Fort Sztuki 3026

Fort Sztuki 3026 marks the return of one of Kraków’s key independent artistic initiatives, active since the 1990s, which has created a space for contemporary art, performance, the exchange of ideas and international collaboration.

Fort Sztuki 3026 accompanies the 30^th anniversary of the registration of the Fort Sztuki Association (SFS) and the 20^th anniversary of the decision to suspend its activities. Now, 20 years on, the Fort is returning – not only to recall its history, but also to examine which of its ideas remain relevant today and how they fit within the context of contemporary cultural institutions.

Fort Sztuki 3026 is an attempt to examine the association’s activities from today’s vantage point – its achievements, failures, ideas and demands, but also their significance for contemporary artistic communities.

Artur Tajber, one of the curators of Fort Sztuki 3026, writes: ‘We do hope that our efforts will be continued, and that there will be successors who, in their own way and for the public good, will seek to build on them.”

 

Fort Sztuki 3026 at MOCAK takes the form of a two-week festival, though it is not quite what it is. It comprises four core modules: the archive, the cinema, performance and the publishing house. The first module consists of an exhibition of archival materials scattered across various spaces within the museum, which will be subject to constant change (archive exhibition – rearrangement). People associated with the project will be present daily in the Beta Gallery space. This will bring the archives to life, turning them into a catalyst for encounters, conversations and discussions. The second module consists of a series of film screenings divided into two cycles: daily screenings of archival material (non-stop cinema) and special screenings accompanied by talks introducing the themes of individual films (study screening + talk). The third module is structured around performance art. Its core element consists of workshops for young practitioners of this discipline, led by John Court and Sandra Johnson, leading figures on the global performance art scene. The workshops will culminate in an installation created collaboratively during the workshops – a full-day programme of performances in MOCAK’s exhibition spaces. In addition, Sandra Johnson and John Court will present their own performances (masterclasses). The publication issued as part of Fort Sztuki 3026, contains both all the archived issues of the magazine “Fort Sztuki” from the turn of the 1990s and 2000s, as well as launching a new edition featuring contemporary texts relating to the association’s tradition.

Bridging the past and the present, a key element of the event will be a panel discussion featuring members of the Fort Sztuki Association and other independent arts organisations from Poland.

 

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

Friday 16 October 2026

6 pm: Inauguration of Fort Sztuki 3026: exhibition opening, launch of the “Fort Sztuki” publication

 

Saturday 17 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

Sunday 18 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

4 pm: Closing event for the exhibition State of Possession – Kamil Kuitkowski leads a guided tour of the exhibition in the context of the Fort Sztuki 3026 programme

 

Tuesday 20 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – film footage- from the Fort Sztuki festival 2000 (performances)

 

Wednesday 21 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 2000 – events in public space

6 pm: audiovisual hall

Studio screening + talk: archive footage from the first Fort Sztuki events – 1993, 1994, 1995; talk: participants and organisers of the Fort Sztuki events

 

Thursday 22 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 2000; pub-art

 

Friday 23 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 2003 NIPAF Asia, Krzysztofory Gallery – part 1

6 pm –8 pm: audiovisual hall

Panel discussion: Relay, or the Functioning of Social Cultural Institutions, from the Past to the Future (participants: Fort Sztuki Association, Szaber Gallery, Gruz Group; moderator – Kamil Kuitkowski

 

Saturday 24 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 2003 NIPAF Asia, Krzysztofory Gallery – part 1

6 pm: audiovisual hall

Studio screening + talk: Pokazać słowo – utwory ulotne (Showing the Word – Ephemeral Works), directed by Barbara Maroń; talk (discussion): Alicja Jodko (the film’s protagonist), Mariusz Jodko (Entropia Gallery, Wrocław), Barbara Maroń (the film’s director) with Artur Tajber i Kamil Kuitkowski

 

Sunday 25 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 1999, Bergen; film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 2001, Dublin

 

Tuesday 27 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Non-stop cinema – film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 2001 ABZUG – Dresden in Kraków, film footage from the Fort Sztuki exhibition 2004 Documenta of the Document / Documenta of Art, Open Workshop, Kraków; Sector I Gallery, Katowice

 

Wednesday 28 October 2026 2

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

Non-stop cinema – film footage from the Fort Sztuki festival 2005 Villes anciennes – art nouveau, Ville de Quebec – part 1

6 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – Studio screening + talk: archival TVP2 material Fort Sztuki 1997 – 24 godziny (Fort Sztuki 1997 – 24 Hours), Fort of St Benedict, archival TVP Kraków material – Terytoria nomadów (Nomad Territories); talk (discussion): participants of Fort Sztuki events

 

Thursday 29 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – footage from Fort Sztuki festival 2005 Quebec – part 2

6 pm: Masterclasses – performances by John Court and Sandra Johnson

 

Friday 30 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema – footage from Fort Sztuki festival 2000 – music impro by the band (Piotr Bikont, Marek Chołoniewski, Krzysztof Knittel, Włodzimierz Kiniorski)

11 am –7 pm: Instalaction: all-day performances in MOCAK exhibition spaces – post-workshop dynamic exhibition

7 pm: bistro Amant

Finisasage Fort Sztuki 3026

 

Saturday 31 October 2026

11 am – 7 pm: Beta Gallery, main building lobby

Archive exhibition – final rearrangement

11 am –7 pm: audiovisual hall

Non-stop cinema: footage from Fort Sztuki festival 2000 – music impro (pub-art)– Czet Minkus & Krzysztof Suchodolski

 

Fort Sztuki 3026

16–31 October 2026

MOCAK interior and exterior spaces

Fort Sztuki 3026 curators: Artur Tajber (SFS), Kamil Kuitkowski (MOCAK)

Film section curator: Barbara Maroń

Performance section curator: Arti Grabowski

Publication editor: Łukasz Guzek

arrangement: Bartek Buczek

performance workshops led by: John Court, Sandra Johnson

performance workshop participants: Anna Yena, Mal (Malwina) Jandura, Daria Silchuk, Jagoda Wróbel, Piotr Sędkowski, Amelia Konieczka, Alicja Pabich, Oleksii Bosenko, Wera Kątna, Franek Geissler, Michał Frankowski, Filip Stachura, Michał Kowalczys, Martyna Tamborska