Exhibition prepared by the Podlaskie Museum in Białystok and the Manggha Museum in Kraków ‘In Conversation with Ukiyo-e’ is another exhibition at the Manggha Museum showcasing contemporary Polish and Japanese art and the art of old Japan, masterly coloured woodblock prints. Here is what Koji Kamoji, a Japanese artist for years living and working in Poland and one of the exhibition curators, has to say about it: ‘When I received the Podlaskie Museum’s offer to exhibit my own works alongside prints by old ukiyo-e masters from the collection of the Manggha Museum in Kraków, I instantly thought of “conversation”, of showing the works in a conversation conducted on several planes, leaving the choice of the various topics for it to the viewers. I didn’t want to treat the old masters’ works as museum objects but preferred to perceive them as works by living artists, just active in the distant past. Artists who had their problems that they definitely had to grapple with. I’m not sure what kinds of conversation are really possible between our works and their prints, and also between our various works, which actually considerably differ from one another. Will we find something in common or are they completely alien to one another? Whatever ultimately happens, it’s going to be interesting, whether positively or negatively, because every participant of this exhibition is showing his or her own separate world. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to take part in this exhibition and it is my way of paying a close tribute to the masters of old.’

KOJI KAMOJI Born in Tokyo in 1935, he studied at the Musashino Art University, graduating in 1958. He left for Poland and obtained another degree from the Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw in 1966. His first notable exhibition in Poland was held by the Galeria Foksal (1967), with which he continued to collaborate for decades. The artist has shown his works in numerous countries, mostly European, and also in Japan and the USA. They have also been included in the exhibitions: ‘Contemporary Painting in Eastern Europe and Japan’, Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery in Yokohama, National Museum of Art, Osaka (1981); ‘Échange entre artistes 1931–1982 Pologne–USA’, Musée d’art moderne de Paris (1982); ‘Art from Poland 1945–1996’, Műcsarnok, Budapest, also shown at Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn (1997). His major individual shows have been held at the Museum of Art in Łódź (1990), Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in CSW Warsaw (1997), Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom (1998), Kunstmuseum Kloster unser lieben Frauen in Magdeburg (2013), Galeria Foksal in Warsaw (1967–2008), and Galeria Starmach in Kraków. The artist lives in Warsaw. His works are included in a large number of museum collections in Poland and abroad. Kamoji received the C.K. Norwid Critics’ Prize in 1975.

WIESŁAW ROSOCHA Born in 1945 in Sokołów Podlaski, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1974, in the poster design studio headed by Prof. Henryk Tomaszewski. Between 1975 and 1978, he was an assistant to Prof. Teresa Pągowska in the painting studio at the Academy’s Faculty of Graphic Arts. His areas of activity include poster design, illustration and drawing. He has taken part in a number of group exhibitions of poster art and illustrations at home and abroad, in addition to solo shows in Poland, Japan, Finland, Germany, Hungary, and Lithuania. Rosocha has received a large number of accolades for his work (grand prizes, medals in all colours, awards and commendations) in Poland and all over the world.

MAŁGORZATA SADY She is active in a wide range of creative endeavours, working with text, sounds and images (as a writer, painter, translator, audio space composer, and photographer). She has also curated and participated in a number of exhibitions, art projects and events. Her collaborators include Koji Kamoji, the Quay Brothers, Studio Kronika, and SerafinskiStudio. Since the 1990s, she has been researching the work of Stefan and Franciszka Themerson. She has made a number of translations in such areas as contemporary art and literature (J. Czechowicz, S. Themerson), or philosophy (L. Wittgenstein, B. Russell). Sady has been a collaborator of various art centres in Poland and abroad since the 1970s. She lives in Warsaw.

HIROKAZU SUGIURA Born in 1971 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, he graduated from the Painting Department of the Tokyo Zokei University in 1995. Solo exhibitions: Nabis Gallery, Tokyo (2002, 2006–2008, 2010, 2012, 2014); Gallery K, Tokyo (1999, 2000, 2004); also: 2005 Gallery Ami-Kanoko, Osaka; 2002 Gallery Ami, Osaka; 1998 Tokiwa Gallery, Tokyo.

MIECZYSŁAW WASILEWSKI Born in 1942 in Warsaw, he graduated from the Faculty of Painting and Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, in the studio headed of Prof. Henryk Tomaszewski. His areas of interest include poster design and illustration, as well as graphic design for the publishing industry. A professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and the European Academy of Arts in Warsaw, he has headed the graphic design studios at both these institutions. He has also taught at art schools in the Netherlands, Syria, Finland, Germany, France, Mexico, Chile, Canada, the USA, Iran, and Switzerland. His works have been shown in several hundred exhibitions of Polish posters and illustrations at home and abroad. He has also taken part in tens of international poster art events and received a large number of awards and commendations for poster and other graphic design.