A Week of Contemporary Polish Art in Berlin – Music, Exhibitions, Debates, and More

Polish Art Week / 6^th Avant Art Festival Berlin is an interdisciplinary cultural event held in Berlin from June 16 to 23, 2025. As part of the cultural programme supporting Poland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the festival seeks to highlight the latest developments in Polish contemporary and avant-garde art. Over the course of seven days and across multiple venues throughout the city, the programme will feature concerts, exhibitions, audiovisual installations, talks, debates, and performance art — offering a platform for both established and emerging artists from Poland and beyond to engage audiences and foster critical reflection on culture’s role in a rapidly evolving Europe. The Polish Art Week / 6^th Avant Art Festival Berlin serves as a dynamic platform for fostering lasting connections between Polish and Berlin based artists and institutions, while actively promoting Poland’s engagement in the broader European cultural dialogue.

Music programme

With nearly 40 concerts, the programme offers a rich and diverse snapshot of contemporary Polish music.

• Jazz performances by artists such as Marek Pospieszalski, Michał Barański, Qba Janicki
  and Jerzy Mączyński
• Experimental and avant-garde projects, including A.S. Collective, Rozwód and T’ien Lai.
• Premieres of new Polish German collaborative works
• Bold, contemporary reinterpretations of Polish folk traditions by artists such as Gary Gwadera, Non-Adaptive Dance Music and Sam Kowalski.

Visual Arts & Exhibitions

The programme of visual arts events includes four major exhibitions:

• Our Touch is the Touch of Feminists: From the exhibition series:Was nehmen wir mit? Curated by Marta Smolińska, this exhibition presents works by Ewa Partum and Mehtap Baydu. It explores themes of memory, heritage and the future, and is presented in collaboration with the Polish Institute in Berlin.
• ELIXIR: a joint exhibition by Natalia Janula and Wojciech Skiba, curated by Natalia Barczyńska and Monika Łuszpak-Skiba (in collaboration with the Krupa Art Foundation).
• A group exhibition of young Polish artists titled Hardcore & Soul, curated collectively by the artists themselves in cooperation with the Avant Art Foundation.
• Presentation of Dream of Linnaeus’ Daughter (2018) video recording of Katarzyna Kozyra’s performance in Uppsala, which remains in the collection of the National Museum in Wrocław.
• Additionally, an audio-video installation titled Rhythmical Lines, featuring the work of Wacław Szpakowski, will be displayed in the windows of the Polish Institute in Berlin during the festival.

Three special events:

• POV Gallery Experience — an all-day, outdoor cultural gathering featuring music, exhibition, and talks about the role of contemporary art.
• A unique festival “afterparty” with Kunsthaus KuLe, offering a multisensory journey through sound, visuals, and taste, curated by Maja Zagórska and Joanna Chwiłkowska.

Train to Culture (Kulturzug) — a journey from Wrocław, the hometown of the Avant Art Foundation, to Berlin, accompanied by a live concert from the L.A.S. Collective.

>>> FULL PROGRAM HERE

Polish Art Week / 6th Avant Art Festival Berlin is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund.

The event takes place as part of the cultural program accompanying the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

ORGANIZER:

Avant Art Foundation

CO-ORGANIZERS:

Polish Institute in Berlin, agitPolska e.V.

MAIN PARTNER:

The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation

PARTNERS:

Municipality of Wroclaw, Krupa Art Foundation, The National Museum in Wroclaw, Ad Libitum Festival, SMartDe, Sound Expirience, Kunsthaus KuLe, Kulturprojekte (Kulturzug), Resident Advisor

and: Arkaoda, Gretchen, NADAN Gallery, Urban Spree, Panke, Morphine Raum, Silent Green, POV Berlin

MEDIA PARTNERS:

Berlin Art Link, The Berliner