Fotofestiwal was created in 2001. It was one of the first photographic events in Poland: a small-scale, spontaneous initiative of a group of Sociology students. Today, the festival is an international event attended by more than 20,000 people every year.
The festival is held annually in Lodz – a city with an exceptional industrial history, which has always been a source of inspiration for the organizers. The exhibitions are set in post-industrial settings: the Art_Inkubator festival centre in a former cotton storage facility or the impressive OFF Piotrkowska complex located in the heart of the city. We discover Lodz for ourselves as well as for our viewers – every year new venues are opened especially for festival events. All over the city you can enjoy over
30 exhibitions, organised in cooperation with local art galleries.
Fotofestiwal has hosted exhibitions, workshops and meetings with artists such as Alex Webb, Roger Ballen, Joan Fontcuberta, Vivianne Sassen, Christina de Middel and Martin Kollar. We have developed our original Photo-Match portfolio review, which allows for even more effective creation of collaborative networks, while reducing the distance between experts and artists. This formula has already been adopted at other festivals around the world, such as PhotoLux in Italy and the Triennial of Photography Hamburg. Apart from photography exhibitions and events for experts, we are equally committed to arranging gigs and meetings with the public. We treat the festival as a meeting hub, and photography as a point of departure for vital discussions.
For us, the festival is a space for experiments and new experiences not only in the field of art exhibitions, but also in the organization of cultural events, which is why for several years now we have been organizing it as a collective of curators, promotion and finance specialists and cultural managers. There is no boss in our team – we make decisions together and share our knowledge with one another.
