Maja JANCZAR, Poland

At the table (Europe), 2025,

100 x 140 cm, Oil on canvas

The painting depicts a group of people seated around a table that is conspicuously absent. This absence is not merely a visual anomaly but a deliberate metaphor that lies at the heart of the work. Referencing the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the Polish Belarusian border — the outer edge of the European Union — the composition becomes a poignant commentary on the contradictions within the European project.
While Europe presents itself as a unified community built on shared values, the painting symbolically underscores the uneven reality of this ideal. The invisible table alludes to the promises of inclusion and solidarity that are, for many, intangible or inaccessible. In this way, the artwork challenges the viewer to reflect on the selective nature of belonging, and the boundaries — both physical and ideological — that define who is welcomed into the fold of Europe, and who is left waiting on its margins.