Polish cultural mini-festival concludes in Szeged, illustration exhibition continues at Grand Café

NewsCulture

Mar 7

A three-day cultural mini-festival showcasing contemporary Polish art and culture concluded in Szeged on Saturday with exhibitions, literary discussions, and performances held across the city.

The event series, titled “Poland’s Imagination – Pathways in Contemporary Polish Art,” ran March 5–7 and brought together artists, writers, and cultural organizers to present a wide-ranging look at contemporary Polish creativity and its connections to Hungary.

The festival opened Thursday at the Kövér Béla Puppet Theater, where the chamber hall hosted Milenneha – Papírról a színpadra (Milenneha – From Paper to the Stage), an exhibition featuring illustrations from Polish fairy tales alongside stage sets and puppets from the puppet adaptation Ha lúd, legyen kövér!.

The exhibition was opened by puppet theater director Ágnes Kiss and Ildikó Piri, deputy director of the Somogyi Library. Speaking at the opening, organizers noted that the venue was a fitting location for the display, as the Szeged puppet theater has staged several contemporary Polish children’s stories in recent years and maintains close connections with Polish children’s literature. The theater currently also performs Lóri fantáziavilágban (Lóri in Fantasia), a puppet play based on a work by Polish author Katarzyna Mazur-Lejman.

Festival programs took place at several cultural venues across Szeged, including the Somogyi Károly City and County Library, REÖK Palace, the House of Ethnic Minorities, and Grand Café. The three-day program included literary and historical discussions, visual art exhibitions, children’s activities, and a Polish dance evening.

One exhibition that remains open after the festival is Túl az erdőn, túl a hegyen (Beyond the Forest, Beyond the Mountain), currently on view at Grand Café through March 29. The exhibition presents works by eight contemporary Polish illustrators — Joanna Concejo, Agata Dudek, Grela Alexandra, Iwona Chmielewska, Marta Ignerska, Marianna Oklejak, Daria Solak, and Aleksandra Zając — featuring illustrations from children’s books and illustrated books for adults.

Curated by Flóra Peťovská, art director of the Csirimojó publishing house, the exhibition highlights the distinctive visual language of contemporary Polish illustration, moving between fairy-tale landscapes and everyday emotional worlds.

The festival was coordinated by the Somogyi Károly City and County Library with support from the Wacław Felczak Foundation, the Polish Institute, and the Polish Nationality Self-Government of Szeged.