International Poster Biennale, Warsaw

The International Poster Biennale is a regular competition that was first launched in 1966 at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw. It was inspired by the Polish School of Posters, which was widely recognised for its uniqueness and innovation. The Polish thaw of 1956 heralded an age of significant achievements by a large number of Polish graphic designers. This exceptional explosion of talent and experimentation expanded the poster’s artistic possibilities and emancipated it as an art from. The Biennale’s objective was to strengthen the position of this field while also challenging the Polish Poster School with foreign works. It quickly developed into an important meeting point for artists from all over the Eastern Bloc. Since 1994, the Poster Biennale has been organised by the Poster Museum at Wilanów, under the auspices of the National Museum in Warsaw. Since 2017, the Biennale’s main partners are the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and the Association of Polish Graphic Designers (STGU).