Mindful of how the opening of the exhibition of works by Noriaki in the Piotrowicz Gallery played out in 2019, with massive crowds effectively blocking the view of the works of art, I put off my visit to The Safe Behind the Painting exhibition in the Old Brewery until a few days after its opening. I didn't just want to attend the event, I wanted to see the display!
Nearly 500 documentary films from 64 countries have been submitted to the 25th edition. The jury ended up selecting 31 documentaries from 14 countries in two categories: short and feature film, among them an astounding 11 productions from Poland. Each of their makers trained their camera on the nightmares and dreams that preoccupy people in the second decade of the 21st century. The Off Cinema International Documentary Film Festival is set to kick off on 19 October in the Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre.
Blamed for the demise of painting and accused of being mechanical and thoughtless, photography has long and consistently been denied recognition as a true form of art. Ever since 1839, when it was officially invented, it has sparked controversy and heated debates in the artistic community. It seems that echoes of long decades of such disputes persist to this day, coming to the fore every time one mentions a camera while actually referring to a smartphone accessory. Let us briefly explore the history of photography, as it is the main theme of the exhibition Memoryscapes. Landscape in Polish Photography to be held in the Piekary Gallery.
It is hard to imagine today's Poznań without the grounds of the Poznań International Fair, a celebrated venue of major trade fairs, conferences, concerts and prestigious international events. Its century-long history has been inextricably linked with that of Poznań.
The twelfth edition of the LGBT film festival is here. From its modest beginnings in just one Warsaw cinema, the event has come a long way and is now touring all of Poland. Its sojourn in Poznań is planned to take place in the Pałacowe Cinema.
Since recently, the Poznań University of the Arts proudly bears the name of Magdalena Abakanowicz, an artist who revolutionised the artistic use of fabrics and became one of the world's most celebrated sculptors.
Enormous, fearsome-looking battleships alongside small, swift destroyers are placed at your fingertips, way inland and in fact in the very centre of Poznań.
On 11 September, come to the Old Brewery for some good old traditional jazz with renewed energy. The musical stars of this unique celebration of music are the bands Klaipėdos Diksilendas Memeland of Lithuania, Sunny Grove Dixie of Latvia, Medikus Jazz Band Lviv of Ukraine and the Polish groups Dixie Company and Happy Jazz Band.
The Ethno Port Festival invariably astonishes its audiences with multihued music from all over the world. All past editions have been held in June, at the start of the holiday season, when the weather was the warmest and the days the longest. This time around, our yearly dose of ethnic inspiration is delivered on the first weekend of September.
A year ago, Poznań joined the club of the cities that host the Millennium Docs Against Gravity. The local audience will finally get their chance to view the latest documentaries from around the world on large screen in what is Poland's biggest film festival. Its 18th edition will be held on 3-12 September under the slogan "The World Awakens".
Poznań's forts, bomb shelters, anti-aircraft ditches, casemates, caponiers, posterns and mine galleries will once again open to tourists.
The Mayor of Poznan invites you to take part in a unique concert organized on 4 September as part of the #NaFalach cycle. This time the stage on Lake Strzeszyński will be filled with the sounds of music of the young generation. The concert is dedicated to those who have been vaccinated - it is a form of thanking residents for their responsible attitude in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Blue Note club will kick off its new season on the last day of August with a performance by the legendary Polish jazz musician, the artist who started the club's history with a concert over 23 years ago, Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski.
Leszek Możdżer has held his festival on Lake Strzeszyńskie waterfront near Poznań for a decade now. This year's eleventh edition of the event will again provide a marvellous opportunity to experience in person the power, diversity and exceptional energy of jazz.
The Society of the Friends of the Poznań Parish Church once again invites you to the series "Old Town Organ Concerts".
A sense of surprise, anxiety and delight will grip you on entry. White, nude life-size figures bending down in despair line both sides of the arcaded courtyard of the Lubrański Academy. This is how Grzegorz Niemyjski portrays Lamentations, a Jewish prayer at the Wailing Wall.
To say that summer music festivals have been hanging in the balance is a huge understatement. Their organisers have been forced to quickly adapt to new circumstances. Some chose to postpone their events until 2022, others opted to sign exclusively Polish artists. The winners were those who, from the very get-go, based their programmes on Polish line-ups. Such was the case of Enea Edison Festival. This year's edition of this two-day event is set to kick off on 23 July in Baranowo near Poznań.
Krzysztof Zalewski, sanah, Katarzyna Nosowska, and Jazz Band Młynarski-Masecki are just some of the stars of the Summer Sounds series to be kicked off this year by Kwiat Jabłoni's performance in Old Brewery Park on the last Friday of June.
When lovely Woman stoops to Crinoline,
she ceases to be Woman, and becomes a Monster.
"Crinoline for Gentlemen". Punch, 31st October 1857, 183.
Crinoline was a truly vital part of the clothing of nineteenth-century upper-class women. Their distinctive bell-shaped dresses supported on metal cages or whalebone petticoats can easily be spotted today in numerous period paintings, early photographs and costume movies. The trend, which originated in the 1840s, ran strong until the 1860s when dresses gradually grew flatter at the front and on the sides while being more protruding in the back, decorated lavishly with successive layers of fabric.
Poland's biggest celebration of animated cinematography: the 14th International Animator Animated Film Festival in Poznań, is scheduled to take place on 9-15 July.