Avant Art Foundation has been operating since 2008, creating and developing projects dedicated to experimental, avant-garde and exploratory music and art. Its activities include concerts, exhibitions, performances, film, artistic residencies, educational and social initiatives, as well as international projects based on cooperation between artists, institutions and independent creative communities. The Foundation does not limit itself to presenting finished works, it initiates new encounters, commissions premieres, creates space for experimentation and supports the development of long-term artistic relationships.

The Foundation’s most important and longest-running project is Avant Art Festival, organised continuously since 2008. The festival was founded in Wrocław, expanded to Warsaw in 2017, and later to Berlin, Lublin and the Lower Silesia region. Individual editions and Avant Art projects have also taken place in Poznań and internationally, including in Lille, Graz, Riga, Vilnius, Kyoto and Istanbul. The programme develops at the intersection of experimental music, improvisation, electronic music, noise, jazz, visual art, film and performance. Its character is shaped by unexpected juxtapositions, a diversity of perspectives and the consistent crossing of boundaries between genres, disciplines and cultural circuits.

An important area of the Foundation’s activity is the international promotion of Polish artists. Since 2025, Avant Art has been developing Polish Art Week – an interdisciplinary platform presenting Polish music, visual art, performance and audiovisual projects in dialogue with the international independent scene. The Berlin editions, organised in cooperation with the Polish Institute Berlin and the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, combine artistic events with debates, educational activities, professional meetings and the development of long-term networks. In 2026, Polish Art Week took place as part of the 7th edition of Avant Art Festival Berlin.

One of the Foundation’s major international initiatives is also In Between Norway & Poland / Culture — a two-year project in the fields of music, contemporary art and education, carried out between 2021 and 2023 in cooperation with KODY Festival, Oslo Jazzfestival, Nasjonal Jazzscene Victoria and nyMusikk. The programme included 39 events involving more than 70 artists, curators, educators and specialists, presented in Poland and Norway. Its central elements included new compositions, international ensembles, graphic scores, world premieres, exhibitions and educational projects, including activities addressed to blind, visually impaired, Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. The project’s chief curator was Mats Gustafsson.

The Foundation is also involved in improving working conditions in the cultural sector. It is a co-initiator of Spółdzielnia Kultura, established in 2024 together with the Bęc Zmiana Foundation and PLZ Cooperative . The project responds to the challenges of unstable employment, limited social protection and the administrative burden faced by freelancers. Its aim is to create a model combining the autonomy and flexibility of project-based work with the possibility of employment under an employment contract, shared accounting, legal and administrative support, and long-term professional development. In 2026, a pilot programme was launched in cooperation with the City of Warsaw.

The foundation of Avant Art’s activity remains the development of long-term partnerships, support for independent artistic practices and the creation of conditions for genuine dialogue between different cultures, communities and ways of thinking about art. The Foundation understands culture not only as a space for presentation, but also as a tool for collaboration, social change and the creation of new models of collective action.