Film Kujawy Pomorze: Lecture on the Polish School of Poster Art
The Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz – Modern Art Gallery invites audiences to a lecture by Dr Katarzyna Kulpińska entitled “The Best! Film Posters of Communist Poland.”
The lecture will focus on the phenomenon of Polish film posters created during the communist era, one of the most fascinating and representative genres of Polish poster art. During the period of the Polish People’s Republic, film posters became a space of exceptional artistic freedom. Relatively independent of commercial pressures and less burdened by censorship than other forms of visual communication, they allowed designers to experiment boldly with form and to create highly personal interpretations of cinematic works. As a result, Polish film posters quickly gained international recognition.
– The unusual and intriguing solutions employed by artists paradoxically stemmed from various shortages, including limited access to materials, high-quality paints and paper, as well as the lack of colour photography of sufficient quality – explain the organisers. – An analysis of the ways in which artists referred to films of different genres and from different countries will be accompanied by a reflection on the achievements of women poster designers, who, alongside their male colleagues, helped shape the landscape of poster art during several decades of communist Poland and influenced the development of Polish poster art as a whole, not only film posters. The lecture accompanies the exhibition “Re/Visions. Film Posters by Polish Women Artists, 1954–1982.”
Dr Katarzyna Kulpińska, Professor at Nicolaus Copernicus University, is an art historian affiliated with the Department of Modern and Non-European Art History at Nicolaus Copernicus University. She specialises in the history of twentieth-century Polish posters and graphic design and serves as curator of the exhibition “Re/Visions. Film Posters by Polish Women Artists, 1954–1982.”
Exhibition: Re/Visions. Film Posters by Polish Women Artists, 1954–1982
For decades, the history of Polish poster art has been told primarily through the achievements of male artists. In popular perception, they were the creators of the phenomenon known as the Polish School of Poster Art, which earned international acclaim and secured a lasting place in the canon of global graphic design.
Yet alongside these renowned masters worked dozens of talented women artists whose contributions remained largely absent from publications, exhibitions and academic studies. The exhibition Re/Visions seeks to restore the memory of the women who helped shape the history of Polish poster art in the second half of the twentieth century. Alongside works by celebrated male artists, the exhibition presents posters created by twenty-one women artists, whose biographies and professional achievements are documented in the accompanying catalogue.
The exhibition features 114 film posters created between 1954 and 1982. The works relate both to classics of Polish cinema and to international productions from Europe, Asia and the Americas. Among the artists represented are some of the most distinguished figures of the Polish School of Poster Art, as well as women whose names are only now regaining their rightful place in history.
Visitors will see works by, among others, Liliana Baczewska-Lampert, Hanna Bodnar, Ewa Frysztak, Maria Ihnatowicz, Jolanta Karczewska, Joanna Krzymuska-Stokowska and Maria Syska. By presenting their posters alongside works by male artists who were often their teachers, colleagues or husbands—including Roman Cieślewicz, Wojciech Fangor, Jan Lenica, Waldemar Świerzy and Henryk Tomaszewski—the exhibition demonstrates that women artists worked at the same artistic level and that their works are an integral part of the history of Polish poster art during the communist era.
The exhibition also commemorates the Year of Andrzej Wajda 2026 through the presentation of posters connected with his films. At the same time, it forms part of the celebrations of the Year of Film People of Kujawy and Pomorze and recalls the legacy of the distinguished actor Leonard Pietraszak, whose commemorative year is currently being observed in Bydgoszcz.
Dr Katarzyna Kulpińska’s lecture, “The Best! Film Posters of Communist Poland,” will take place on 16 June 2026 (Tuesday) at 4:30 p.m. at the Modern Art Gallery in Bydgoszcz, located at 8a Mennica Street.
Promotion Department
Paweł Jankowski
15 June 2026