Works of more than 200 artists, offered by various private and non-profit galleries, were presented at Poland’s largest show of contemporary art, ART POZNAŃ 2005. Fair edition of 2004 was visited by 40.000 people. in 2005 they could see twice as many artworks as last time. The showroom area doubled too. Contemporary Polish art was shown on two sites – at the Old Brewery and at the Old Slaughterhouse. The total area covered nearly 10.000 square meters (110.000 square feet). In the historic buildings of the Old Slaughterhouse non-profit galleries presented all the most recent Polish artwork. They did so under the slogan New Art at the Old Slaughterhouse. At the Old Brewery’s Malt House building collections from private galleries were shown.

Following the example of all major events of similar nature, ART POZNAŃ 2005 was accompanied by theme exhibitions. At Old Brewery’s Galeria building it was Love & Democracy – an exhibition of a very intimate and socio-political nature. It explored various forms of identities and mutual commitments. The exhibition was curated by Dr Paweł Leszkowicz. ART POZNAŃ 2005 was a lens that focused all the weightiest phenomena in contemporary art. It also presented major Polish artists next to those who are yet to be discovered. Artworks fitted into a wide range of categories: from purely aesthetic to reflexive to socially committed to commentarial. Hardly any genre was missing. There were paintings, graphics and other multidisciplinary artworks shown there. The vast majority of them could be bought. Diverse and rich collections of private galleries included items worth few hundred to many thousand PLN. ART POZNAŃ 2005 was a unique opportunity to gather in one place such a large group of artists, gallery owners, and representatives of institutions governing the Polish art market. The Fair was accompanied by discussions and lectures: Sztuka na cenzurowanym (Art & Criticism), Rynek sztuki w Polsce (Art Market in Poland), and Sponsoring w kulturze (Sponsorship of Culture).