Culture.pl’s Monthly Cultural Round-up: June 2026
Summer is officially here… Even too much of it, as June 2026 was the month when Poland saw (and felt) record-breaking 40°C weather. The heatwave was the talk of the town – it sparked discussions about climate change, the importance of trees in Polish cities, on whether we should start to install air conditioning in our apartments (which is still quite rare in Europe) and how to prepare for a stadium concert in extreme heat.
Picture display
mały obrazek (568px desktop)
This last question was particularly relevant because as Poland’s biggest pop star Dawid Podsiadło went on his OBROTOWY stadium tour and played six concerts for over 450,000 people. Just as Harry Styles during his Wembley residency, he and his audience needed to face the heat – free water was distributed at the Warsaw stadium, and everybody received information on how to behave and help others in these difficult conditions. Thankfully there were no major incidents even though the atmosphere got even hotter when synchronized LED wristbands were lit up (PixMob's X11 technology premiered on this tour), turning the audience into part of the show.
Picture display
mały obrazek (568px desktop)
Polish Art Week in Berlin took place from 22nd to 28th June involving avant-garde visual and sound artists: from installations by the young duo Women-Antennas to an immersive exhibition Cubature: The Art Game by the Cyber Kids on Real collective, from a concert by the Niewte folk band with the amazing Maniucha Bikont on vocals, to experimental soundscapes by Antonina Nowacka, the German capital could experience some of the best things young Polish artists have to offer.
Picture display
mały obrazek (568px desktop)
Not far away from Berlin, Poznań was bursting with exciting culture as well: the Malta Festival involved concerts by Devendra Banhart, Beirut and the Polish rock sensation Kacperczyk, but the biggest triumphs took place on the theatre stage: American duo CocoRosie invited Polish actor Justyna Wasilewska to collaborate on the experimental opera La Mort de la Mer inspired by eight phases of the moon; and theatre superstar Magdalena Cielecka brought to the stage the Polish version of the play The Second Woman by Nat Randall and Anna Breckon. The project, previously presented in London, Barcelona, and New York, is an immersive performance which lasts 24 hours: the actress repeats the same breakup scene a hundred times with a hundred different scene partners who were selected through an open call.
Picture display
mały obrazek (568px desktop)
When it comes to superstars – Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Bambini sculpture composition broke its own record and was sold for 16.13 million złoty (roughly 4.3 million dollars) at an auction in Polswiss Art in Warsaw, becoming the most expensive Polish modern art piece to date.
Picture display
mały obrazek (568px desktop)
Meanwhile all around Poland you could spot some familiar faces: the former Witcher aka Henry Cavill as well as the great Jeremy Irons were spotted across multiple locations filming Highlander – a remake of the famous fantasy hit from 1986. Łódź, Częstochowa and Zabrze – specifically its Brick Expressionist St Joseph’s Church designed by Dominikus Böhm – are among the locations used in the film directed by Chad Stahelski. The film will also feature Russel Crowe and Djimon Hounsou and will premiere in 2027.
Picture display
mały obrazek (568px desktop)
How to Feed a Dictator, a documentary based on the bestselling non-fiction book by Witold Szabłowski, premiered at the Tribeca Festival in New York City. Directed by Andrew Neel, the film follows five private cooks, who worked for the world’s most feared dictators, from Pol Pot to Augusto Pinochet. As Szabłowski said, Tribeca’s founder Robert De Niro is a great supporter of the film and insisted on it premiering there – and judging from its first reviews it is a real treat!
Picture display
mały obrazek (568px desktop)
Polish members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences form another connection between Poland and Hollywood. Since June there are five more of them: Hania Rani, who won the European Film Award for her score written for Joachim Trier’s hit Sentimental Value joined the Music branch of the academy, while this year’s Oscar recipient, Polish-born director, and animator Maciej Szczerbowski (The Girl Who Cried Pearls) was invited to the Animation branch. Documentalist Paweł Łoziński, costume designer Katarzyna Lewińska and animation supervisor Andrzej Radka were also invited.
That was June, see you at the end of July!