Visit the Castle Cultural Centre (CK Zamek) website (at ckzamek.pl) to virtually explore an astounding nine exhibitions. Featured priminently among them is Poland's cultural sensation of the year 2017: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The Polish Connection, seen in person by an audience of over 100,000.

Not unlike other events this year, the Grand Orchestra of Christmas Charity had to deal with unusual circumstances. The 29^th Finale will be saved by the Internet, streaming on social media and on the website of the Grand Orchestra of Christmas Charity, and by TVN broadcast.

A unique exhibition "Archeology and Art. Scratching Beneath the Surface" is now open to visitors at the Górka Palace venue of the Poznań Archaeological Museum.

"Despite all my scepticism, I too fell for digital photography in around 2000-2005. I can no longer imagine going back to the darkroom and the mix of noxious chemicals that comes with it", admits photographer Piotr Topperzer, whose photo exhibition "Danish Design through the Lens" will remain on view throughout December and January in the Grand Lobby of the Zamek Cultural Centre.

This October, Stary Browar in Poznań, Poland, will become home to Iris van Herpen's avant-garde couture creations. Entitled "Alchemic Couture", the solo exhibition opening at the Courtyard Art Gallery explores the designer's visionary interdisciplinary creative process in which innovation and craftsmanship interlace.

In 2006, Poznań's war-time losses were valued at PLN 10 billion. The city's residents sustained PLN 297 million in property damage. 55 percent of the building stock, including 160 valuable historic buildings, lay in ruin. How did the city ever manage to recover from such devastation after the war ended? How much did it cost to rebuild it? And who decided how to go about the restoration? An attempt to answer these and other questions has been made by Porta Posnania in its exhibition A City (Re)Constructed.

The open-air exhibition of previously unpublished photographs of Ignacy Jan Paderewski will be opened in December by the Museum of Wielkopolska Uprising of 1918-1919, a branch of the Wielkopolska Museum of Independence.

AGATA RODRÍGUEZ, founder of Rodríguez Gallery celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, interviewed by MAREK S. BOCHNIARZ

19 September 2000 was the saddest day in the history of the National Museum of Poznań. That day, the most valuable piece in its possession, the painting Beach in Pourville (La plage à Pourville) by Claude Monet, was found to have been cut out of its frame and replaced with a copy.

"With over three thousand films submitted for this year's festival, records are being broken. What makes the result even more impressive is that the production of many pictures had to be stopped due to the pandemic," says Ale Kino! spokeswoman Karolina Kulig. The festival is due to commence on 29 November.

Jan Kurek has the eye. Not everyone has it, not everyone can look and see things. He can. His eye works in perfect unison with a video camera viewfinder or a still photo camera lens. It captures the frame that the average observer would either miss or dismiss.

With exhibitions and book presentations in Poznań and over fifty galleries, libraries and cultural centres in other parts of the Wielkopolska region, the fifth edition of the Ireneusz Zjeżdżałka Wielkopolska Photography Festival, which this year follows in the footsteps of Wielkopolska's photography masters, promises to be a delight.

The Amadeus Orchestra is back in concert! On 11.10, the orchestra will inaugurate its 53^rd artistic season with its first appearance since the breakout of Covid-19, to be held in the University Auditorium in front of a live audience. Two weeks later, on October 25, the Orchestra's musicians will take to the stage again.

The long wait has paid off. After it was cancelled due to Covid-19 on its usual date in July, Poland's largest animated film event, the Animator Festival, is set to take place in early October.

One of Poznań's most exciting musical events planned for October is a concert by Łukasz Ojdana scheduled for 7pm on 4 October in the Grand Hall of the Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre. As part of the JazZamek series, this outstanding pianist will promote his highly successful solo debut album Kurpian Songs & Meditations released last spring.

The Poznań Old Jazz Festival has been held in Poznań since 2009 and is a celebration of "good ol' jazz".

The 17^th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity, Poland's biggest documentary film festival, is going to be a hybrid affair. In addition to the seven cities that are the site of its venues, of which Poznań is one (for the first time ever), selected films will also be shown online making them available all across the country.

Rescheduled from June to September, with its programme reduced almost exclusively to Polish performers, this year's Ethno Port will be different from previous editions. And yet, it promises to be truly fascinating.

The 8^th Poznań Fortress Days will be held on the last weekend of the summer holiday. Now is the time for the buffs of dark passages and shadowy places to clear their schedules and get their torches ready.

We are happy to announce that, after its postponement in June, Enter Enea Festival has been rescheduled to August. The event will feature Polish jazz musicians of the young generation, as well as stars from Scandinavia, St. Petersburg and elsewhere. Fixtures from previous editions will also be there, including concerts by the Festival's Artistic Director Leszek Możdżer appearing with guest artists.

Originally scheduled to commence on 17 March, the 12^th edition of the Short Waves Festival had been postponed due to the pandemic, not unlike many of this year's other events. Instead, in late May, viewers could get a preliminary taste of short films in Short Waves Online, which was later distinguished in the #kulturanawynos competition organised by Poznań's Department of Culture. Now, five months on, the long-awaited movie festival has finally been greenlighted.

Letnie Brzmienia (Summer Sounds) events were created for those who miss summer music festivals. Good Taste Production and Stary Browar invited top Polish musicians to perform in Poznań on the outdoor stage in Stary Browar Park.

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Malta festival has revamped its format on its 30^th anniversary to one of a "traveling festival". Scheduled to continue until the autumn, the event will visit various parts of the city, one step at a time. "It will still be the same ol' spirited Malta that reaches out to its audiences, brim-full of theatre, music and conversations, breathing life into Poznań over the last three decades", assure the organisers.

What does the future of the album cover hold in times when the physical carriers of music are being phased out? Will it survive the digital revolution? The covers are certainly in for a thrilling transformation as artists face new challenges in their effort to ensure that the visual arts continue to reach audiences alongside music. Konkurs 30/30 (the 30/30 Contest) aims to chronicle such developments and become a depositary of cover art. Poznań is honoured with its choice as the event's venue.

"The power of colour can impress even a viewer who is unfamiliar with the subject matter," noted Tomasz Łęcki, Director of the National Museum of Poznań speaking at a press conference about an exhibition of posters by Michel Quarez that opened on June 7 after a delay caused by the outbreak of Covid-19.

This year's holiday season will undoubtedly be unlike any other before it. It is predicted that the majority of Poznań residents will spend it in or near their city. Does this mean no attractions? Far from it! The Zamek Cultural Centre, the National Museum and KontenerArt are just a few of the sites that are certain to offer respite and entertainment to anyone thirsting for a holiday experience.

Drawing is the oldest language of art and the most direct record of artists' thoughts, ideas and visions.

As of 12 June, one may again visit the Museum of Wielkopolska Uprising of 1918-1919 in the Guardhouse building in Poznań's Old Market Square (Stary Rynek). The Museum opens from Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 3pm.

As of Friday, 5 June, Porta Posnania is reopening to Poznań residents and tourists. Its visitors will be able to see its main displays and more. Needless to say, all necessary safety precautions apply.  

Cultural institutions are gradually returning to normal. On 4 May, selected institutions, among them libraries and art galleries, reopened while observing proper safety precautions. For the time being, not all of the venues we used to visit to seek cultural experience will be accessible. And not all of us will dare to immediately return to those that are. To get you through this transition period, here is our final list of cultural recommendations you will be able to enjoy from the comfort and safety of your couch.