Since 2002 in Lodz, Foundation of Visual Education (FVE) has dealt with photographic and cultural activity. Since the very beginning, its operations have got international character and their aim is to integrate all photographic environments, to promote young artists and spread around the knowledge about visual arts.

The main venture of FVE is Fotofestiwal – International Festival of Photography (www.fotofestiwal.com) organized in Lodz since 2001, every year in May. The festival consists of variable forms of presentation of photography: exhibitions, portfolios review, auction and the other accompanying events such as workshops, lectures, meetings with authors, promotions of books, contents, screenings and confrontations of photography schools. But first and foremost all Fotofestiwal is already known for its rare atmosphere that attracts artists and audience from all over the world.



FVE is also initiator and main producer Photo Festival Union (www.festivalunion.com) – association of 28 European festivals of photography. The main aim of Union is to facilitate information exchange between its members – cooperation within the confines of exhibition program, lectures, publications, workshops and slides shows. Organizers of festivals get from the Union the chance of experience sharing and possibility of co-operation with the world-wide authorities in the domain of photography. The festivals’ organizers supports each others promotional activities in international and local media and work on joint projects and exhibitions.

Foundation also deals with publishing activity, preparing albums, photo catalogues and anthologies devoted to photography.

The Adam Mickiewicz Instituteis a government cultural institution. The Institute's activities are an element of a strategy to promote Poland internationally.

The Adam Mickiewicz Institute promote Polish culture abroad and co-operate with other countries. We present Poland's culture, past and present. We hold events promoting partner countries in Poland.

We carry out promotional projects developed and implemented by our expert staff. We have a track record of organising outstanding cultural events and equally ambitious plans for the future. Following the Polish-German Year, the Polish Season in France, and the Jerzy Giedroyć Year. Our current projects involve: the Polish Year in Israel 2008/2009, the Polish Season in Russia. We also have projects in People’s Republic of China and Austria. Additionally, currently we are in the developing stage of a large-scale project in the United Kingdom.

We provide up-to-date information about important cultural events in Poland, posted on the Internet in Polish and other languages. We collect information and compile promoting materials. Individuals and institutions involved in promoting Polish culture can apply for books, magazines, recordings, and exhibition catalogues. Our "Closer to Poland" programme is a way of following developments in Polish literature and public debate.

We hold international conferences on a variety of cultural subjects. Events we've organised include the European Cultural Meetings, workshops for organisers of cultural events, and a conference on "Design – culture and the economy."

We arrange study visits for foreign guests wishing to learn more about selected topics and to establish co-operation with Polish cultural institutions.

We co-operate with Polish and international cultural institutions: government representations, university departments of Polish Studies, and the Polish community abroad. Artists, curators, and managers of cultural institutions are our key partners.

culture.pl web portal is our Institute’s multilingual information system about Polish culture. It contains news about events currently taking place in Poland and abroad, as well as a wealth of background material including biographies of prominent figures in Polish history.

diapozytyw.pl web portal is a resource for information on the history and culture of Polish Jews, the life of the Jewish community in Poland today, current educational projects, and Polish-Jewish dialogue. The portal is available in Polish and English.

We publish illustrated catalogues, programmes, folders, leaflets, calendars and multimedia publications.

We’re useful and the statistics prove it. So far, we have staged over 2300 cultural events in 23 countries, reaching a total public of nearly 14 million. Our website has readers from over 120 countries.