In 2024, at the initiative of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a rich cultural programme was organised on the Korean Peninsula to commemorate the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Republic of Korea. From August 2024 to January 2025, a diverse group of Polish artists representing classical music, jazz, folk, visual arts, film, and animation showcased their work at cultural events held across Korean cities. Thank you for participating of these unique endeavors!
Polish Music at Korean Festivals: From Jazz to Classical Music
Concerts by Polish artists were part of the programmes of Korea’s largest music festivals, including the Jeonju International Sori Festival and the Jarasum Jazz Festival. These stages showcased groups such as Małe Instrumenty, Vołosi, Piotr Damasiewicz – Into the Roots with Highlanders, Kinga Głyk and her band, the Błoto band, and Immortal Onion. The highlight of the Jarasum Jazz Festival was a solo concert by Leszek Możdżer, who performed before an audience of over eight thousand people.
Jarasum Jazz Festival, photo by Przemysław Krompiec
During the opening concert of the Seoul International Music Festival, as well as numerous performances by the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center and the World Orchestra Series Festival, works by Poland’s most outstanding composers were performed. These included Karol Szymanowski, Wojciech Kilar, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Witold Lutosławski, and Krzysztof Penderecki.
Polish Visual Arts in Seoul and Gwangju: Reviews, Biennials, and Exhibitions
In 2024, for the first time in Korea, a review of Polish animation and video art was organised through the initiative of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in collaboration with the prestigious National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. It showcased productions created at the intersection of two disciplines – film and visual arts – spanning from the 1930s to the present day. The screenings were enriched with curatorial introductions, workshops, and artist meetings featuring creators such as Izabela Plucińska, Hanna Margolis, and Joanna Rajkowska, all of which garnered significant audience interest. The event accompanying the review was a performance by Joanna Rajkowska inspired by her work “My Father Never Touched Me Like That”.
Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale, photo by Przemysław Krompiec
Another key element of the cultural programme was the presentation of Polish artists at the Polish Pavilion exhibition and the main exhibition of the Gwangju Biennale. The Polish Pavilion featured an exhibition titled “Katastematic Pleasures”, curated by Paweł Janicki from the WRO Art Centre in Wrocław. The project showcased works by Przemysław Jasielski, IP Studio, Alicja Klich, Maciej Markowski, and Ukrainian artist Madina Mahomedova. This exhibition has been digitised and is available online. Furthermore, through the collaboration between the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Gwangju Biennale, Agata Ingarden’s installation “Dream House” was presented as part of the widely popular main exhibition.
The Work and Activity of Women Artists in Poland Presented in Korea
A key theme in this year’s cultural programme was the work and activity of women artists in Poland. A large audience attended, among other events, a meeting with Hanna Margolis on the creative involvement of women in the production of animated films in the Polish People’s Republic, animation workshops and discussions with Izabela Plucińska, performances by Joanna Rajkowska, and screen printing workshops with Alicja Klich at the Polish Pavilion during the Gwangju Biennale. As part of the sixth edition of the Polish Film Festival, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Seoul, audiences were given the unique opportunity to view works by Agnieszka Holland and other prominent Polish directors, such as Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Małgorzata Szumowska, and Jagoda Szelc. The latter also had the chance to engage with the Korean audience during film screenings and discussions.
Polish animation and video art programme at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, photo by MMCA
The last screening of the Polish Animation and Video Art Review, “Art of the Moving Image: Polish Animation and Film Avant-Garde”, concluded the AMI cultural programme in the Republic of Korea. To sum up, a lot has happened:
- Jeonju International Sori Festival (14-18 August 2024),
- Gwangju Biennale (7 September – 1 December 2024),
- Polish Film Festival in Seoul (25 September – 6 October 2024),
- Seoul International Music Festival (18 October 2024),
- Jarasum Jazz Festival (18-20 October 2024),
- Sinfonia Varsovia tour across Korea (26-27 November 2024),
- The overview of Polish animation and video art at MMCA in Seoul (6 December 2024 – 11 January 2025).
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made these exceptional projects possible: all Korean partners of the AMI and the wonderful audience who embraced the events we organised with open hearts. We hope that, as a result, contemporary Polish art will have a lasting presence in Korea, and that the relationships we’ve built over these intensive months will bear fruit in the future. We already see this happening – the Institute has, for example, been invited to participate in a research project by the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) and to give a lecture to students at Hongik University in Seoul.
Polish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale - Alicja Klich’s workshop, photo by Przemysław Krompiec
감사합니다!