8.2 Activities supporting promotion of the arts

The year 2022 was particularly important for our activities for the arts: the Hestia Artistic Journey, one of the most important competitions in Poland for young artists, celebrated its 20th anniversary. On this occasion, an exhibition entitled “Bujność. Atlas nieskończonych możliwości” [Exuberance. Atlas of Infinite Possibilities] was held at the National Art Gallery in Sopot, presenting works from the collection of the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation, together with new works by the prize-winning artists.

They reflect the journeys and encounters that have formed an atlas of possibilities over the years. The two decades of the competition presented a cross-section of many voices, perspectives and artistic practices, and the history of young Polish art over the last two decades.

Baltic Horizons is an international sculpture competition that brings together artists and residents of the Baltic Sea region. Art helps to create awareness, sensitivity, and sometimes also shocks. The topic for discussion is the Baltic Sea, its condition, its future, but also the symbiosis between man and the world of marine flora and fauna. In terms of sustainability, the project uses undeveloped space in the city to place an object and a narrative that will have both a utilitarian and educational function and can also integrate the local community.

The competition rewards sculptural objects that complement the existing architecture of Sopot. The international formula of the competition is based on cooperation with partner cultural institutions from the Baltic Sea region, including Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland. A key dimension of this initiative is to raise awareness of climate change in the region and to encourage the creation of spaces for regional partnerships.

The winning project will be executed in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Children’s literature is particularly important to us at a time when reading levels are falling and the desire to pick up a book is losing out to unlimited access to audiovisual material. By supporting writers who create interesting stories and heroes for our times, we hope to instil in young people the spirit of storytelling, stimulate their imagination and build positive values in them.

The competition rewards works created mainly for female readers between the ages of 10 and 15, in a variety of forms: from novels to graphic novels to short stories. The jury of the competition, made up of experts in children’s literature and representatives of the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation, selects titles that not only appeal to young readers, but also deal with issues of social importance.