Filharmonia Narodowa The National Philharmonic is responsible for cultivating and developing the tradition of Polish music, showing the richness of the world’s musical heritage and promoting contemporary music in the country and abroad. The institution achieves its goals by creating ensembles of a symphony orchestra, choir and chamber ensembles, as well as the organization of symphonic, chamber, choral and solo concerts for children and youth, and other forms of music promotion. The Philharmonic also makes phonographic, radio, TV and Internet recordings, and cooperates with art education and conducts teaching activities in the field of training young talents. Since 1995, the National Philharmonic has been organizing one of the oldest and most prestigious music competitions in the world the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition.
The activities of the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Center in Lusławice are guided by the overriding idea of inspiring the most talented young musicians to improve their skills and strive for full artistic maturity. Meetings, master classes, workshops and concerts are attended by the most talented adepts of the performing arts as well as world-class artists and educators. The institution is bustling with life, which is supported by the advantages of the campus itself (location, architecture, infrastructure, concert hall) and the diverse program offer of the institution. One of the Centre’s flagship projects is the Summer Academy of Music, an educational program aimed at students of music universities, which has been co-organized from the first edition in partnership with the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, an octet composed of musicians from the legendary Berlin Philharmonic.
Narodowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1935 in Warsaw by Grzegorz Fitelberg, who led the ensemble until the outbreak of World War II. In 1945, the orchestra was reactivated in Katowice by Witold Rowicki. In addition to archival recordings for Polish Radio, the band has over 300 albums. Many outstanding conductors and soloists have performed with the NOSPR. The orchestra regularly promotes Polish music on concert stages around the world. In its history, NOSPR has performed in 52 countries on 5 continents. In 2014, a new seat of the orchestra was opened, housing, among others, a concert hall with 1,800 seats. Thanks to his cooperation with the world’s largest labels, the NOSPR significantly contributed to the popularization of the music of Polish composers, including Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. In 2019, NOSPR was admitted to the international organization European Concert Hall Organization, which brings together 21 of the most influential cultural institutions in Europe.
Polska Orkiestra Sinfonia Iuventus im. Jerzego Semkowa Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra Jerzy Semkowa is a state artistic institution founded in 2007. The orchestra consists of the most talented graduates and students of art academies under 30 years of age. The orchestra gives young musicians the opportunity to work in a professional orchestra, learn about a wide orchestral repertoire and work with outstanding conductors and soloists. The band performs concerts and recordings in Poland and abroad, and also takes part in festivals. In 2009, the orchestra obtained the status of a member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO) and is active in concert abroad, has carried out international tours in Ukraine, China and Italy, and participated in such festivals as Festival de Musique de Strasbourg or Classic Night VEREIN OPERA.
Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne is a state cultural institution specializing in the publication of sheet music and books on Polish music, from classicism through romanticism and the 20th and 21st centuries. The publications are used by the youngest adepts of musical art, as well as renowned artists, orchestras, lecturers and numerous music lovers. PWM publications are available all over the world thanks to cooperation with numerous music distributors who introduce works by Chopin, Szymanowski, Wieniawski, Moniuszko, Bacewicz to their markets, as well as Polish educational music and works of contemporary composers. PWM represents many significant foreign publishers in Poland, incl. Schott Music, Boosey & Hawkes, Edition Peters, Baerenreiter, Breitkopf & Hartel.
National Stary Theater Helena Modrzejewska in Krakow is one of the oldest public theaters in Poland, with a tradition dating back 230 years. Over the years, the theater program has been co-created by such artists as Tadeusz Kantor, Jerzy Grotowski and Andrzej Wajda. Today, the nearly forty-title repertoire includes, among others performances by Krystian Lupa, Paweł Miśkiewicz, Jan Klata, Agnieszka Glińska, Monika Strzępka and Krzysztof Garbaczewski. For several decades, Stary Theater has been cooperating with partners in countries such as the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Russia and the United States. As part of this cooperation, joint international theater projects are created.
The subject of activity of the Polish Royal Opera was created in 2017, it is popularizing musical culture by preparing, exhibiting, promoting and popularizing opera, oratorio, symphonic and chamber music, with particular emphasis on the music of Polish composers, especially the repertoire of old masters, as well as restoring forgotten works of Polish music to musical life. In September 2018, the Capella Regia Polona ensemble was established, consisting of young and talented instrumentalists specializing in early music performance, playing on period instruments or their copies. The musicians work with both the best Polish and foreign bands. The Polish Royal Opera is also a place conducive to the development of talents of graduates of Polish music academies.
The Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera is a state cultural institution of particular importance for Polish national culture and the heir to the greatest theater traditions of the Republic of Poland. The Grand Theater – National Opera runs a wide range of activities related not only to with creating and staging opera and ballet performances, as well as publishing, exhibition and educational performances. It is an institution “established to cultivate and enrich historical cultural traditions with its activities, and to promote contemporary Polish musical creativity and ballet as well as the dissemination of the most valuable pieces of the Polish repertoire and the world ”. This mission is carried out consistently, through the appropriate shaping of the repertoire, supporting the development of young talents at the Opera Academy and promoting Polish music and ballet literature, including by providing online performances, co-productions and audio and video publications. Drawing on its rich tradition, it performs a particularly important culture-forming function, having a wide artistic offer, attractive to guests from the country and abroad. The recent high-profile projects of the institution include, among others presentation of Karol Szymanowski’s opera “King Roger” at the Kungliga Operan in Stockholm (2019) and at the Prague National Divadlo (2020).
The National Theater is the fourth oldest stage nationality of Europe. The theater was founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Almost seventy-strong actors perform on three stages. The repertoire includes over thirty performances of Polish and world drama. The National Theater is a meeting place for various aesthetics and generations. In the annual rankings of critics, it is often indicated as the best Polish scene. The theater performed many times abroad, maintained a constant artistic exchange with the Alexander Theater in St. Petersburg, organized the international Meeting of National Theaters and the Symposium of National Theaters. Many famous foreign directors, such as Konstantin Bogomołow, Jacques Lassalle, Eimuntas Nekrosius and Ivan Vyrypaev, also collaborated with the Theater.
The Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art is a place where art is created and presented, which is treated as a tool for researching the contemporary world. It is a space for a creative experiment. The CCA’s transdisciplinary program stimulates creation at the intersection of visual arts, performative arts, film, music, literature and the humanities. The institution cooperates on a permanent basis with foreign contemporary art institutions and an extensive program of artistic residencies. Every year, the Center invites selected artists from abroad for residencies and to participate in long-term projects, and also organizes open recruitment for Polish artists for residencies abroad. The Center for Contemporary Art also organizes stays for other art practitioners, e.g. researchers and curators, organizing stays in cooperation with international organizations such as Akademie Schloss Solitude (Germany), Points Center for Contemporary Art (China), Kyoto Art Center (Japan). The publications of the Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art are available outside Poland thanks to contracts signed with foreign distributors such as Motto and Walther König. They were presented at the international art book fair Bon Art Book Fair in Keresht near Teheran (Iran, 2018) and Miss Read in Berlin (Germany, 2019).
The main mission of the Center of Polish Sculpture is the organization of sculptural exhibitions, the collection and development of a collection of contemporary sculpture, and supervision of the permanent historical exhibition at the Józef Brandt Palace. Each year, more than 200 Polish and foreign artists take advantage of various residence options. The center has a space with architectural and landscape values. It consists of the Museum of Contemporary Sculpture and galleries located in the area of the landscape park. The center conducts various forms of educational activities, including for people with disabilities. The institution also deals with documentation in the form of a scientific catalog, as well as in an electronic version, of the activities of Polish artists working in the country and abroad. One of the most important exhibitions of recent years was the presentation of Henry Moore’s works organized in cooperation with the Henry Moore Foundation from Perry Green in Great Britain. The exhibition of the outstanding artist’s works was accompanied by examples of works by Polish sculptors of the 20th century, who were inspired by his art. In 2020, CRP in Orońsko organized an exhibition entitled “You don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house ”, in cooperation with the Kunsthaus Wiesbaden, presenting Polish works and German artists.
The MANGGHA Museum of Japanese Art and Technology combines the basic functions of a museum with the broad activity of a living cultural center, promoting knowledge about Japan and the Far East. In a modern, friendly building, designed by the eminent Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, there is a museum of a new type, using new methods and forms of operation. Using its extensive experience and contacts, the Museum takes up topics related primarily to art, but also to music, theater, film, literature, philosophy, religion of Japan and the Far East. So far, over 100 exhibitions have been presented, including traditional Japanese art, contemporary graphics, painting, installations, and the latest Japanese technologies.
