Paperlust Photobook Fest is a new biennial dedicated to printed art publications. Each edition focuses on different European regions and is delivered in collaboration with partners from involved countries, aiming to explore and share the specifics of the local self-publishing scenes to the wider audience. The motivation behind the festival is to allow discoveries while encouraging artistic exchange and growth.

First edition  – “Art and self-publishing as a tool for social change” – was devoted to the photobooks from the Visegrad region and has been created in close collaboration with the institutions, publishers, non-profit organizations and artists from Poland, Slovakia, Czech, and Hungary. It also introduced the concept of various approaches towards an art book in its relation to the capital, format, motivation of the author, and the distribution model. This method became a conceptual base of our three core exhibitions: “Photobook. Asset”, “Photobook. Storytelling” and “Photobook. Process”. Main shows were supplemented by the rich program composed of meetings, reviews, workshop, photobook and zine fair, discussion panel, and open library.

Our international guest list included Franek Ammer, Stanislav Briza, Zsolt Fiscor, Milos Hroch, Tomas Hruza, Beata Istvanko, Marketa Kinterova, Viktor Kopasz, Gabor Arion Kudasz, Tomasz Laczny, Wiktoria Michalkiewicz, Slavomira Odrusova, Tereza Rudolf, Jan Sipocz, Michal Sita, Olja Triaska Stefanovic, Pavel Turek, Tereza Zelenkova and Zuzanna Flaskova.

Queer Gaze from Poland is the first international project dedicated solely to Polish LGBTQ+ artists working with the medium of photography. Curators focused on featuring images of intimacy and interpersonal relationships, such as portraits of lovers, fragments of visual diaries, and snapshots.

Although homosexuality in Poland is legal and, in theory, protected by general anti-discrimination law, the majority of the population considers same-sex relationships as unnatural and immoral. Outside of a few bigger cities it is impossible to be openly queer and have a respectable life. The selection of works exhibited at Bermondsey Project Space could not be displayed in Poland without being seen as a political statement.  Our aim was to present them the way there are – as beautiful, captivating works by talented photographers – in an inclusive environment that is free of prejudices.

Exhibited artists: Pamela Bożek, Mateusz Cyrankowski, Mateusz Grzelak, Agata Kalinowska, Krystian Lipiec, Kinga Michalska, Oiko Petersen, Jerzy Piątek, Natalia Podgórska, Łukasz Rusznica

Queer Gaze from Poland attracted media such as i-D, DAZED, INTO, KINK, THE CALVERT JOURNAL, VICE, ONET KULTURA, K-MAG.