GALLERIES and MUSEUMS, Bielsko-Biała
Exhibitions open daily: October 10–26, 2025 (Mon.–Sun.), 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Admission to the main exhibitions is ticketed.
Admission to the accompanying exhibitions is free.
Róbert László Bácsi
Hungary
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Villa of Theodor Sixt
Mickiewicza Street 24
free entry
“The Way of Zen“
Population growth, rapid technological advancement, and global capitalism have a negative social impact. The destruction of our environment forces us to reflect on the future. Most people live in big cities, caught in an endless cycle of work and rush while longing for harmony. Meanwhile, more and more people seek a life in line with nature, minimising ecological footprint
Susi Belianska
Slovakia, Italy
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Sułkowski Castle
Wzgórze Street 16
“Das Unheimliche“
This project explores the unsettling intersection of humanity and artificiality, prompting reflection on the emotional complexities that arise when man-made creations threaten to replace living beings.
Toby Binder
Germany
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Preisnerówka
Wzgórze Street 19
“Wee Muckers – the Youth of Belfast“
Toby focuses on working-class life, developing long-term documentary projects that offer an unfiltered, authentic insight into people’s lives. Through close relationships with his subjects, he captures their reality with honesty and depth. His primary interests lie in post-war and crisis situations, as well as the everyday experiences of ordinary people.
Michael Christopher Brown
USA
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
BWA Gallery (lower hall)
3 Maja Street 11
October 23, 2025, 4:30 PM
Guided tour in Ukrainian
Guided by: Julia Ogińska, photographer and educator at BWA Gallery
“90 Miles“
For over 25 years, I kept a list of subjects I wanted document though was unable to, largely due to poor access. I was inspired to create 90 Miles in the tradition of reportage illustration, in 2023, when the general public gained the ability to collaborate with a collective history of photography (thanks to AI) in order to create photorealistic visions of what was, is or can be.
Hervé Chatel
France
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Villa of Theodor Sixt
Mickiewicza Street 24
free entry
“Somewhere in Brittany: From Land to Sea Under 1015 hPa“
In the remote corners of Brittany, where land meets sea beneath an atmospheric pressure of 1015 hPa, a mesmerising dance of contrasts and raw beauty unfolds. Winter, relentless in these Celtic lands, lays bare the region’s soul—steeped in melancholy and mystery. The icy wind howls, an invisible messenger of untamed nature, sculpting shadows and cleaving the silence.
Aristide Economopoulos
USA
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Sułkowski Castle
Wzgórze Street 16
“Coney Island:
A Living Microcosm
of New York City“
With its quirky charm and vibrant spirit, Coney Island is a microcosm of New York City. As the city has evolved over the past decade, so has this iconic urban beach resort. It has endured the devastation of a hurricane, weathered the forces of gentrification, and navigating the uncertainty of a global pandemic. Yet, through it all, Coney Island remains resilient, never losing its sense of joy, community, or rich diversity.
Markus Jokela
Finland
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
ROK- Regional Centre of Culture
1 Maja Street 8
“Nebraska, USA
1992 – 2016″
Table Rock is a small village in the middle of America with about 300 citizen. In 1992 I photographed six months old Kelly Freeman sitting on her grandmother Pat´s lap. In 2013 I photographed Kelly´s wedding. A book was published by Raw View Editions 2018.
Viktor Kolář
Czech Republic
the exhibition for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
B&B Gallery (Włókniarz House of Culture)
1 Maja Street 12
“Towards the Present, Personal Testimony“
… When I returned home to Ostrava from my emigration to Canada (1968–73), I saw the differences between Canada and Czechoslovakia more clearly. I felt ready to document the patterns of “political normalisation” and “traditional life” through a subjective documentary approach.
Damian Lemański
Poland
the exhibition for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Villa of Theodor Sixt
Mickiewicza Street 24
free entry
“Kids of Lunik IX“
“Kids of Lunik IX” is a series of portraits of children and youth living in a Roma housing estate in Slovakia. Among the several thousand of residents (c. 3,500 – 6,000, nearly 100% of whom are the Roma), over a thousand are children. They live in inhumane conditions, often in families of more than a dozen people, cramped into apartments of just over twenty square meters, surrounded by filth, insects, and rats that live in piles of garbage around the buildings. Although there are no walls surrounding the estate, which is located on the outskirts of Košice, almost no one from the outside visits the place, mainly due to fear and stereotypes about the Roma community. And while some of them may contain grains of truth, the children deserve attention, care, and support, as they are not to blame and should have equal opportunities for a fair start in life.
