Our projects:
FOTOFESTIWAL - INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Fotofestiwal was established in 2001. It was one of the first photography festivals in Central and Eastern Europe - a small, spontaneous initiative. Today, it's an international event with more than 20,000 visitors each year. The festival takes place in Lodz - a city with a remarkable industrial history, which has inspired the organizers from the beginning. Exhibitions are presented in the main festival center - the post-industrial buildings of former textile factories. We are discovering the city for ourselves and for our viewers - every year new locations are opened especially for the festival events. More than 30 exhibitions can be seen throughout the city, organized in cooperation with local galleries, museums and universities. The program includes: exhibitions (curated Main Program, Open Program, book exhibitions), author meetings, slide shows, film screenings and educational activities. We are interested in photography that tells about the world, intervenes, engages, makes you think and take action. The festival draws audiences from all over Europe every year, with 30 exhibitions and more than 50 events over the 10 days of the festival, in at least 20 locations across the city of Lodz. The festival was covered by: New York Times, The Washington Post, British Journal of Photography, Der Greif, Gazeta Wyborcza, Przekrój, Magazyn Szum and many more.
More: www.fotofestiwal.com
FUTURES PLATFORM
Futures is a European platform that brings together the international photography community, including: festivals, galleries, museums, publishers. Its goal is to support and nurture the professional development of emerging artists in the early and mid-career stages. Futures has been operating since 2017, co-financed by the European Union under the Creative Europe program. Each year it nominates 5 artists to participate in educational and networking events, and their work is promoted internationally. Fotofestiwal has been a founding member of the platform.
More: www.futures-photography.com
PHOTO-MATCH
Photo Match is a new formula for portfolio review - a two-day networking event for photographers, curators, editors and gallery owners. It consists of public presentations and individual talks. Unlike most portfolio reviews, Photo Match is based on a democratic, inclusive model and is free of charge. It also allows creators and experts to reach a wider audience. Created by the FEW and Fotofestiwal team, the Photo Match formula has also been implemented at other photography festivals, including: Hamburg Triennale (Germany), PhotoLux Festival in Lucca (Italy), Exposed Festival in Turin (Italy).
More: www.fotofestiwal.com
FORTEPAN METHOD
Fortepan is a community archive that collects photographs from before 1990. All photos are available for anyone to view and download in high resolution for free, under an open license The Foundation for Visual Education and Fotofestiwal joined Fortepan in 2023. Over the course of the project, we are collecting photograps across Poland, digitising them and incorporating them into a digital archive of 20th century photography. The project is co-financed by the EU under the Creative Europe program. If you would like to donate your images, please contact us: archiwum@fotofestiwal.com
More: www.fortepan.eu
INTERNATIONAL OPEN CALL “FAMILY CONNECTIONS”
The project is and open call and competition for professional photographers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine organised by the EU Neighbours East program in cooperation with Fotofestiwal 2022/2023.
More: https://euneighbourseast.eu/photocontest/
PHOTOPOLAND
PhotoPoland was a project promoting the latest Polish photography abroad, organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Foundation for Visual Education. It was implemented twice - in 2008 and 2016, and was created in cooperation with a group of international curators. It resulted in exhibitions in Brazil, Tel Aviv, St. Petersburg and Thessaloniki, among others. Artists who participated in the program in 2008: Mikołaj Grospierre, Przemysław Pokrycki, Konrad Pustoła, Szymon Rogiński, Joanna Zastróżna, Weronika Łodzińska and Andrzej Kramarz. The main element of the 2016 edition was a publication that presented the portfolios of Diana Lelonek, Piotr Zbierski, Lukasz Filak, Adam Lach, Wiktoria Wojciechowska and the Sputnik Photos collective.
POLISH PARADISE
Polish Paradise is an informal platform of three Polish photography festivals: Fotofestiwal in Lodz, Month of Photography in Krakow and TIFF Festival in Wroclaw. The three photography events have combined their strength, experience and abilities to jointly promote Polish photography abroad. So far, the works of Polish artists have reached events in Arles, Goteborg, Tbilisi, Hamburg, New York and Paris. Artists have taken part in festivals, fairs and discussions. There have also been publications and even specially prepared campers that have come through half of Europe to spread good energy and promote photography.
PARALLEL
Parallel is a platform that brings together museums, galleries festivals, art schools and publishers - eighteen vibrant European cultural centers from sixteen different countries, which together invite young artists and curators, organize exhibitions, and support the development of professional artists. The platform was designed by the Portuguese organization Procur.arte and was co-financed by the European Union through the Creative Europe program.
More: https://parallelplatform.org/
PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
Photographic Publication of the Year is an annual competition for the best Polish photography books. It has been organised since 2013 by Fotofestiwal in Lodz, Bookoff Bookstore and Miejsce Fotografii, and since 2019 also by Służewski Cultural Center in Warsaw. It rewards publishers and authors who take a bold and creative approach to the photobook. The competition is always accompanied by an exhibition, which is premiered during Fotofestiwal, and later at festivals and events across Europe, including the Fotobok photography book festival in Gothenburg, and Berlin as part of the exhibition State of Emergency. Polish Photo Art Today.
More: https://fotopublikacja.pl/
FOTOFESTIWAL KIDS
Fotofestiwal Kids is a year-round series of workshops for children. It was conducted in Lodz in 2017. It started with events during Fotofestiwal (playroom, guided tours, workshops). It continued in the form of long-term workshops, during which children, in cooperation with the facilitators and the oldest residents of Księży Młyn, researched the history of this most Lodz neighborhood. The activities culminated in two exhibitions that showcased photos, films and oral histories taken during the workshops. The project was co-financed by funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
