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Student Zone

Intervention Installation About the Suicidal Crisis – "Centripetal Space" at the "Man in Danger" Media Festival

Place of the event: Plac Zwycięstwa 1, 90-312 Łódź
When: 16 października 2025 (czwartek) 16:00 - 17:30
Marta Nowacka's intervention art installation, "Centripetal Space," will open at the Film Museum in Lodz on Thursday, 16 October at 4:00 p.m. This event accompanies the Man in Danger Media Festival, of which the University of Lodz is a content partner. Together, we are opening a space for conversation about one of the most difficult and most silenced social issues: the suicide crisis.
Opublikowano: 29 September 2025
A group of people at the exhibition looking into boxes hanging on the wall.

Statistics indicate that the number of people taking their own lives in Poland is twice as high as the number of road accident victims. Every day, 15 people commit suicide. This problem increasingly affects senior citizens, young people and even children – explains Marta Nowacka, the author of the installation and a suicidologist who also works on suicide prevention at the University of Lodz.

The project's theme stems from the urgent need to raise awareness about the consequences of profound emotional crises, which increasingly often lead to suicide. Alarming data confirm the need to raise public awareness of self-destructive behaviour.

The art installation "Centripetal Space" symbolically presenting selected elements of a suicidal crisis, allows us to look "inside" not only the emotional process itself, but also inside ourselves. The exhibition objects depict states such as loneliness, a vast black void, a longing for intimacy, internal wounds and shame. Crisis is also characterised by a façade smile or a hasty statement, "everything is fine," which conceals the true human drama.

The installation asks directly: "How are you? Are you actually ok?"


Abouth the author:
Marta Nowacka is a suicidologist, educator and an interdisciplinary artist who works on social issues. At the University of Lodz, she serves as the Coordinator for Preventing Discrimination and Mobbing at the University of Lodz Support and Accessibility Centre. She works on the prevention of suicidal behaviour.

Do you need help?

If you are studying at the University of Lodz and experiencing a severe mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts, you can get a free consultation and talk to a specialist at the University of Lodz Support and Accessibility Centre. Contact number: +48 690 694 351, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Call and talk. It helps! Also check out the website: Support at the University of Lodz Support and Accessibility Centre.
 

Care, Understanding, Support – UniLodz Unified

At our university, we prioritise respect, equal opportunities and safety. We build an open and supportive community, raise awareness of diversity, and teach how to respond to and support others. We want the University of Lodz to be a place where everyone feels welcome, respected, and has room to grow. Referring to these values, we are implementing a social campaign for equal treatment called “UniLodz Unified”.
We listen to the voices of our academic community. We know, from conversations, reports and feedback, that the need for professional support in difficult situations – such as discrimination, mobbing or other forms of violence – is real. We want everyone experiencing or who has experienced violence to feel they are not alone and can benefit from professional, safe and confidential help. That's why we are launching a specialist counselling service – details can be found on the "UniLodz – a Discrimination-Free Zone" website.

Place of the event: Plac Zwycięstwa 1, 90-312 Łódź
Date and time of the event: 16 października 2025 (czwartek) 16:00 - 17:30

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