Cracow Art Week KRAKERS has revealed the first program details for its anniversary 15th edition, which will take place April 23rd - 30th 2026, under the theme "Hunters, gatherers, practitioners of the future." This year's theme prompts reflection on our relationship to collecting, surviving, and building new narratives from fragments of the past. Borrowing concepts from anthropology and weaving them into contemporary realities, the organizers invite you to explore urban archives, collections, and post-digital wastelands.

The exploration of leftovers, ecological mindfulness, digital bricolage, and identity archives: these are just a few examples of the directions that will be explored in the Main Programme. Ten projects were awarded in the Laboratory Section competition, proving that today's "hunters and gatherers" operate at the intersection of memory, technology, and crisis. Each winner receives a cash prize funded by the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation. Furthermore, the MOCAK Special Prize in this section was awarded to the project "NON-HUMAN" by Katarzyna Depta - Garapich, curated by Daniel Arbaczewski. It is a story about unity with nature as a tool for emancipation, challenging the anthropocentric view of the world. The exhibition will open on April 23rd at 6:00 PM in the prestigious Beta Gallery at the MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, and will also be the ceremonial inauguration of the art week.

The Laboratory's other award-winning projects are striking in their extraordinary diversity of forms and reflections. Some are deeply rooted in a critique of capitalism, such as "Need for speed" at Subteria or "I have a garage in Silicon Valley, but..." set in a garage on Miedziana Street, which juxtaposes myths of grand success with the gray, makeshift reality of everyday life. Others invite viewers to engage in profound interaction: "Everything you are able to carry" will present a participatory altar of the necessities of survival, while "HORSE GAMBLING" will transform the backyard garden of a tenement building at Sarego 10 into a former gambling zone with slot machines. We will also see projects exploring memory, ecology, and identity: "Coal still remembers the forest" will reveal matter and the body as a dual testimony to exploitation, "Sand and bones" will reference climate mourning and Prussian women, and the project "What's in my bag?!" will analyze women's handbags as private survival systems, carrying the burden of expectations. The program will be complemented by a story about artificial intelligence taking on the role of gods ("Don't kill the messenger") and an installation exploring the risks of the creative act ("Salto Mortale").

For several years now, events organized in collaboration with the University of National Education Commission in Kraków, co-organizer of KRAKERS, have been an integral part of the program. The former University Hospital building at Kopernika 15 will become a special landmark. It is there that artists will present "Collections of Memories" - an exhibition showcasing fleeting moments extracted from the labyrinths of memory, which will perfectly complement the liminal, post-hospital space. In the same area, in the green spaces surrounding the building, the subtle "Treatments at Wesoła" will take place, complemented by the comprehensive exhibition "City in the process". However, UKEN's presence doesn't end there: nearby, at the Design Pharmacy, the "Alternative Memory Chamber" will open, focusing on fabricated memories. The Podbrzezie Gallery will present the exhibition "DECOMPRESSION," about the resistance of the past and data distortions, while the Museum of Engineering and Technology will showcase the best student design projects in the "DESIGN 1:1" exhibition. The event will also be complemented by the film "OFF Show 2026" at the Paradox Cinema. More information about all these events can be found at www.cracowartweek.pl - the full program will be revealed two weeks before the KRAKERS launch.

The Cracow Art Week KRAKERS 2026 project is co-financed by the City of Kraków. It is co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund