… from the Polish Cultural Institute New York!

As we welcome the New Year, we extend our heartfelt wishes for a year filled with curiosity, creativity, and inspiration. May the months ahead offer many opportunities to connect and come together through art, literature, music, and meaningful conversation.

We look forward to sharing new programs, collaborations, and experiences with you in the year ahead, continuing our mission of building bridges through culture.

Warm wishes,
The Team of The Polish Cultural Institute New York

Highlights from Our 2025 Programming

In 2025, the Polish Cultural Institute New York presented a dynamic and multidisciplinary program spanning film, music, visual art, and literature, reflecting the depth and diversity of Polish creativity. 

Our flagship events included the annual Unsound New York, which showcased experimental, genre-defying performances from both leading and emerging international artists, pushing the boundaries of sound, music, and performance art. Critics described the festival as a “strangely psychedelic experience,” with its immersive stage designs, atmospheric smoke, and dynamic crowds capturing the adventurous spirit of contemporary experimental music. Similarly, the Jazztopad Festival brought world-class improvisers to stages across the city, from intimate venues to iconic spaces, offering audiences unforgettable encounters with jazz and contemporary music.

The Polish Chamber Orchestra, joined by the acclaimed violinist Daniel Hope, embarked on a U.S. tour, delivering performances brimming with vitality and offering masterful interpretations of both classical and contemporary repertoire. Meanwhile, the Karol Rathaus Festival revived the music of émigré composers, connecting historical works with contemporary interpretations.

The biennial BAM Kino Polska showcased the vibrancy of both contemporary and classic Polish cinema, providing a platform for established directors and emerging filmmakers to connect with new audiences. This year’s dynamic lineup explored powerful stories of resistance, identity, and transformation, ranging from historical and contemporary dramas to poetic, deeply personal documentaries. Reflecting a region shaped by upheaval, resilience, and the enduring human spirit, Kino Polska continues to offer New York audiences a fascinating glimpse into the richness and diversity of Polish cinema.

The U.S. premiere of The Employees, directed by Łukasz Twarkowski and staged at NYU Skirball, brought Olga Ravn’s dystopian sci-fi novel to life in a visually striking adaptation that offers a mix of theater, film, and installation in an exploration of what it means to be human, marking the debut of the internationally acclaimed Polish director in New York. Another standout was The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy, inspired by the work of Stanisław Lem. This inventive live performance by Sinking Ship and Theater in Quarantine combined slapstick, sci-fi, and digital sleight-of-hand, transforming a single performer and a small white box into a cosmic, time-looping adventure that thrilled audiences with its imagination and ingenuity. As the New York Times observed, “Lem’s story is a satire of the infinite human capacity for self-defeat… Philosophical cleverness is the story’s top note; beneath it you may scent the sad bouquet of solitude, even among a crowd,” perfectly capturing the performance’s blend of wit, intellect, and emotional depth.

A major attraction for the fine arts audience was the U.S. retrospective Tamara de Lempicka at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, widely praised as a long-overdue survey that perfectly captures the artist’s sharp, sensual style. The visual arts program also included The Open Group: Repeat After Me II and the Untitled exhibition. As The New Yorker noted, ‘“Repeat after me”—a phrase that’s equal parts education and exhortation to stand at a mic and make the noises yourself,” capturing the participatory and experimental spirit of the show.

Another remarkable event was a solo exhibition Disorder by Aneta Grzeszykowska, still on view in the Voloshyn Gallery, Miami. As Observer noted, the Polish artist “transforms the ordinary into meticulously staged, often dreamlike scenarios, revealing the extraordinary within the smallest gestures that seem to defy the looming specters of death and abandonment.“ Definitely worth mentioning was extraordinary installation Bloom at Wave Hill in the Bronx by Magdalena Dukiewicz, who “translates the invisible violence of environmental inequality into an atmosphere that can befelt on the skin“ (Cultbytes, review Nov 2025). The Nguyen Wahed Gallery presented the group exhibition Material Resistance featuring works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Anna Barlik, Marlena Kudlicka, and Agnieszka Kurant animated by “the belief that physical form carries its own intelligence and capacity for critique,” (The Brooklyn Rail). 

Literary programming also flourished, Mira Rosenthal received the 2025 Found in Translation Award (FiTA) for her translation of Tomasz Różycki, which also won a PEN America Award. We continued our collaboration with ALTA’s Translation Mentoring Program and supported the publication of Julian Kornhauser’s Hemorrhages & Squirrels, translated by Piotr Florczyk. Many Polish authors presented their books as part of our staple program, Polish Literature on Tour in the U.S.

We also participated in EUNIC New York’s project for the European Day of Languages, highlighting the King Władysław Jagiełło statue in Central Park, and presented Polish-Jewish programming, including conversation with Jerome Rothenberg and Dorota Czerner on translation and memory; and the Roma projects Encounters with Polish Literature and Polish Poetry Unites, featuring the work of Bronisława Wajs, known as “Papusza,” one of the most renowned Roma poets in the world.

Across all disciplines, our 2025 program offered Across disciplines, our 2025 programming delivered inventive, interdisciplinary experiences that celebrated artistic experimentation, encouraged dialogue, and showcased the depth of Polish culture. Spanning experimental music, immersive visual art, literature, and innovative theater, the year reaffirmed our mission to connect people through the arts, spark curiosity, and inspire creativity. We hope you enjoyed this year’s programs and look forward to welcoming you again next year.