Tomasz Liboska
Poland
the exhibition for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Villa of Theodor Sixt
Mickiewicza Street 24
free entry
“Turn Round – Part 2”
The exhibition is a record of the past ten years, during which I have explored Upper Silesia from the seat of my bicycle. There is no strategy here, no strictly defined goal. This is exactly how I like to spend time on my bike—riding forward without forcing anything, letting the road bring what it may.
Sometimes, I circle around a factory chimney or take the same path to work that I know by heart, yet something still urges me to turn around. Often, it’s a person and their gaze. I stop and hear a story that can make my head spin or even break my heart.
Bartłomiej Machul
Poland
the author’s exhibition debut
Exhibition venue:
Square of the Polish Army
free entry – outside exhibition
“From Sky to Earth – Minimalist Discoveries“
This exhibition showcases photographs with bold colours and flawless composition, transporting us into a world where simplicity meets sophistication. Through a unique perspective, the artist unveils a new dimension of space, highlighting geometric shapes and abstract patterns that remain unseen from the ground. Each image is a harmonious dialogue between colour, light, and form, while the meticulous framing makes these works both aesthetically captivating and mesmerising.
Iren Moroz
Ukraine
the exhibition for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Villa of Theodor Sixt
Mickiewicza Street 24
free entry
“After God — Only
the Kitchen“
A philosophical sarcasm on domestic sanctity and post-apocalyptic routine.
I spent fifteen years beside them. This collection is an archive of everyday pain and quiet strength.
What you see here is not merely a photographic series — it is a visual testimony, drawn from two decades of intimate, unflinching observation of human fragility and resilience.
Ingmar Björn Nolting
Germany
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Urban Culture Institute – City of Weaves
Kościelna Street 1
“An Anthology of Changing Climate“
On a global scale, Germany‘s intentions are ambitious. The country aims to become a climate-neutral industrial nation by 2045. This places Germany among the international pioneers in the fight against the climate crisis. The path to climate neutrality is the „greatest modernisation and prosperity safeguarding project since World War II“, according to Dirk Messner, the President of the German Environment Agency. The phase-out of coal by 2038, 15 million electric cars on the roads by 2030 and a massive expansion of renewable energies were enshrined in law.
Three and a Half Decades of the Institute of Creative Photography of the Silesian University in Opava
Curators: Vladimír Birgus, Ondřej Durczak, Michał Szalast
Collaboration: Lukáš Lamla, David Macháč
Exhibition venue:
BWA Gallery (upper hall)
3 Maja Street 11
October 14, 2025, 4:00 PM
October 23, 2025, 4:30 PM
Guided tour in Ukrainian
Guided by: Julia Ogińska, photographer and educator at BWA Gallery
When the Institute of Creative Photography (ITF) began its activity in 1990 at the newly established Silesian University in Opava, in then Czechoslovakia, the only institution offering university-level photography education was FAMU in Prague. In Poland, there were still no specialized academic photography programs. Today, there are ten academic departments or studios dedicated to photography in the Czech Republic alone, with ITF being the largest. It offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees and hosts many international students, primarily from Slovakia and Poland.
Alain Schroeder
Belgium
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Sułkowski Castle
Wzgórze Street 16
“Plastic Treasure“
Recycling plastic in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is a significant environmental effort. The city faces challenges related to plastic waste due to its rapid urbanisation and population growth. Various initiatives and informal recycling networks have emerged to address the issue. Locals play a crucial role in collecting, separating, and selling plastic to recycling facilities. These individuals often work in difficult conditions, but their efforts contribute to reducing plastic pollution while generating income for their families.
Sara Sobol
Italy, Denmark
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
Urban Culture Institute – City of Weaves
Kościelna Street 1
WARNING: due to nudity, this exhibition is not suitable for children.
