AD: You mentioned that you have always had a strong interest in art, and ‘Roots of Trust’ also feels like a shift towards visual and material forms of enquiry. Is that something you would like to develop further, or was this installation more of a one-off project?
RB: I have never really seen myself as an artist. I could not write as a child. I was not very articulate, but I would think in images. Then I figured out that education was a game I could play. I went to Oxford and switched to fine art. In my 20s, I was with artists. I started out making art, and many of my closest friends are still designers and artists, now really successful in their careers, which is wonderful. So I was sort of the anomaly in the group. There is a tension there. Not like Karol, but some of the thinkers in my new book were perceived as scientists, when actually the way they were thinking was through art. They might not have said: I am a scientist. They might have said: I am an artist.
For a long time, I was comfortable with art being the process that happened behind closed doors. But now I think: do you know what? I want people to see the work. The art can be the work. So yes, hopefully I can bring more of these artefacts to exhibitions. I think it is a way in for people who are not going to read these books, or for whom these subjects might seem dry and inaccessible. It is a way to change the narrative around them.
Rachel Botsman, Zachęta – Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, 2026, photo: Kuba Celej/IAM
AD: Your recent work suggests that trust is also spatial – that it depends on where and how people meet. At a time when people feel increasingly isolated or atomised, what role can cultural spaces, such as galleries, festivals or libraries, play in creating real forms of connection?
RB: That is such a beautiful question. I am a huge believer in physical space to hold people, and in the idea that the design of physical space has so much influence on conversations, energy and interaction. That can mean obvious things like a workplace, a school classroom, a park, your own office or house, or a bank – whatever it might be. I love museums and institutions, but most of them are not designed for communal experiences. That is part of the problem, I think. They are designed for you to walk in. I read somewhere recently that the average person stands for 28 seconds in front of a piece of art. And it is made even worse now with the phone: 'I saw the Rothko, now on to the next room.'
So how do we think about these spaces becoming experiential, reflective, expansive and communal, rather than: I am going to visit, I will be done in an hour, I will post on Instagram and go home? It is something I think institutions have not solved. They have done a lot of work around digital access: you can view the collection online now, or they have a strong social media presence. But what does the relationship between culture, people, community and place really mean?
These institutions are often very privileged in the buildings they occupy and the assets they have. But those things should not take over. These places should be spaces to convene, to have conversations, and to feel things that you would not feel elsewhere. That is where I think institutions really need to work, because they have lost their role in a lot of people’s lives.