New exhibition at Watermans Arts Centre, Brentford

Katarzyna Depta-Garapich’s exhibition, Excursion, takes the theme of the bear in the Tatra Mountains and its pop culture image as represented by a white bear – a mascot that entertains tourists on the main street of Zakopane, Poland.

The Polish-born artist, who now lives and works in London, completed a doctoral project between 2017 and 2023 at the Slade School of Fine Art UCL approaching the problem of protecting nature and endangered species and the destructive impact of tourism and other human activities on nature.

As part of the project, she made a white bear costume and climbed the most difficult mountain trail in High Tatras, recreating the routes used by local brown bears. The white bear costume refers to the mascot, a person dressed as a white bear that is providing entertainment for tourists while simultaneously side-lining the real bear.

The free exhibition, which starts on 28 April and runs until 25 June, takes the form of a multichannel video installation and presentation of the artist’s book.