Nowadays in Poland there are a few major opinion formers in the arts who have both a cultural and commercial impact on the art world.

Unquestionably, Warsaw is the main centre for exhibitions, art publishing, talks or seminars, with ohter centres like Lodz and Gdansk specialising more in artist-led, smaller scale activity. Influential organisations in Warsaw include Raster Gallery, Fundacja Galerii Foksal, Obieg, CSW Zamek Ujazdowski and Centre Zacheta; outside of Warsaw, good places to know include the WYSPA Institute of Art (Gdansk), Zderzak Gallery (Krakow) and Kultura Miejska (Gdansk).

As well as these Polish centres, young galleries have started to appear abroad: Zak-Branicka Gallery in Berlin and a branch of Warsaw’s local_30 gallery in London. By bringing international ways of working to Poland, galleries like these are helping shape the system of how indigenous Polish galleries can operate.

Disappointed with Government and its underdeveloped art infrastructure, the new generation of cultural activists have taken over the processes of modernising cultural industry structures. They have opened commercial galleries, invested in young unknown artists, animated cultural life and promoted Polish art locally and internationally. One of the most impressive such initiatives, set up in 2009, is Civil Contemporary Art Forum (Obywatelskie Forum Sztuki Wspolczesnej), which aims to enhance Polish cultural life by advocating for change in Polish art legislation and financing institutions.

• art scene
• working internationally