Participation of Polish Artists in OFF-Biennale 2025

Participation of Polish Artists in OFF-Biennale 2025 is part of the series Photography – More Than Reality. The Art of Imaging.

OFF-Biennale 2025 will seek to reimagine the concept of security in collaboration with participating artists, professionals, and researchers, viewed through feminist and anti-fascist perspectives. The goal is to define security based on trust rather than xenophobia, on communities of tolerance, care, and solidarity rather than competition and domination, on transparency rather than secrecy, and on emancipated public discourse rather than fear of ‘the masses.’

Key questions include: Where, how, and with whom do we feel safe? What does safety mean to us on a personal and visceral level when we think of our families, our communities, our possessions, our data? What does it mean in the context of national security or international alliances? What does it mean for vulnerable communities who are poorly represented in existing power structures? And who can afford to give up certain privileges while using others wisely for the common good?

A central aim of OFF-Biennale is to provide a platform for regional artists and increase their visibility within the international art market. In this year’s edition, particular attention is given to artists from Poland, with invited participants including: Karolina Breguła, Zorka Wollny, Dominika Kowynia, and the collective Slavs and Tatars.

In addition, the curatorial team from Biennale Warszawa Foundation (_BW_Lab) is preparing an exhibition titled "Security / Borders", which will closely reflect the main theme of the 5th edition of OFF-Biennale Budapest. The show will feature works by: Oleksiy Radynski, Anna Engelhardt & Mark Cinkevich, Magda Szpecht, Border Emergency Collective, Filip Wesołowski, Karolina Grzywnowicz, Tytus Szabelski-Różniak, and Martyna Marciniak.

The exhibition will explore security as it appears in discussions around border control, territorial protection, public order, domestic policy, armed conflict and war, critical infrastructure and digital threats, energy and food production, individual protection and personal comfort—while also expanding the topic to examine the relationship between security and technological development.