The opening weekend of Fotofestiwal, the 20th edition of the International Festival of Photography held in Łódź, is now in progress. The main protagonist of the anniversary edition of the event will be the host city of Fotofestiwal, i.e., Lodz.
As the organisers emphasised in the invitation, “the Fotofestiwal program has always been a guide to world photography, but also unique places in Lodz”.
“During the jubilee, 20th edition of the International Festival of Photography, the city will not only be a place but also the protagonist of exhibitions and accompanying events,” it was noted.
“Please join us for our next tour. We will visit Lodz in the company of, among others, Witkacy, Bogdan Konopka, Józef Robakowski and the Electric Eelhorn, stopping for books and sushi,” encourage the Fotofestiwal organisers.
At the Art Incubator, industrial festival centre at 3 Tymienieckiego Street in Lodz, exhibitions from the “Łódź” program were opened. They presented achievements of contemporary Łódź artists, among others, the “Reincarnation” exhibition curated by Józef Robakowski, a famous Polish multimedia artist living in Łódź.
During Fotofestiwal you can also see four exhibitions under the “Tales from the City of Lodz” project.
“In the spaces of former cotton warehouses we will also see an exhibition presenting the horizons of Andrzej Różycki’s artistic work, interests and collecting “Between Collecting and Photosophy” – wrote the organisers. There will also be a review of world contemporary photography and an exhibition “Long Live Belarus!
During the International Festival of Photography, the group “Elektryczny Węgorz” will perform, known for such hits as “Mariusz wracaj do domu” (Mariusz go home) or “a musical proclamation for the protection of family life of squirrels”, “Do not cut down trees”.
An exhibition of over seventy photographic works by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz has been opened at the Signum Gallery in Piotrkowska Street, where you can admire his most famous self-portraits, including the famous “Multiple Self-Portrait”.
The “Errorism” exhibition by Agnieszka Kurant is on display at the Łódź Art Museum. There will be as many as eight exhibitions at the OFF Piotrkowska post-factory complex, including “Fullscreen. The Pressure of an Image” – an exhibition created by artists affiliated with the University of Łódź, Academy of Fine Arts and Film School in Łódź.
On Saturday, Fotofestiwal will include meetings with Józef Robakowski, Andrei Liankevich – curator of the “Long Live Belarus!” exhibition and the Open Program artists. At 6 p.m. in the FF Gallery at the Łódź House of Culture a retrospective exhibition of one of the most important figures in Polish photography, Bogdan Konopka, will be opened. An hour later, performer Marta Ostajewska will open her exhibition “Honey Cubes in Summer”.
On Saturday evening, the 20th birthday of Fotofestiwal will take place at the Book Art Museum in Lodz.
On Sunday, another novelty on the map of Łódź: Sushi&Books in Wólczańska Street, where the exhibition of models and photography books “On the banks of nineteen rivers” will be presented.