25th Fotofestiwal collaboration with PKO Bank Polski – Where Photography Meets Music
A collaborative audiovisual performance by Hania Rani and Sir John Akomfrah, alongside music-themed exhibitions by Helena Majewska and Adrian Chmielewski—these are the fruits of a partnership with PKO Bank Polski, the strategic partner of this year’s Fotofestiwal.
“PKO Bank Polski consistently pursues its mission to support Polish culture and is expanding its partnerships with festivals that are the absolute finest in their categories,” says Mateusz Nowak, Director of the Sponsoring Department at PKO Bank Polski. “Our collaboration with Fotofestiwal is the next step in implementing our sponsorship strategy, through which we connect the PKO Bank Polski brand with fields of culture, art, and national heritage that matter deeply to Poles. Together, we want to create projects that respond to the needs of modern audiences and become their new favorite bank.”
THESE ARE OUR COMMON PROJECTS:
On June 18, at Fuzja in Łódź, audiences will have the chance to experience works by John Akomfrah—originally shown at the British Pavilion during the 60th Venice Biennale—accompanied by music from Hania Rani, inspired by these visuals. Listening All Night To The Rain is an allegorical journey through history, touching upon themes of exclusion and injustice. The film was created using archival footage interspersed with contemporary shots. Following the performance, from June 19 to 22, the audio-visual installation will remain open to the public as a four-day exhibition.
For more information on the exhibition, please click HERE.
Running concurrently at Fuzja is Helena Majewska‘s exhibition, Better ‘Magua’ Than Pain. For years, the photographer documented the music scenes of Berlin and Warsaw. Over time, the intense nature of concert work and sensory overload prompted a turn toward silence. The exhibition records this transition from documenting crowds to contemplating emptiness and stillness in La Palma—a visual testament to a transformation from a fascination with external energy to an exploration of the internal.
“Magua—a Canarian word denoting a kind of melancholy, sadness, regret, and longing—fills the space like a fog, turning it dreamlike,” the artist emphasizes. Memory and experiences lose their contours, dissolving into formless stains of recollection. Identity becomes fluid and blurred.
The soundtrack for Majewska’s exhibition is created by the masterminds behind Pointless Geometry. Justyna Banaszczyk (FOQL) has composed a soundscape for the exhibition space, entering into a dialogue with Majewska’s photographs. Meanwhile, Dariusz Pietraszewski, aka copy corpo, will play a special DJ set using tapes and vinyl, corresponding with Banaszczyk’s composition to create an additional narrative layer for the venture. Here, music is not mere background, but an extra dimension of the exhibition itself.
For more information on the exhibition, please click HERE.
Another exhibition patroned by PKO Bank Polski is titled Eclipse / Przesilenie, hosted at Galeria Koncept, located within the bank’s 19th branch at Brama Miasta. It will feature works by Adrian Chmielewski that highlight his connection to music and underground club culture. In his practice, Chmielewski blends a documentary aesthetic with the language of commercial photography, focusing on emotions and a narrative style that—as audiences will discover during Fotofestiwal—frequently surprises us. Thanks to a collaboration with the Audioriver festival, of which PKO Bank Polski is a main partner, the exhibition’s opening night will feature a signature DJ set by Rusałka (Łukasz Warna-Wiesławski)—a DJ, promoter, music journalist, and founder of the Tańce record label.
For more information on the exhibition, please click HERE.
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cover photo: Adrian Chmielewski
