The 4th edition of Poznań Art. Week begins on 11 May 2020. It is the only art festival in the capital of the Greater Poland region that combines multiple events from the field of visual arts in one programme. This year, Poznań Art Week will be happening online and will last until further notice!!! One of the events of the festival will be a photography competition for “A View from the Window” for artists that currently isolate.
The Poznań Art Week Festival has always been a major celebration of visual arts. In all previous editions, a dozen of Poznań-based galleries presented works of Polish and international artists. This year’s edition, however, is particularly special. The outbreak of the pandemic prompted us to move the event online https://poznanartweek.com/ (the main platform for contact). What’s more, the theme of the 4th edition of Poznań Art Week is “Remedy” (it was selected in October 2019), which, considering recent events, has gained a new meaning.
Initially, the theme of the Festival was supposed to relate to the double meaning situated between art being a synonym for medicine, and the term ‘re-medium’ used in visual arts to describe a practice of re-using by artists previously existing objects and meanings. The outbreak of the pandemic has brought completely new interpretations for our event. “Remedy” has gained new meanings…
… First of all, people are clearly waiting for a ‘’response” of the art world to current events. Artists are believed to be ‘social barometers’ that predict some events in their work and suggest constructive solutions.
… Secondly, the theme of the Festival gained a new situational context. The very decision of moving the event online has become “a remedy” for institutional crisis that has affected culture in general. Recently, all traditional channels of distribution of culture have been shut down… says dr hab. prof. UAP Matusz Bieczyński, the curator of Poznań Art Week 2020 online.
The Festival begins on 11 May 2020. First works will be presented is selected Poznań galleries around 20 May. Due to sanitary restrictions, access to them for audience will not be possible (there will be no regular openings). Each presentation will only be open for a dozen of people. However, the audience will have a chance to see all the works online through the following website: https://poznanartweek.com/.
We are creating an interactive platform allowing a cultural exchange of ideas that will feature virtual exhibitions, individual art projects, and discussions on the condition of art and culture in the time of institutional recession caused by the virus. PAW is a form of breaking the separation and creating a sense of unity for a common cause. The themes of works by the participating artists are a form of direct and indirect response to the current situation – adds Bieczyński.
The Festival will feature three competitions: the poster competition „Remedy”, the competition for a poster about Poznań, and the photography competition “A View from the Window” for artists that were forced to isolate (more details are available at: https://poznanartweek.com/open-calls-pl/).
The first edition of Poznań Art Week was organized in June 2017 by the University of the Arts Poznan, the Rarytas Art Foundation and partner institutions – private and public art galleries based in Poznań.