Competition announcement

The Minister of Culture and National Heritage and Zachęta — National Gallery of Art are announcing a COMPETITION for an exhibition project for the Polish Pavilion to be presented at the 19th International Exhibition of of Architecture in Venice in 2025, whose general curator is Carlo Ratti.

The competition is open and made up of two stages. For the first stage, please submit:

• the general concept of the exhibition, stating the main theme,
• an overall visualisation of the exhibition
• an overall cost estimate of the exhibition.

The competition is geared toward all curators or teams of curators interested in taking part. The project curator or at least one person in a curator team should hold:

— a higher education,
— a good knowledge of issues in contemporary architecture, curatorial experience in organizing exhibitions,
— a knowledge of English to a degree facilitating free communication, including giving interviews, guiding curator’s tours.

In the competition procedure, the first and last name of the curator (or curator team) is concealed in both stages (I and II). The competition documentation may provide the names of the artists/architects to be presented in the exhibition. The design proposals submitted at each stage should include a sealed envelope closed with an emblem (a separate envelope for each stage), containing:

— the same emblem – submitted in both stages;
— the first and last name(s) of the curator(s) – submitted in both stages;
— address, email address and telephone number of the curator(s) – submitted in both stages;
—CV of the curator(s), with the following information: education, experience in making exhibition designs and level of proficiency in the English language – submitted only in stage II;
— a ‘Curator’s Declaration’, filled in and signed, attachment no. 2 in the Regulations, filled in by each curator – submitted in both stages;
— the ‘Artist’s Statement’, filled in and signed, attachment no. 3 in the Regulations –- submitted only in stage II

The general concepts of all the exhibitions admitted for assessment, submitted in stage I, will be made public after the competition results are announced. The general visualisations of the exhibitions submitted in stage I will only be put on show with the teams’ written consent; the overall cost estimate is not made public.

The deadline for submitting projects for stage I is 20 September 2024. By this date it must arrive at the organiser’s address, at:

Zachęta — National Gallery of Art
pl. Małachowskiego 3
00-916 Warsaw
in an envelope marked ‘Biennale Architektury 2025’

The planned date for publishing the results of stage I is: 24.09.2024.

The labiennale.art.pl web site will announce the emblems of the teams that qualify for stage II. The project designers should supply the documentation for stage II by 21.10.2024. As the applicants’ names are concealed, the organiser will not be reaching out to participants to submit these documents.

Full conditions and rules of participation in the competition are to be found in the competition regulations.

Downloads:

• competition regulations [pdf]
• floor plan of the Polish Pavilion [zip]

For more information on the competition:
Michał Kubiak
Anna Kowalska .

19th International Architecture Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia
10 May–23 November 2025
general curator: Carlo Ratti

Zachęta curates the Polish Pavilion and organises exhibitions at the Art Biennale and Architecture Biennale in Venice.

Held biannually since 1895, the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is one of the world’s most prestigious artistic events. Poland has participated since 1932. The Pavilion’s construction was financed by the Polish government and it remains its property to this day. During the six months of the exhibition, projects from all over the world are presented in national pavilions in the Giardini area, the Arsenale and also spread all over the city. In 1999, Katarzyna Kozyra’s Men’s Bathhouse, exhibited at the Polish Pavilion, won a special mention from the Biennale’s Jury.

Alternating with the Art Biennale since 1980 is the International Architecture Exhibition, presenting the most important international realisations, designs and concepts in the field. Polish presentations have been awarded by the international Jury, including a Golden Lion, the top award, for Best National Participation in 2008 for Hotel Polonia. The Afterlife of Buildings, and a special mention in 2012 for Making the walls quake as if they were dilating with the secret knowledge of great power.

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