Pohl Kostian "Acheiropoietos"

projects

Acheiropoieta refers to a painting created by a ‘non-human’ hand.

Showcasing the graduates of the Sputnik Photos Mentoring Programme 2023/2024. More photos are on display at the exhibition in

Warsaw, which opened on 26 April 2025.

This term is used for all the images of saints that came into existence in more or less unclear circumstances. Such paintings are thought to have been the work of angels, saints, or other supernatural powers. This allows them to be perceived as real depictions of the portrayed. They are also attributed with supernatural qualities and abilities. Allegedly, such images can heal, make the prayers heard, and miraculously manifest themselves in other places than their original location.

The most famous Polish acheiropoieta is the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. Every day, more and more believers make pilgrimages to this miraculous painting with requests for healing, prosperity, or simply a better life in their hearts.

With the same intentions, hundreds of refugees are struggling through the forests at the Polish-Belarusian border. What they experience on their way also deserves to be called non-human.

In my project, I focus on the ‘robes’ that adorn the painting of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. These richly decorated coverings are made of the most precious metals and stones, adding even more opulence and value to the already greatly worshipped painting. It surprises me how much attention we pay to objects and how little to our fellow human beings.

The series of robes was created from materials commonly used by refugees at the Polish-Belarusian border. Thus, I reached for space blankets that provide relative thermal ‘comfort,’ bandages, and plastic sheets that can offer shelter from rain or snow.

I deliberately leave the spaces in my robes empty to pose an open question about the presence of God in the forest along the border.