The event is devoted to promoting contemporary Polish photography. The Main Programme offers three different exhibitions with three different angles on Polish photography. The events are held at BWA Wroclaw galleries and at the Wroclaw Contemporary Museum. They were designed in collaboration with curators who have an in-depth knowledge of contemporary Polish photography and are active in promoting young artists.
In his "The Exquisite Corpse of Polish Photography", Adam Mazur draws on Jerzy Lewczyński's "The Anthology of Polish Photography". Far from challenging the book, the curator offers a supplement, as it were, composed of the works selected by the artists featuring in the anthology. Mazur encourages the viewer to join in a surrealistic game based on the Dada "cadavre exquis". Each of the photographers involved in the project chose one artist to send their self-portrait to, and the latter was supposed to respond with a work to be sent to another artist. Several sequences of photographs were created as a result, and each of the narratives is now presented in a bright frame of the curator's design at the BWA Awangarda Gallery.
In her "Roots &Fruits" held at the Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, Anna Kazimierczak is presenting a selection of latest and best works from both students and alumni at the Chair of Photography, Lodz Film School. Jakub Śwircz is in turn inviting you to visit the BWA SiC! Gallery to enjoy an exhibition called "Crisis is Just a Beginning". The event takes a whimsical stance on the concept of crisis and features a number of artists who deal with a variety of the media and go beyond the boundaries of traditional photography.
A separate presentation called "Maps" was prepared by Franciszek Ammer to showcase contemporary photo books which sometimes exist in one copy only and offer unique photographic narratives. Some of these books are by foreign artists whose focus is on Poland.
Additionally, the festival features four selected projects to promote new artists. A series of associated events is also included in the programme, e.g. "meet the author" sessions at the Nowe Horyzonty Cinema, curator-guided tours and workshops as well as parties held at Szklarnia, which is the main festival's venue. The BWA Dizajn Gallery also holds breakfast with books to discuss photo books, the idea of self-publishing and new concepts for photo book development. The festival is held in collaboration with the ECC Wroclaw 2016.
