Highlights / Culture & Modern Art

The unique building currently housing the institution was formerly a power station built at the end of the 19th century. It is situated on the island of Ołowianka, now connected with the Main Town grid by a footbridge running over the Motlawa river. The Baltic Philharmonic was founded in 1945, along with the Symphony Orchestra. Apart from regular concerts, it hosts well-known festivals – the Siesta Festival in April and the Solidarity of Arts Festival in August.

The intriguingly looking exterior of the building - an architectural masterpiece covered with 1,2 mln anthracite bricks - holds an Elizabethan-inspired theatre inside. The Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, opened in 2014, is located on the former site of the 17th century Fencing School, where Poland's first public theatre functioned at the time. It's the world's only theatre with a roof opening in as little as 3 minutes. The annual Shakespeare Fesival is held here in July/August. Guided tours in English are frequent and possible to book on-line.

The museum presents mostly Polish artworks from the late 19th and 20th century on the upper levels and works of young contemporary artists in the vast downstairs area. The collections also include works of Gunter Grass, Marc Chagall or Vassily Kandinsky, amongst many others. Picturesquely located inside the Rococo style Abbots' Palace at Oliwa Park, the museum also serves as a background for the Mozartiana Festival in August. There are several temporary exhibitions held throughout the year.

Located inside the 16th century Old Town Hall, the Baltic Sea Culture Centre focuses on organizing events like concerts and exhibitions, which promote the culture of Poland and the other Baltic countries. The BSCC also manages the St John's Centre in Gdansk (Centrum Św. Jana).

Since 1995 the St John's Church, which dates back to the 14th century, is also the St John's Centre (Centrum Świętego Jana), managed by Nadbałtyckie Centrum Kultury (The Baltic Sea Culture Centre). It hosts music concerts, art exhibitions and other cultural events, which all profit from an added value - the church's beautiful interiors and accoustics. The religious part of the local art community arrives every Sunday for the mess at noon.

This historical building may not be in the best shape, but it's spirit has been revived significantly since it became the new seat of the WL4 art collective. More than a dozen of highly recognized painters, sculptors, photographers and street artists reside here and create in their workshops. The adaptation of Mleczny Piotr (Milch Peter/Milk Peter) for their purposes is a work in progress and very challenging, but the artists' efforts can already be appreciated. It is possible to visit the place during the day, as long as you remain respectful towards the artists at work. The attic loft in an impressive 500 sq m open exhibition space. Art events take place frequently and are always the best opportunity to discover this incredible venue. Outside, the sculptures by Czesław Podleśny are extremely eye-catching.

Flooded with light during the day and boasting that unique atmosphere in the evenings, Kolonia Artystów is an initiative that promotes art in all its forms. You'll stumble upon exhibitions, music concerts and many other cultural projects. The spacious interior with a cafe space makes it also a great place to hang out and/or work. Lovely vibes on the terrace in the summer season.

The new bright patio of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk (ASP - Akademia Sztuk Pięknych) is a pro-cultural space, where art, design and culture related events for adults and children take place regularly. Workshops, concerts and theatre spectacles also occur at PATIO ASP. All inititives are free for participants.

LOCATION Targ Węglowy 6 (Coal Market), Gdansk Main Town

OPEN during events

Free admission

If there's a place in Gdansk that is the hub of the contemporary art and culture scene, it's undoubtedly Klub Żak. This legendary institution rightly calls itself a modern art house. The International Jazz Jantar Festival and the Gdansk Dance Festival are its flagship projects, while it organizes and hosts a great number of other events throughout the year. Those events are mainly jazz and alternative music concerts, screenings of European, Asian and Latin American films, theatre performances and workshops, art exhibitions etc. Żak started as a student culture club in 1957 and was for many years located in a historical building in the center of Gdansk. Since 2001, it is situated in a new, fully accessible building in the Wrzeszcz district, which also includes a popular pub.

This cultural institution has great gallery spaces and it's main purpose is to organize contemporary art exhibitions, but it also hosts music concerts, film presentations and art workshops. The Polish word łaźnia means 'baths' and that was the function of the building, since it came into existance in 1908, as one of the three city baths in Gdansk at that time. After years of no attention for the building, local artist groups started to adapt it in the 1990's. Finally, in 1998 the Łaźnia Centre for Contemporary Art (CSW Łaźnia) has been established.

Northern Poland's most significant cultural institution stages operas, ballets and theatre performances. Modernized in 2003, it offers 476 seats (including 4 accessible).

One of the most recognized theatres in Poland with a yearly audience of more than 100 000 viewers. Established in 1946 in Gdynia, moved to Gdansk in 1967. The plays, mostly contemporary, are performed in Polish.