MADOA I

How I Became a Famous Art Curator in Wrocław

By Anna Biela, Ph.D.

This is a much longer story than I originally planned to tell. But in order to understand what happened—and how I somehow became one of the most recognised art curators in Wrocław—I need to give you some background.

I only realised today just how well known my name, Anna Biela, actually is in Wrocław—not just in the art world, but more broadly, because it has become connected to the vision God placed in me: the Multicultural Art and Design Open Air, aka MADOA, of which I became the visionary.

The funny thing is… I know almost no one. Yet everyone seems to know me.

And that is exactly where this story begins.

Being famous was something I had always believed was promised to me by God. But I never imagined that I would become famous as an art curator. Curating was never my goal.

In fact, it happened almost by accident.

When I was studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, I changed departments from Printmaking, with a major in Typography and Letterform Design, to an Interdisciplinary Painting Studio.

My friends immediately stressed how important it was for me to have painting exhibitions on my CV. I was already entering the third and final year of my Ph.D. studies, and I had changed departments—and suddenly found myself in a strange position: starting from zero.

I needed exhibitions.

But I didn’t have them.

For most of my artistic career at that point, I had been working as a graphic designer. I hadn’t participated in exhibitions through the Printmaking Department, nor had I built an exhibition history through design.

So I realised something:

If nobody was going to create these opportunities for me, I had to create them myself.

I had to take matters into my own hands.

And that decision changed everything.

It all started in 2012, when one of my friends from the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in going to an art camp in Munich.

I immediately lit up at the idea.

Travel.

Art.

Painting.

Adventure.

I said yes.

And what I didn’t know at the time was that this would become the beginning of a journey that would continue for years.

In fact, I almost never stopped going to art camps and residencies until 2026—the first year I didn’t go to an art camp.

But even then, I somehow ended up doing an art residency of my own:

MADOA in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine, at the Walled Off Hotel, where I painted the Separation Barrier for the second time. The first time was in 2019, when I painted Jesus on the gate. In 2026, I returned and painted the Holy Trinity, represented by the dove, the heart, and Issa.

I then had another MADOA Residency in Mirków, Wrocław , Poland where I painted The Outpouring, inspired by the Charismatic Renewal of Faith.

After that, I went to New York, where I created art at the Museum of Modern Art and took part in a group exhibition centered around the 250th anniversary of the United States, Wish Quilt.

My next Art Residency awaits in London and Bristol, and I’m excited to see what time will tell—and what God has planned for me.

And that is where this story gets really interesting.

There is so much more to tell that I realise I can’t possibly fit it all into one post.

So…

to be continued. Stay Woke⚡️