The INTERNATIONAL POSTER BIENNALE in Warsaw is the oldest event of its kind in the world. It was created in 1966 on the initiative of a group of Polish poster designers. Their aim was to create an event that would allow for juxtaposition of the achievements in poster design of artists from a range of countries and promote both the forms and subjects of contemporary poster art. From its inception the Warsaw competition gained prestige and the recognition of international graphic artists and critics. It quickly became the leading forum for exchanges of experience in the visual arts and for promotion of the top artistic achievements in poster design from all over the world. The project was initially inspired, and subsequently supported for many years, by
Jozef Mroszczak, an outstanding graphic designer and professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. The list of past event participants, winners, jurors, and sympathizers is impressive and includes some of the most outstanding artists in the world. Winners of the BIENNALE have included Andy Warhol, Hiroshi Tanaka, Kazamusa Nagai, Hans Hilman, Pierre Bernard, the GRAPUS Group, Shigeo Fukuda, Ikko Tanaka, Uwe Loesch, Milton Glaser, Paul Davis, Andre Francois, Mitsuo Katsui, Andriej Logvin, Aleksander Faldin,
Henryk Tomaszewski,
Jan Lenica,
Roman Cieslewicz, Jan Mlodozeniec,
Waldemar Swierzy,
Franciszek Starowieyski, Wieslaw Rosocha, Jan Sawka. The event is still viewed as the most prestigious presentation of poster art in the world. ICOGRADA - the International Council of Associations of Graphic Designers - is its permanent patron.
A total of 858 artists from 47 countries submitted 2286 works for this year's 18th edition of the INTERNATIONAL POSTER BIENNALE WARSAW 2002. A qualification committee selected 452 posters by 295 participants from 39 countries for the competition. From this number the competition jury will select winners (to receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals) in several categories, including public service posters, cultural posters, and advertising posters. For the first time this year the jury will also select the winner of the Golden Ducat award, to be chosen from among the authors of posters submitted by students and recent young graduates of arts schools. In line with tradition, winners will also be chosen to receive the ICOGRADA Award and the Award of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (the Jozef Mroszczak Honorary Prize). Another first this year will be a prize from the POLISH POSTER Foundation, to be awarded for outstanding achievement in Polish poster art.
The exhibition will open and the decisions of the jury of the 18TH INTERNATIONAL POSTER BIENNALE WARSAW 2000 was announced on June 8, 2002, at 6:00 p.m.
The 18th edition of the INTERNATIONAL POSTER BIENNALE will be accompanied by the exhibits WINNERS OF THE 17TH INTERNATIONAL POSTER BIENNALE WARSAW 2000 and JURORS OF THE 18TH INTERNATIONAL POSTER BIENNALE WARSAW 2002. The first of these will include works by winners of the previous edition of the BIENNALE, including Alexander & Svyetlana Faldin (Russia), Stefan Sagmeister (USA), and Giichi Okazaki (Japan). JURORS OF THE 18TH INTERNATIONAL POSTER BIENNALE WARSAW 2002 will feature works by members of the jury for this year's Biennale, including Andrey Logvin (Russia), Peret (Spain), Wladyslaw Pluta (Poland), and David Tartakover (Israel).
The exhibitions will be on view at the Xawery Dunikowski Sculpture Museum in Warsaw from June 9th to the 20th, 2002.
The exhibitions were open on June 8, 2002 at 12:00
Poster Museum
(Muzeum Plakatu)
ul. Stanislawa Kostki Potockiego 10/16, Warsaw
tel. (+48 22) 842 26 06, 842 48 48
Xawery Dunikowski Museum of Sculpture
(Muzeum Rzezby im. Xawerego Dunikowskiego)
ul. Pulawska 113a, Warsaw
tel. (+48 22) 843 15 86