The Poznań Art Fair was the largest exhibition of Polish contemporary art in recent years. The event, under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Culture, was co-organized by the Kulczyk Foundation, Vox Artis and the Foundation of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań. The most important part of the fair was the exhibition of 70 artists and 20 private galleries invited from all over the country.

The intention of the event’s organizers was to present and promote the latest Polish art and to create a market for contemporary art. We wanted to make the audience aware that the real art market is an open activity, based on clear principles. Most of the presented works could be bought. On an area of more than five thousand square meters were presented works of significant creative personalities and a variety of trends and directions: works by painters, photographers, sculptors, installers, performers. The group included, among others: Mirosław Bałka, Zbigniew Libera, Jan Berdyszak, Paweł Althamer, Leszek Knaflewski, Piotr C. Kowalski, Natalia LL, Laura Pawela, Jarosław Modzelewski. The only criterion for selection was the artistic quality of the works.

Most of the presented artists came to the Fair in person. The public had the opportunity to meet them, talk to them and buy works directly from them. This provided an opportunity to establish contacts between artists and buyers and collectors of contemporary art.

The Poznań fair was guided by the idea that art is not only for the artist and the critic, and that its evaluation and price belong to and depend primarily on the viewer. The fair was meant to prove that the works of Polish artists can and are worth having at home. The shape, size and location of the exhibition were organized by the slogans:

“Art can be bought”.
“Let it shock, annoy, delight”.
“Let us watch, judge, buy”.

The exhibition was accompanied by symposia and discussions on the state of Polish contemporary art and the current situation of the art market in our country. Among the galleries presenting at the fair were: Starmach Gallery, Galeria Zderzak from Krakow, Galeria “ego” from Poznan, STS Gallery from Sopot, Program Gallery from Warsaw, Galeria M Odwach and Galeria Na Solnym from Wroclaw.

It can be considered a success of the art fair that it succeeded in gathering the most interesting Polish artists and galleries in one place and time. The spaces of the Old Brewery were visited by about 40,000 spectators. Almost half of the works from the main exhibition were sold. The event’s greatest achievement, however, was to awaken the interest in recent art among a very wide audience.