldwide and are gathered in institutional collections in Great Britain, USA, Germany and Switzerland.
Amy Karle – Amy Karle – acclaimed, ultra-modern artist and futurist specialising in exponential technologies. She creates new, hybrid art forms by synthesising physical, biological and computational systems to create emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating works of art that demonstrate the potential of technology to shape the future. 
Rafał Lolo, PhD –molecular biologist, specialising in DNA damage and repair processes. He completed MA studies in medical biotechnology at the Jagiellonian University and PhD studies in molecular oncology at the University College London. He conducted scientific work at Oxford University and the University of Copenhagen. In 2014, he joined AstraZeneca Pharma Poland, where he is responsible for developing drugs and molecular diagnostic tests in oncology.
Łukasz Kamieński, PhD – academic teacher and author, professor at the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University. He focuses on the future of war, biotechnological improvements for soldiers and new military technologies, mainly in the context of the United States.
Paweł Kaliszewski, PhD – deputy director of the Polish Anti-Doping Laboratory, head of the unit dealing with players’ biological passports. For the past sixteen years, he has conducted scientific and laboratory research in detecting prohibited substances in athletes’ bodies. 
Joanna Różyńska, PhD – assistant professor at the Department of Ethics and researcher at the Centre for Bioethics and Biolaw of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Warsaw. Her scientific interests focus on the ethics of scientific research involving humans, reproductive ethics, human rights and biomedicine. 
A London-based photographer known for in-depth research on personal and cultural identity. In her first book, "Jeddah Diary", she describes the lives of young women in Saudi Arabia. Her second book, "Stranger", describes a journey to Dubai from the perspective of a shipwreck survivor. Recently, Arthur has also begun to explore people’s relationship with their bodies, their physicality and their relationship with technology.
A London-based transdisciplinary art and design studio cooperating with the world of science and technology to explore the evolution of man and the future world. 
An award-winning, internationally renowned British artist who uses bio art, sculpture and digital media to explore our relationship with infectious diseases, synthetic biology and robotics. 
Artist and associate professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. In 2016–2019, he was the vice-dean for intermedia at this university's Faculty of Sculpture and Intermedia. In his projects, he combines art, biology and technology. He describes them as biomedia art. 
An artist working at the intersection of art and science. She is fascinated by the impact of human-made infrastructure on the planet and how it changes people, animals, plants, and landscapes. 
Professor at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, where he runs the Kinetic Design Studio. He focuses on the design and creation of three-dimensional moving objects, categorised as kinetic sculpture. He is a member of the Industrial Form Designers Association and the author of the “Copernicus” kinetic object for the Wrocław Airport.
An acclaimed, ultra-modern artist and futurist specialising in exponential technologies. She creates new, hybrid art forms by synthesising physical, biological and computational systems to create emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating works of art that demonstrate the potential of technology to shape the future. 
A graduate of the Faculty of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. She creates sculptures and installations. In her artistic practice, she raises issues related to social exclusion and forgotten stories. She is interested in the concept of the archaeology of childhood.
Researcher, author of books, curator. Doctor of humanities in ethnology, an art history graduate at the University of Warsaw and the School of Social Sciences at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She is an assistant professor at the Chair of Design Theory at the Faculty of Design of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She authored, among others, books "Case. About arranging apartments in the Polish People's Republic" [Futerał. O urządzaniu mieszkań w PRL-u] (2023), "From Solidaryca to TypoPolo. Typography and collective identities in Poland after 1989" [Od solidarycy do TypoPolo. Typografia a tożsamości zbiorowe w Polsce po roku 1989] (2018), and co-authored (with Marian Misiak) the book "Paneuropa, Comet, Hel. Sketches from the history of letter design in Poland" [Paneuropa, Kometa, Hel. Szkice z historii projektowania liter w Polsce] (2015). 
Artist and researcher, liminal being (
Ellen Pearlman, PhD – new media artist, curator, critic, and educator who obtained her PhD from the School of Creative Media at the Hong Kong City University. She holds the Fulbright scholarship, works at the University of Warsaw, and previously worked at MIT. She is the winner of Vertigo STARTS and the artist of Zero1 American Arts Incubator. She founded and managed ThinkWorks Arts (a high-end artistic and technological research lab) and Art-A-Hack (a rapid prototyping workshop). 