Art & Fashion Forum by Grażyna Kulczyk, “Five Senses”

Art & Fashion Forum by Grażyna Kulczyk is one of the most ambitious interdisciplinary platforms in Central Europe. Founded in 2007 by Grażyna Kulczyk, the Forum was conceived as a meeting point for art, fashion, technology, and critical thinking, operating for nearly a decade as an international think-tank and cultural laboratory bringing global voices to Poznań.

By 2015, AFF had established itself as one of Europe’s most forward-looking events, known for testing and prototyping ideas rather than merely discussing them. Designers, artists, innovators, and educators gathered annually to form a temporary community focused on experimentation and contemporary culture.
The 9th edition of the Forum in 2015 was shaped under the artistic direction of Wojtek Piotr Onak and curated by Anja Rubik in collaboration with 25 Magazine. The programme explored the theme of the Five Human Senses, using smell, taste, sound, sight, and touch as conceptual frameworks for talks, workshops, installations, and performances.

AFF 2015 hosted an exceptional group of international guests, including Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Gayil Nalls, Millie Brown, and Anja Rubik, alongside designers, technologists, theorists, and educators contributing to an extensive programme of lectures, masterclasses, and Open University sessions.

The Forum’s educational platform, New School, offered intensive workshops across creative disciplines. A final jury awarded outstanding participants with scholarships to Central Saint Martins and original statuettes designed by Orska. The edition also hosted the global final of Global Fashion Battle, highlighting emerging fashion-tech startups from London and New York.

AFF 2015 positioned Poznań as a temporary European epicentre of creative exchange, demonstrating how strong curatorial authorship and strategic production can transform a city into a laboratory for the future of art, fashion, and ideas.