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
Institute of Creative Photography of the Silesian University in Opava – one of the institutes of the Faculty of Philosophy and Science of the Silesian University in Opava. The Institute of Creative Photography is the successor to the Institute of Artistic Photography established and run by the Czech Photographers’ Association in 1971-1990. The institute has been part of the Silesian University in Opava since 1990 and currently educates over 200 students from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia and Ukraine at bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level in the field of photography. Studies are conducted according to the B8204 Film, television and photography skills and new media program, similar to FAMU in Prague and PWSFTviT in Łódź, and graduates receive a Master of Arts degree.
Abroad, the institute and the work of artists associated with it are also known as the Opava School of Photography. It is considered one of the best and most important schools of contemporary photography in Europe.[1] The institute actively prepares student exhibitions at home and abroad and promotes foreign authors in the Czech Republic.
“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
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.
Although several renowned Polish artists, such as Alina Szapocznikow and Agnieszka Holland, previously studied in Prague, no Czech art school has ever had as many Polish students as the Institute in Opava. For the first time in the history of Czech art schools, three Polish lecturers are also part of the faculty at ITF.
Many ITF graduates and students have achieved success as photographers, university and secondary school lecturers, curators, art critics, and museum or gallery professionals. Some have won prestigious awards, including first prizes in the World Press Photo competition and accolades in the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. Many have published photo books and exhibited their work in renowned institutions like the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museum Folkwang in Essen. For many, ITF has also been a place where lifelong friendships were formed.
The ITF curriculum is exceptionally diverse – while it focuses on artistic photography, it also covers a wide range of disciplines, including documentary and reportage photography, portraiture, advertising, staged photography, intermedia, and conceptual art. A significant component of the program also includes theoretical studies in photography history and contemporary photographic practices. Twenty-one lecturers contribute to the teaching process, and students can choose their diploma or coursework supervisor.
The Institute regularly showcases the work of its students and graduates in various exhibitions and international festivals in cities such as Bratislava, Paris, Lille, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Vienna, Warsaw, Łódź, Budapest, Vilnius, and others.
