Passed down through generations, the art of violin-making is a tradition that lives on and runs strong throughout the world. A reminder of that comes with the next edition of the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Making Competition.

Even in the midst of a cold winter, there is a place you can visit for a taste of tropical jungle or hot desert. Couples date there, teachers hold biology classes, parents bewilder their children there with the sight of translucent fish and colourful parrots. The place, the Poznań Palm House, is celebrating its 110^th anniversary this April!

At the end of last year, Polski Teatr Tańca (the Polish Dance Theatre) moved into its new location at ul. Taczaka 8. Pandemic permitting, the first audience members will be invited over in April. The inauguration of the new Poznań stage - a long-awaited home for a theatre that has gone homeless for nearly half a century - is scheduled to coincide with the International Dance Day on 29 April.

It has been over a year now since the pandemic first struck us. For a big chunk of that time, museums and galleries remained shut. They were also in lockdown at the time this text was written, with slim prospects of being reopened any time soon, certainly not without some form of restrictions. It is nevertheless worth your while to keep track of the exhibitions that remain accessible and at least click to support Poznań's local exhibition organisations.

Polish 19^th-century painting is unique indeed. While the art produced during the country's occupation was thoroughly patriotic, it was also highly diverse, both in its form and in the themes taken up by the artists. As a consequence, works from the period invoke all sorts of reflection: on art, on the role of the artist and on the stances taken by individuals and society during challenging times.

As of 4 March, Plac Wolności is the site of a unique open-air exhibition prepared by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity in cooperation with an international team of historians.

New Year's Eve in Chernobyl, a tour of the Zone, a game, a novel and a film either inspired by the events of April 26, 1986 or just set in the apocalyptic Exclusion Zone. The significant thread that weaves through and gives meaning to all of the above is Chernobyl and it has been wholeheartedly received by pop culture. In the process of embracing it, did we forget what it really was?

Marta Buczkowska and Mateusz Kiszka, authors of the book of photographs A Synthesis of Discovery. A Photographic Splicing of Poznań's Histories, interviewed by Karol Szymkowiak

At the age of eight, Agnieszka Duczmal resolved to take her place behind the conductor's stand, in what heretofore has been the exclusive domain of men. She did this on impulse, galvanised by a symphonic poem by Richard Strauss she had heard at the Poznań Philharmonic. Ever since, her childhood dream has become reality. This year in January, the artist celebrated her 75^th birthday. Having spent years appearing on the world's most prominent musical stages, having recorded magnificent albums and created a one-of-a-kind orchestra, she is celebrated as one of the greats of her field.

In late February, the Archdiocesan Museum will hold the historic art exhibition About the Sacred (Wokół sacrum).