“Tell My Love Now“
The Project weaves together two intertwined journeys, separated by time and place, but which unfolded simultaneously within her. As Sobol grappled with her husband Jacob’s clinical depression, she came to see the photographs she had taken in Russia years earlier – during a period when people there seemed freer – as a lens through which she could process both personal and societal turmoil. Through a combination of text and images, portraits and everyday stories, the project explores both outer and inner landscapes, drawing us closer to one another and to ourselves.
Ian Weldon
England
the artist for the first time in Poland
Exhibition venue:
BWA Gallery (lower hall)
3 Maja Street 11
October 23, 2025, 4:30 PM
Guided tour in Ukrainian
Guided by: Julia Ogińska, photographer and educator at BWA Gallery
“I am Not a Wedding Photographer“
Originally a way to make money to work on ‘other’ long term documentary projects, weddings actually became the project.
Paweł Pilarczyk
AND FOUNDATION “ZRÓBMY TO”
Poland
Exhibition venues:
“Here”
Underground passage between Chrobry Square and Barlickiego Street
“Not Here”
Jan Matejko underground passage, between Mickiewicza Street and the railway station, under 3 Maja Street
free entry – outside exhibitions
“Here” and “Not Here”
Two exhibitions by Paweł Pilarczyk – “To Tu” (Here) and “To nie Tu” (Not Here) – form a cohesive photographic narrative about Bielsko-Biała as seen through the artist’s eyes.
In the first series, the author focuses on one seemingly ordinary place – a pedestrian crossing – to which he feels a deeply personal, though difficult to explain, attachment. Through a sequence of frames, he presents it in various aspects, filling the scene with silhouettes of random passers-by and weaving a surreal story about the transience of moments and the diversity of human destinies.
The second exhibition broadens this perspective, shifting attention to other, carefully chosen locations in the city. Here too, people remain an essential part of the composition, while Paweł Pilarczyk’s distinctive way of portraying them invites viewers to freely interpret their thoughts, moods, and emotions.
Deeply connected to Bielsko-Biała since childhood, the artist reveals it as a city of contrasts – both dynamic and steeped in nostalgia – encouraging reflection on what is everyday, yet at the same time extraordinary.
Kamil Kak
Poland
Exhibition venue:
Patria Shopping Centre
Wzgórze Street 19
free entry
“Svalbard Research”
“Svalbard Research” is an interdisciplinary project that examines the sociopolitical and environmental factors of the Svalbard archipelago (and specifically one of the world’s northernmost human settlements, Longyearbyen). Through a constellation of documentary filmmaking, video performance, and textile-based installation, the project explores the complexity of human activity and Arctic ecosystems, and how these shape the archipelago’s present and future. Both direct and indirect interviews with community members whose lives intersect with Svalbard in various ways form the narrative of the project as reinterpreted through video performances and material interventions. The result is a multifaceted portrait of Svalbard as both a physical territory and a layered social structure marked by tension, resilience, and adaptation.
Ziemowit Kudła
Poland
Exhibition venue:
OKO CENTER, 24 Cieszyńska Street
Tuesday–Friday: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Saturday–Sunday: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Entry is included with an OKO Center ticket.
Not included in the festival pass.
“The Magic of Birds”
Ziemowit inherited his passion for portraying beauty from his parents. His mother, Małgorzata, is a painter, sculptor, and longtime teacher of multiple generations at the State Secondary School of Fine Arts in Bielsko-Biała. His father, Zdzisław, was a painter, longtime director, screenwriter, and set designer at the Animated Film Studio in Bielsko-Biała.
The artist lived from 1974 to 2025
Foto Open
competition group exhibition
Exhibition venues:
Punkt 11 (11 Listopada Street 24)
Patria Tenement – Old Shopping Center (Wzgórze Street 19)
House of Culture “Kubiszówka” (Słowackiego Street 17)
Klubokawiarnia Aquarium (3 Maja Street 11)
free entry
Street Corner
competition group exhibition
Curator: Jakub Dobek
Exhibition venue:
Patria Tenement – Old Shopping Center
Wzgórze Street 19
free entry
