HOAX

Agnieszka Sejud’s HOAX (2016–20) was initially a record of the artist’s surroundings, but political changes led her to focus on the gradual dismantling of the democratic structures in her home country, Poland. Anti-EU, nationalist, xenophobic and fascist sentiments are becoming increasingly mainstream, the Catholic church’s influence on the state remains strong and women and racial and sexual minorities face growing discrimination. Sejud aimed to capture the national Catholic narrative in images that embrace a distinctly Polish aesthetic. The beautiful impression evoked by the colourful photographs is deceptive: the artist manipulates her imagery to mirror the spread of disinformation in Poland. The series reflects the struggle to identify the truth of a situation from the broad stream of conflicting opinions, conjectures and emotions disseminated through public media channels.