The Cartoon Film Studio in Bielsko-Biała is the oldest existing Polish animated film studio. Over 1,000 films were made in the studio, including 5 full-length films. The film “The Great Journey of Bolek and Lolek” was sold to 86 countries. SFR also focuses on film education for the youngest, building the Interactive Center for Fairy Tales and Animation. In addition to children’s films, SFR created original films for adult viewers. They brought the Studio a lot of success at national and international festivals. Many recognized artists have collaborated with the studio, including Krzysztof Penderecki, Agnieszka Osiecka, Andrzej Czeczot, Zbigniew Lengren and Eryk Lipiński.
The Documentary and Feature Film Studio was founded in 1949, initially as a documentary production center and the Polish Film Chronicle, soon becoming an important center for feature films. Famous Polish documentaries and hundreds of PKF episodes were created in the Wytwórnia, and films were made by such authors as: Andrzej Munk, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jan Łomnicki, Tadeusz Makarczyński, Ludwik Perski, Maria Kwiatkowska, Władysław Ślesicki, Kazimierz Karabasz and many others. Famous works of, among others, Andrzej Wajda, Jerzy Antczak, Krzysztof Zanussi, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jerzy Hoffman were created in the halls, laboratories and editing rooms of the Wytwórnia. In recent years, Wytwórnia has become a recognizable center of modern film education. Every year, the space of WFDiF’s original projects is filled by thousands of young participants from all over Poland, coming to the Wytwórnia for exceptional activities, tours and film workshops.
CAMERIMAGE European Film Center is a state cultural institution established at the end of 2019 by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Toruń City Hall and the Tumult Foundation, whose goal is to build a permanent seat of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival in Toruń. The Center conducts substantive activities as part of the annual co-organization of the Festival and other exhibition, cultural, educational and scientific projects in the field of Polish and world audiovisual culture. The construction of the European Film Center will fill the gap that exists in the Polish cultural infrastructure.
The Audiovisual Technology Center (formerly Wytwórnia Filmów Fabularnych in Wrocław) is a modern cultural institution. It enables comprehensive and varied realization of film productions thanks to good infrastructure and technical facilities). CeTA also organizes numerous workshops and trainings in the field of cinematography and new technologies, as well as cultural events. CeTA organizes, among others film productions also with the participation of foreign filmmakers, workshops with foreign artists and filmmakers, conferences in the field of IT and new technologies, festival of abstract films, and internships for students of foreign universities.
The mission of the Museum – The Pilecki Family House in Ostrów Mazowiecka is to document, commemorate and disseminate in Poland and around the world the knowledge about the life of Captain Witold Pilecki and his wife Maria, figures inscribed in the history of the city of Ostrów Mazowiecka. The main goal of the cultural activity of the Museum – the Pilecki Family House is to present the figure of Captain Witold Pilecki against the historical and cultural background and social as well as preserving and caring for the material and non-material heritage related to his life and activity, including the dissemination of the values and traditions of the idea of independence of the Republic that he represents.
The purpose of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum is to present the tragic events that took place during the German occupation of Poland during World War II and to honor the memory of those who lived and suffered in the ghetto at that time. The museum was established in 2018, and the building of the former Bersohn and Bauman Children’s Hospital at ul. Sienna 60, located in the former Warsaw ghetto. The Warsaw ghetto was the largest in the entire German-occupied Europe. In April 1941, over 400,000 people were crowded into it on an area of approximately 3 km². Thanks to its location, the Museum becomes a hallmark of former Jewish Warsaw, next to preserved places such as the synagogue. Nożyków, the Jewish Historical Institute or the Jewish cemetery at ul. Okopowa.
Museum “MEMORY AND IDENTITY” st. John Paul II, created in 2018, presents the history of Poland from the Christian origins of its statehood to the present day, avoiding simple chronological patterns. The history of the country on the Vistula River is presented from many perspectives, creating the possibility of a diversified reception, but the dominant thing is to fulfill the message of St. John Paul II, who believed that historical events should be understood through the prism of age-old philosophical and theological truths. Museum “Memory and Identity” for them. st. John Paul II’s task is to promote the history of Poland, Polish heritage, and cultivate the ideas of freedom and solidarity both in the national and international space.
The aim of the existence of the Institute of Literature, established in 2019, is to implement the state’s cultural policy in the field of Polish contemporary literature. The area of the Institute’s activity also includes other arts that have various connections with literature, as well as the study of literature and literary education. The team of IL employees and associates consists not only of people working around literature, but also of authors of literature. In order to fulfill its mission, IL runs, as one of its programs, publishing activities such as the quarterly “New Inscription. Lyric, epic, drama “. IL’s permanent publishing series is also “The Library of Pana Cogito”, which includes scientific monographs on modern literature by the most prominent Polish and foreign researchers. In addition, IL publishes literary books on literature and supports the publications of other entities as part of its programs.
Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy is a Polish publishing house founded in 1946 in Warsaw. The State Publishing Institute publishes the most important works of Polish and world literature, including prose, poetry, essays and critical works, as well as conducts propagation, translation and scientific activities. Apart from the beautiful literature, which is the main area of PIW’s activity, the broadly understood humanities are characteristic of the publishing house, hence essays and history occupy an important place in the publishing profile. The most famous series – published to this day – are: Pedigrees of Civilization (so-called cerama), Library Contemporary Thought (commonly known as Plus Minus Infinity) or Biographies of Famous People. The selection of the most important world titles from Sophocles, Corneille, Racine, Bulgakov, Melville, Shakespeare, Molière, Tolstoy, Goethe, Byron and Dickinson to Hemingway, Remarque, Camus, Romain Roland, Stendhal, Zweig is also impressive. , Orwell, Kundera, Hrabal, Hesse, Shaw, Márquez, Singer, Eco and many others.
Northern Institute Wojciech Kętrzyński in Olsztyn is a state cultural institution established in 2018 from the transformation of Centrum Badań Naukowych im. Wojciech Kętrzyński. The Northern Institute continues the heritage and tradition of the Center in the field of research and dissemination of knowledge about history and the heritage of the lands of ancient Prussia, in particular the area of north-eastern Poland. The Institute collects, stores and takes care of the scientific collections concerning the history and heritage of Warmia and Mazury. It conducts documentary, information and publishing activities in the form of scientific and popular science books and magazines. It conducts research on the region’s past and heritage in cooperation with domestic and foreign institutions, and implements scholarship programs and subsidies.
The scope of activities of the Silesian Institute includes the implementation of the policy of remembrance in the area of Silesia within its historical borders, creating scientific foundations for the development of knowledge about the history and cultural heritage of Silesia, with particular emphasis on the history and cultural heritage of the Polish population living in this region. The Silesian Institute carries out its mission by documenting Silesian affairs, especially the current situation in Silesia and the historical ties between the Silesian lands and other Polish lands. Planning, organizing and conducting research on Silesia with particular emphasis on economic, social, population, land science, historical and cultural issues. The Institute also publishes scientific and popular science works on Silesia. The institution conducts information campaigns about Silesia for foreigners through the press, radio and various publications.
National Thought Heritage Institute Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski was established in 2020. The scope of the Institute’s activities includes: implementation of the policy of remembrance in the field of history and Polish heritage, including the achievements of Polish socio-political thought, with particular emphasis on national, Catholic-social and conservative thought, conducting research on the history and heritage of Poland, creating scientific foundations for the development of knowledge about the history and heritage of Poland. The Institute pursues its goals, among others by conducting publishing, documentation, information and promotion activities as well as related activities with digitization, digitization and sharing of materials related to the subject of the Institute’s activities.
The mission of the Solidarity Heritage Institute is to popularize the phenomenon and importance of Solidarity as well as to research and protect its history and authentic heritage. The institution’s objectives include, inter alia, commemorating and promoting in the country and abroad the historical heritage of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity”, the social movement and the anti-communist democratic opposition in Poland, with particular emphasis on the Polish civic uprising in August 1980. The Institute conducts research on the history of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union ” Solidarność ”, and also initiates cultural, social and scientific projects to the tradition of the Solidarity movement. The aim of the institution is also to disseminate the Polish contribution to the overthrow of the communist system in the international consciousness.
The Institute of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity deals with researching, documenting and disseminating knowledge about modern history, in particular the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes of the 20th century, the reasons for their creation, their history and consequences, the fate of the victims of wars and conquests, forced migrations, crimes and repressions racist, nationalist and ideologically motivated, as well as resistance to totalitarian regimes and the struggle of European societies against them. IESPS initiates cooperation between institutions and persons dealing with the history of Europe in the twentieth century, as well as acquires, analyzes, documents and disseminates historical knowledge. IESPS achieves its goals by organizing conferences, workshops, study visits and exhibitions, as well as conducting publishing activities. The members of the Network – European Network Remembrance and Solidarity are: Poland, Germany, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. One of the Institute’s international projects is the open-air exhibition After the Great War. New Europe 1918 1923 aimed at showing the shaping of a new order after the First World War.
