Conference “Art in small and medium-sized cities. Opportunities and Challenges”

For two days, scientists, artists, local governments, as well as representatives of cultural institutions and animators of cultural life will have the opportunity to exchange experiences and discuss the importance of art and culture for the development of local communities and the building of the identity of small and medium-sized cities.

The opportunity for this will be the scientific conference “Art in small and medium-sized cities. Opportunities and Challenges”, which will take place from 22 to 23 October 2026 in Zduńska Wola. During the meeting at the Municipal House of Culture in Zduńska Wola, lectures by scientists from the University of Lodz, which is a co-organizer of the event, as well as discussions on artistic education or street art were planned.

The participants of the conference will reflect on the possibilities of showing and using art in public spaces. It will also talk about the challenges faced by cities that want to develop their cultural offer. The participation in the discussion panels was announced by the creators, among others Wojciech Siudmak, Prof. Zbigniew Dudek, as well as NeSpoon and Lux Przez Iks.

The conference will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 22. Presentations and discussion panels scheduled for the first day should end before 6 p.m. On Friday, 23 October, the conference participants will meet from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

The event is addressed mainly to representatives of small and medium-sized cities, artists, scientists, people of culture. Participation in is free of charge. Those interested in participating in the conference fill out the application form available on the website at: https://konferencja.zdunskawola.pl/rejestracja/

Enrollment will be terminated after the limit of places has been exhausted.

Partners of the event are the Municipal House of Culture in Zduńska Wola and the University of Lodz.

The event was patronized by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the National Cultural Centre, the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship and the Polish Aesthetic Society.

Full information about the conference is available at: https://konferencja.zdunskawola.pl/

The program of the conference “Art in small and medium-sized cities. Opportunities and Challenges”

Day One, October 22, 2026

9:15 a.m. Registration of participants

10:00 — 10:30 Opening of the conference — Konrad Pokora — Mayor of the City of Zduńska Wola

10:30am — 11:20am Lectures

Small town, big politics. A brief history of the public sphere from Aristotle to Habermas — dr Bartosz Pokorski — UŁ

Art in small and medium-sized cities — Prof. Wioletta Kazimierska-Jerzyk — UŁ

11:20 — 11:40 Coffee break

11:40 — 13:00 Lectures

The idea of partner cities — Paweł Szewczyk — Deputy Mayor of the City of Zduńska Wola

Partnership of cities Zdunska Wola — Pietrasanta — Alberto Stefano Giovannetti — Mayor of Pietrasanta

Who is responsible for the aesthetics of the city? — Prof. Piotr Gryglewski — UL

Locality as heritage of regions — Dr Dominika Larionov — UŁ

13:00 — 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 — 15:45 Discussion panel — Artistic education

Witold Rajczak — director of the Katarzyna Kobro State High School of Fine Arts in Zduńska Wola

Michał Arkusinski — artist, illustrator, comic book artist, graphic artist, teacher

Beata Szczepaniak — artist, sculptor and designer

Moderator: Wioletta Kazimierska-Jerzyk — professor at UŁ

15:45 — 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 — 17:45 Discussion panel — Who writes the city? Urban art between universality and locality

Lux Przez Iks — artist, creator of street art, painter and graphic artist

NeSpoon — visual artist, painter, ceramicist, creator of street art

Teresa Latuszewska-Syrda — President of the Urban Forms Foundation

Moderator: Agnieszka Gralińska-Toborek — professor at UŁ

Day Two, October 23, 2026

10:00 Opening of the second day of the conference

10:00 — 11:45 Discussion panel — Not just benches. How to commemorate through art?

Prof. Zbigniew Dudek — sculptor

dr Michał Matysiak — sculptor, painter, graphic artist

Prof. Katarzyna Chrudzimska-Uhera — Professor at UKSW

Tomasz Polkowski — Director of the Museum of History of the City of Zdunska Wola

Moderator: Paweł Szewczyk — Deputy Mayor of the City of Zduńska Wola

11:45 — 12:00 Coffee break

12:00 — 13:45 Discussion panel — From the bottom. From the top. Privately. How to organize art?

Mirosław Kubiak — entrepreneur, art collector

Marek Duchnowski — owner of gallery and auction house TotuArt, marszand

Ula Dzwonik — visual artist; painter and draftsman; curator, ART Affera Foundation

Paweł Perdek — Director of the Municipal House of Culture in Zduńska Wola

Moderator: Agnieszka Gralińska-Toborek — professor at UŁ

13:45 — 14:45 Lunch break

14:45 — 16:30 Discussion panel — How to implement local art in small and medium-sized cities?

Wojciech Siudmak — artist, painter and sculptor

Pietrasanta

Paweł Szewczyk — Deputy Mayor of the City of Zduńska Wola

Moderator: Marek Duchnowski — owner of gallery and auction house TotuArt, marszand

4:30pm Closing of the Conference