The Form of Taste by Malwina Konopacka - Warsaw Exhibition Turns Wedel Chocolate into Ceramics
A new temporary exhibition by Malwina Konopacka is now on view at the Chocolate Factory E. Wedel Museum in Warsaw. „The Form of Taste” (Forma smaku) turns Wedel’s iconic packaging and chocolate memories into ceramics - totems, vases, and sculptural forms that balance art and functional design.
An unexpected discovery of adulthood is how often we come back to childhood memories. In that light, chocolate - so admired, so wanted, and often forbidden by parents - becomes a very specific kind of memory. Sometimes it starts with the packaging: the sound of paper unwrapping, then the smell, the first taste, and that feeling afterwards.
For me, this exhibition is a sentimental journey back to the tastes and shapes of my childhood. I recalled the ‚Jedyna’ chocolate, which I already appreciated back then not only for its taste but also for its beautiful packaging. It was designed by Zofia Stryjeńska and refreshed by Karol Śliwka in the 1960s. Both of them, while creating applied art, never ceased to be artists.
Wedel, a Polish chocolate brand and a symbol of many Polish childhoods - known for its zebra boy logo, iconic packaging, torcik Wedlowski (wafer cake), and a history dating back to 1851 - has now created something to experience in a different way.
At the Chocolate Factory E. Wedel Museum in Praga Południe, a temporary exhibition, „The Form of Taste” (Forma smaku), is presented in collaboration with renowned Polish artist Malwina Konopacka.
Konopacka takes what’s iconic - Wedel packaging, recognisable graphics, and the emotional world behind the products - and deconstructs it into objects. She works with sgraffito (a scratching technique): building coloured layers of clay and then scratching them by hand to reveal patterns underneath.
Ceramic works by Malwina Konopacka for the exhibition „The Form of Taste” at the Chocolate Factory E. Wedel Museum in Warsaw. Photo: press material
