The Mafia Wakes Up, 2026

Antonina Bormova  

In this work, the artist considers play as a space in which familiar patterns of behavior temporarily lose their authority. Once the demands of everyday life are left outside the evening, there is room to relax and, at the same time, to allow oneself a little more — to change one's tone, character, or way of interacting with others.

Around the gaming table, this freedom easily turns into a small theater. One social mask can be removed and another tried on, allowing persuasion, cunning, theatricality, or flirtation to come into play. Qualities that may have little room in everyday life suddenly become part of the experience. Masks, cards, and evening light heighten this sense of voluntary transformation.

What becomes particularly intriguing is the possibility of briefly expanding the boundaries of self-expression — stepping outside familiar patterns of behavior to become more mysterious, daring, deceptive, or persuasive. To try on a role we may not always dare to inhabit in everyday life, and discover just how naturally it might fit.

And when the city falls asleep, it is not only the mafia that wakes up. So do the characters who rarely get the leading role in everyday life.