The International Theater Festival Kontakt, hosted by the Wilam Horzyca Theater since 1991, stands as Poland’s most venerable international theater festival. Established by Krystyna Meissner, whose pioneering efforts were honored with the Polityka’s Passport award, the festival has welcomed theater companies from more than 30 countries to its stage. In the post-Iron Curtain era, Kontakt has served as a crucial bridge, fostering multinational dialogues and merging Eastern and Western theatrical traditions.

The previous year’s festival was a showcase of diversity and talent, featuring 20 performances and a total of 34 events that attracted roughly 7,000 attendees. The festival’s reach extended far beyond the immediate audience, with approximately 350 publications connecting with around 1.8 million recipients. The estimated media value of these publications surpassed 1 million PLN. Noteworthy among the invited artists were figures such as Romeo Castellucci and Dimitris Papaioannou, contributing to an impressive attendance rate of 98%. This remarkable achievement was supported by funds from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, sourced from the Culture Promotion Fund.