Vernissage / Opening of the 7th WFF: October 11, 2024, 6:00 PM
Exhibition open: October 11 – November 23, 2024
More information: t.ly/1o-8p
Main Stream 💧 7th Wielkopolska Photography Festival named after I. Zjeżdżałka: https://fb.me/e/22Xpg42Fw

Streams, brooks, creeks, and rivulets. They flow through Poznań’s neighborhoods, along the edges of roads. They traverse green patches of the city and narrow, concrete channels, sometimes disappearing into underground canal networks. Behind the city’s hustle and bustle, and on the fringes of interest, a watery life quietly continues, constantly subjected to human activity. Górczynka, Obrzyca, Starynka. Junikowski Stream, Różany Potok, Minikowski Ditch. At least forty small rivers form the water network of our city, part of the larger ecosystem of the Warta River valley. Many are tributaries or former channels and branches of Poznań’s largest river. Their current layout and condition—vastly different from their original, natural state—are the result of intense transformations and the gradual drainage of the city over the past two centuries to meet human needs.

To draw attention to Poznań’s forgotten waterways, five photographers set out to examine their current state and document their silent presence. Igor Zieliński took on the task of capturing all of Poznań’s small rivers, creating a unique catalog. This typological series of photographs presents the view of the water’s surface of each one. The diversity of the images stems from two factors: the chosen technique—the unpredictability of the Polaroid camera—and the varying conditions in which each stream exists.

The exhibition is not a precise inventory of the city’s river network. However, the visual stories it presents allow us to shift our perspective on the life of Poznań’s waterways and reflect on the nature of our relationship with them. Considering the increasing threat of a water crisis, alongside increasingly intense rainfall, it’s worth turning our attention back to these streams, brooks, and creeks that still form part of the local landscape and ecosystem—while remembering those that have fallen victim to our “civilized” world.
Let them flow!

Rivers:
Bogdanka, Chartynia, Cybina, Czapnica, Darzynka, Dworski Rów, Główna, Głuszec, Głuszynka, Golęcinka, Górczynka, Kaczeniec, Kopel, Kotówka, Krzesinka, Krzyżanka, Ławica, Łężynka, Michałówka, Obrzyca, Piaśnica, Pietrzynka, Plewianka, Umultowski Potok, Przeźmierka, Minikowski Ditch, Złotnicki Ditch, Samica Kierska, Seganka, Skórzyna, Spławka, Starynka, Struga, Junikowski Stream, Różany Stream, Strzeszyński Stream, Szklarka, Wierzbak, Zielinka, Żegrzynka.