Man Met Uni invites Polish & Ukrainian artists to examine ‘Planetary Consciousness’ in new exhibition

A new exhibition showcasing contemporary Polish and Ukrainian digital art comes to Manchester Metropolitan University’s School of Digital Arts this month.

Co-organised by the School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Met, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, in partnership the 3D and Virtual Occurrences II Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Planetary Consciousness. Ecosystems of Care examines how digital tools can create new ways of both seeing the world and caring for it.

Visitors can expect immersive and imaginative works using 3D environments, AI-generated imagery, animation, reactive sound and virtual reality. The artworks imagine alternative worlds, from poetic micro-stories to vast speculative futures, inviting audiences to reflect on ecological crisis, technology and our shared planetary responsibility.

The project draws inspiration from the concept of planetary consciousness, stemming from the work of sociologist and globalisation theorist Roland Robertson. Robertson argued that the shift from a world–universe relationship already implied that a global perspective would eventually expand into a planetary one. This approach is examined in more depth by philosopher of technology Yuk Hui:

““(…) to think planetarily does not necessarily mean declaring the sovereignty of outer space, nor does it require engagement with terraforming or geoengineering, even though such themes might be expected in a book devoted to planetary thinking.

“To think planetarily, first, means thinking beyond the framework of modern nation-states, which remain trapped in destructive economic and military competition; second, it means creating a language of coexistence that enables diverse peoples and species to live together on one planet; and third, it means developing a new conceptual framework that can move us beyond territorial thinking, address the ecological crisis, and counter the accelerating entropy of the Anthropocene.”

Planetary Consciousness. Ecosystems of Care explores these ideas, with each artist taking ‘care for the planet’ as their creative starting point.

This event forms part of the UK/Poland Season 2025 organized by the British Council, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Institute of Polish Culture in London, funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Poland.

Opening times: Monday-Friday, 9am-5 pm.

Planetary Consciousness. Ecosystems of Care is open now until Tue 2 Dec, and will be displayed on the large screen in the foyer of the School of Digital Arts. You can find more information on the Man Met Uni website, here.