The third edition of “Animation at the Academy” confirmed that Poland’s animation community – which spans academia, artistic practice, and cultural institutions – needs opportunities for dialogue that facilitate conversation across these fields. The event, organized by the Polish Animation Research Group at the University of Lodz, took place on April 24, 2026, at The Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, as part of the Animocje International Animated Film Festival, and once again achieved its primary goal: to create a space for genuine knowledge exchange and to initiate collaboration.
The format of the meeting – short, five-minute presentations combined with a networking session – proved to be particularly effective. On the one hand, it required participants to be precise and concise in their presentations; on the other, it allowed for the rapid identification of potential areas for collaboration. As a result, participants not only presented their projects but also actively engaged with the presentations of others.
The program covered a wide range of topics. In the area of education and teaching, presentations included reflections on museum activities (Kornel Nocoń, Museum of Cinematography), processes of cultural adaptation (Ewa Ciszewska, University of Lodz), and editorial practices in contemporary publications on Polish animation (Olga Bobrowska, UKEN in Kraków) and Czechoslovak animation (Pavel Skopal, Masaryk University in Brno). The history and aesthetics segment included a presentation on the reinterpretation of the 1990s in Polish animation (Antoni Majewski, independent researcher) and electroacoustic music in Polish animation (Katarzyna Figat, Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz).
An important segment of the program consisted of presentations dedicated to the festivals as the infrastructure of animation culture. Maciej Misztal (Lublin Film Festival) posed a provocative question about the purpose of animation festivals, while Ligia Soare (Animest Festival, Romania / University of Macerata) presented Animest as an example of the consistent building of a diverse, international community around animation. These themes resonated well with reflections on the audience—ranging from an analysis of audience engagement (Ewa Borysewicz, Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, University of Silesia) to evaluation tools such as the “Rating Book” (Hanna Kroczek, Film Educators’ Team).
The perspective of artistic practice also came across strongly. Presentations by artists – Filip Tokarzewski (University of Lodz), Ewa Maria Wolska (Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theater Academy in Warsaw, Branch in Białystok / Fraktal Film Faktory), Aleksandra Gruda (Fryderyk Chopin National Institute), Daniel Adamczyk (Fryderyk Chopin University of Music), and Marcin Gumiela (Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz) – presented animation as a field for formal and interdisciplinary experimentation, particularly in the areas of sound and music. Projects related to the figure of Fryderyk Chopin demonstrated how strongly contemporary animation transcends the traditional boundaries of the medium.
The Bydgoszcz edition clearly demonstrated that the strength of this format lies in its openness and dynamic structure: it brings together academics, students, artists, curators, educators, and professionals from cultural institutions all in one place. It is precisely this diversity, combined with a shared field of interest, that creates cognitive and organizational value. “Animation at the Academy” thus establishes itself as a practice essential for building the animation studies community in Poland.
“Animation at the Academy” took place at the New Campus of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz on April 24, 2026. The event was organized by Katarzyna Figat (Polish Animation Research Group, Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz). Event partner: International Animated Film Festival „Animocje” in Bydgoszcz.
Text by Ewa Ciszewska
