The International Poster Biennale in Warsaw

The International Poster Biennale in Warsaw is the oldest event of its kind in the world. From the early 1960s the community of Polish graphic artists contemplated the idea of holding an international cyclic competition that would be representative of the international graphic arts/poster design scene.

The first biennale was held in 1966. The main advocate of this idea was Józef Mroszczak, later a long-time organizer of the biennale, an outstanding Polish graphic designer. The exhibition and the accompanying competition attracted artists from all over the world. Among the laureates were Andy Warhol, Hiroshi Tanaka, Kazamusa Nagai, Hans Hillmann, Milton Glaser, Henryk Tomaszewski, Jan Lenica, and Jan Młodożeniec.

In 2016, at the 25th edition of the biennale, the premise of the competition was changed: the exhibition – The Poster Remediated, curated by David Crowley, was held instead of the main competition. The exhibition was devoted to the role of posters in the public domain and electronic media.