The Center for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding is to initiate and support the activities undertaken in the Republic of Poland and the Russian Federation for dialogue and understanding in Polish-Russian relations. The Center carries out its mission through, among others: scientific research, publishing and educational activities, youth and student exchange, public debates, as well as conferences and lectures on Polish-Russian relations, history and culture of both countries. The countries of the former Soviet Union and the European Union are involved in the institutions’ projects and its partners. In cooperation with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it organizes annually conferences in Washington aimed at analyzing Polish-Russian relations and their consequences for the Euro-Atlantic region. The Center is the publisher of the Internet www.novayapolsha.pl, which aims to talk in Russian about Polish culture, art, society and economy.
The Center for Social Archives is a cultural institution established in 2020 by the KARTA Center Foundation and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The scope of the Center’s activities includes supporting social initiatives for the benefit of security and disseminating text, iconographic, film, phonographic and other collections documenting historical memory and national heritage, developing a cooperation network of entities undertaking the above-mentioned activities and strengthening citizens’ involvement in activities to document history, including conducting information and popularizing activities in the country and abroad, building an information system, including creating databases, web portals and developing IT tools, conducting educational activities, including trainings, workshops and courses, running scholarship programs, exhibitions, and developing and publishing publications, including books, magazines and multimedia publications.
The office of the “Niepodległa” Program coordinates various initiatives organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining independence and rebuilding Polish statehood. The inspiration for the joint celebration are values that are particularly important to Poles: freedom, respect for human dignity and rights, and solidarity. The office carries out its tasks in accordance with the assumptions of the Multiannual Program “Niepodległa” for 2017-2022, the main goal of which is to strengthen the feeling of civic community. The program envisages activities in three areas (priorities). The first is projects that will be the responsibility of national cultural institutions, reporting to the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sports. The second priority is the responsibility of the “Niepodległa” Program Office, which is the operator of the subsidy programs: “Coalition for Independence” (supporting the organization of the event through civic initiatives) and “Niepodległa” (addressed to local government cultural institutions and non-governmental organizations). The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is responsible for the international program of the celebrations (the third priority).
The National Library is the state’s central library and one of the most important national cultural institutions. Opened in 1747, it is one of the oldest national libraries in the world. Fulfilling the tasks of the largest scientific and public library with a humanistic profile, it is also the main treasury of national literature and a register of all publications. The National Library also conducts research and training activities for other libraries in Poland. It makes its collections available on modern websites, including polona.pl – the largest digital library in Poland and one of the most modern in the world. The institution cooperates with foreign countries, incl. in the form of digitization of manuscripts and photographs of the entire collection of the “Kultura” Literary Institute in Maisons-Laffitte, entered on the UNESCO Memory of the World List. The National Library also provides comprehensive assistance in the development and protection of émigré collections at the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg and the Historical Prints Department of the State Library in Berlin.
The palace in Radziejowice, built in the Classicist style since 1965, serves as a creative work center for culture creators. The palace also houses museum rooms and a gallery of temporary exhibitions. The House of Creative Work in Radziejowice is the patron of the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport over the artistic circles and cultural activists. The institution fulfills its mission by creating conditions for creative, artistic and scientific work in the institution and educational, also by organizing concerts, theatrical performances, art exhibitions and other artistic events in various fields of culture. The institution also deals with the development of non-academic education of young artists, the promotion of their creativity and publishing activities.
The Academic Design Center is a structure which brings together the faculties of 8 public art academies having the department of design. ADC is organized under Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Art in Łódź. The main goal of ADC’s activity is to create constant relations between business and science through the implementation of joint research and development and design works. At the same time, ADC aims also to promote Polish design schools, create Polish design and promote Polish industry. We are convinced that ADC will become a platform combining scientific and educational potential, which will contribute to increasing the competitiveness and attractiveness of studies in the field of design at Polish art academies.
PPNT Gdynia | Design Centre supports the development and promotion of creative sectors in the City of Gdynia, Pomerania region and the Baltic Sea area. Created as part of Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia in 2011 and founded by the City of Gdynia.
For seventy five years now, the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk has been educating young artists who participate in the most important events in the field of culture, art and design in the region, country and abroad. Experienced and award-winning lecturers will reveal to you the wealth of artistic techniques, media and the latest design methods. Spacious and well-equipped studios will allow you to realize your wildest visions. During the plein-airs you will meet new interesting people from other academies and you will have the opportunity to work on unusual projects. You will be able to share all your knowledge and skills with students from other countries during foreign scholarships under Erasmus+ programme.