NCU News
Upcoming events
Exhibition ‘Zmysł/Onubhob/Senses’
The Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University invites you to the exhibition ‘Zmysł/Onubhob/Senses’ by Satabdi Hati. The opening will take place on 14 January 2026 at 5 p.m. at the Dworzec Zachodni ACKiS Od Nowa Gallery (Gagarina 37a Street in Toruń).
‘Zmysł/Onubhob/Senses’ combines works created as a result of the artist's many years of travelling through different countries, cultures and emotional landscapes. Handmade Nepalese Lokta paper, charcoal, hemp fibre, ink, coffee, dry leaves and tea stains create an organic language of forms, balancing between the real and the imagined. In her latest works, the artist also uses inks prepared by hand from avocado skins, beetroots and oak acorns, deepening her relationship with matter and the natural world.
An important element of the exhibition is language, present in many versions: Bengali, Polish, English, Hindi, Sanskrit and French. It becomes a landscape of transition, in which words such as ‘home,’ ‘unknown’, and ‘life’ form a poetic map of experiences of migration, rootedness and transformation.
This series was strongly influenced by the quiet, grey mornings of the Polish winter, slowing down the creative process and directing it towards intuition. Here, paper becomes a space for reflection, confirming Anne Frank's words that ‘paper has more patience than people’.
The exhibition is part of the artist's doctoral research on the use of natural materials in contemporary art. It is an invitation to pause and reconnect with nature and with the inner, silent landscapes that each of us carries within ourselves.
The exhibition will run until 18 March 2026. The curator of the exhibition is Dr Katarzyna Łyszkowska, professor at the Department of Drawing at Nicolaus Copernicus University.
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Retrospective exhibition of Stefan Knapp
The Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, in cooperation with the Centre for Contemporary Art in Toruń, invites you to an exhibition entitled "Stefan Knapp - Alchemist and Visionary". The opening will take place on February 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Centre for Contemporary Art (13 Wały gen. Sikorskiego St.). Admission is free.
Stefan Knapp, a world-renowned artist from Biłgoraj (Poland), donated a unique panel to the university in 1973, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus' birth, which became a symbol of the Toruń campus. The installation on the wall of the NCU Auditorium consists of an enamelled sculptural composition symbolising the arrangement of celestial bodies with an integrated image of the Toruń astronomer and a sundial. It is one of Knapp's two largest and most important works in Poland.
The exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art is the culmination of the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, which took place in 2025. The exhibition will feature over 110 works by the artist (spanning several decades), including paintings on canvas, ink on paper, enamels on steel plates, and bronze and aluminium sculptures.
It will be the largest exhibition of Stefan Knapp's work in Poland since 1974, featuring works on loan from the British Stefan Knapp Estate Foundation and Paweł Sokołowski's collection. The exhibition will be accompanied by the first monographic academic publication on Stefan Knapp, focusing on the Polish publishing market, and the fifth edition of his autobiography, entitled "Kwadratowe słońce" ("Square Sun").
The exhibition will be open from February 21 to May 31, 2026.
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Social engagement: YUFE training for students
On February 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., a training session from the “Civic Engagement Activities Intro Training Session for Students” series will be held for students of YUFE partner universities. The meeting will take place online in English. Registration will remain open until February 25.
This online training session will introduce you to the ideas behind the YUFE Civic Star and the rules for applying to it: why universities and YUFE are interested in community engagement; how to recognise and make visible the different competencies gained by attending civic engagement activities; principles & practicalities of obtaining the Civic Star, etc.
The training is for students who have already decided to obtain a YUFE Civic Star by attending either the YUFE Help Desks or the Community Volunteering Programme, or those just considering the opportunity.
To obtain the YUFE Civic Star, a commitment of at least 50 hours of work is required, including:
- participation in a training session,
- completion of a selected form of activity (Help Desk or volunteering),
- completion of two YUFE surveys available in the user panel on the Virtual Campus.
The event is open to students who know English at B2 level or higher. The training will be led by Prof. Bojana Ćulum Ilić from the University of Rijeka. The event link will be available after registration.
Contact: civic-yufe@umk.pl
University-Community Engagement for Staff: What’s in it for me?
YUFE invites university employees to an hour-long online training session entitled “University-Community Engagement for Staff: What’s in it for me?”, which will take place online on March 6. Registration is required.
“University-Community Engagement for Staff: What’s in it for me?” is an online session for university leaders, academic teachers and administrative staff. The meeting will introduce the idea of university engagement in community life and its role in building valuable relationships between the academic world and society. Whether you're just starting or looking to expand your efforts, this event provides tools and inspiration to help integrate engagement into your everyday academic or professional practice. During the training, participants will learn, among other things:
- the role of universities in solving social problems;
- ways to integrate community engagement with academic and institutional activities;
- methods of inspiring students through real social impact;
- tips on how to lead or support initiatives for a more inclusive and sustainable university.
The training is intended for both those just starting their adventure in community activities and those looking to improve their approach. The meeting will be led by Prof. Bojana Ćulum Ilić, PhD, from the University of Rijeka. After the training, participants will receive a certificate of participation.
The meeting will take place on March 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (CET). Registration is open until March 4.