“Creatively for Human Rights”
7th International Socio-Political Poster Biennial
RULES 2018
The 7th International Socio-Political Poster Biennial will take place at the International Youth Meeting Centre (MDSM) in
Oświęcim, Poland, in 2018. MDSM was established in 1986 by initiative of the Reconciliation Service for Peace (Akcja Znaku
Pokuty/Służba dla Pokoju; Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste) of Berlin. The Oświęcim Home is a meeting place and an
educational centre for young people arriving here from all over the world. It is a venue of contemporary art presentations and
a broad exchange of views, as well as a platform of political discussions.
The posters qualified to the 2018 Biennial will be presented at the main Exhibition to be held at MDSM in Oświęcim in the
autumn of 2018, followed by a series of exhibitions in Poland and abroad. The works submitted to the previous editions of the
Biennial were displayed e.g. in the European Parliament in Brussels and twice in Strasbourg, as well as Düsseldorf, Erfurt,
Wolfsburg, Dachau, Bucharest, not to mention the Polish towns of Katowice, Szczecin, Opole, Bielsko-Biała, Kielce, Cieszyn,
Jaworzno, Wałbrzych (The Książ Castle) and Kraków several times.
I. Conditions of Participation
1. Professional visual artists, graduates of the Academies of Fine Arts and other types of tertiary art schools, including senior
students may participate in the Biennial, in accordance with these Rules.
2. Posters, accompanied by their digital versions saved on an electronic medium, with a printed and filled in Participant’s
Card (a sample card can be downloaded from the MDSM website at www.mdsm.pl) must be sent to the following address
on or before 10 April 2018 (which is the final date of delivery to MDSM): Międzynarodowy Dom Spotkań Młodzieży, ul.
Legionów 11, 32-600 Oświęcim, Poland, with the reference: VII Biennale Plakatu and the designation: PRINTED MATTER, NO
COMMERCIAL VALUE. You may send or obtain other information by writing in Polish, German, or English to:
grzywa@mdsm.pl.
3. Each author can contribute maximum three posters in the form of e.g. digital, offset or screen printouts, each with a
description sticker. The minimum size of a poster is 50×70 cm and the maximum one 100×70 cm. The posters must be
accompanied by the Participant’s Card and digital copies recorded in tiff or jpg formats on a CD/DVD or other electronic
media. The Participant’s Card and the poster stickers can be photocopied (see samples at www.mdsm.pl).
4. If the poster content includes inscriptions made in other languages than European, or other characters than those of Latin
or Cyrillic alphabets, e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Hindu, Arabic etc., please enter translations of all such inscriptions into Polish,
English, German, or Russian in the Participant’s Card.
5. Your shipment should be carefully packed. The organisers will disclaim responsibility for any damages occurring in
transport. The participants must pay for the shipment to MDSM. The posters that have not been qualified for the Exhibition
can be picked up from the MDSM in Oświęcim, upon arranging the date, until the end of August 2018. The posters that have
not been collected within that period may be appropriated and included in the MDSM’s collection to be presented at other
Biennial exhibitions.
6. The posters qualified to the VII Biennial shall be appropriated by MDSM and may be displayed at the exhibitions in Poland
and abroad of which the authors will be duly informed.
7. The posters qualified to the Exhibition will be reproduced in the trilingual (Polish-German-English) Catalogue. Each
Exhibition participant will obtain a free copy of the Catalogue and a Participation Certificate.
8. By sending a poster to the Biennial, the author authorises the organisers to reproduce and publish the posters for any
promotional and information purposes, relating to the Biennial and MDSM, without claiming any royalties.
II. Prizes:
Grand Prix: PLN 5,000
II Prize: PLN 3,000
III Prize: PLN 2,000
AnStifter Foundation Prize: PLN 2,000
Dachau Town Prize: PLN 4,000
Prof. Józef Hołard Prize, funded by the Rector of the Silesian University in Katowice: PLN 1,500
Prize funded by the Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków: PLN 1,200
Prize funded by the Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice: PLN 1,000
Prize funded by the President of the Association of the Polish Artists and Designers: PLN 1,000
Other funded Prizes can also be expected, with the increase of the Prize pool. During the last 2016 Biennial edition, the Prize
pool amounted to PLN 30,000.
The Prizes and eight Honorary Award Citations will be granted by the following Jury members:
– Elmar Zorn, art critic, Munich
– Peter Grohmann, AnStifter Foundation, Stuttgart
– Li Xu, Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication
– Prof. Władysław Pluta, Academy of Fine Arts, Kraków
– Krzysztof Dydo, Poster Gallery, Kraków
– Dr. Sebastian Kubica, Silesian University in Katowice, Institute of Art, Cieszyn
– Leszek Szuster, Director of the International Youth Meeting Centre (MDSM), Oświęcim
– Joanna Klęczar, art historian, International Youth Meeting Centre (MDSM), Oświęcim
– Dr. Paweł Warchoł, Biennial Curator, Oświęcim
III. Participant’s Declarations
1. The author of the poster (the Participant) hereby certifies that he or she has personally produced the poster or posters that
have been contributed to the Biennial and specified in Participant’s Card (the “Work” or “Works”).
2. The Participant further certifies as follows: a) personal and property rights in the Work have not been restricted or charged
with any rights of third parties in any manner and the Work does not breach the rights of third parties; b) the Participant has
not assigned any exclusive licence, assigning the rights to use the Work to any other person; c) the Participant holds exclusive
rights to grant permits for the use or disposal of the Work; d) the rights and permits, mentioned below, shall include all the
rights and permits that are necessary to exploit the Work in the fields defined below.
3. In the event that claims relating to any rights are lodged against the organisers of the International Socio-Political Poster
Biennial in Oświęcim by a third party, the Participant shall be obligated as follows: to fulfil such claims completely,
exempting the Biennial organisers of the obligation to deliver any services under a claim; to join the organisers in any court
proceedings in order to carry out all the activities intended to exempt the organisers from the participation in such
proceedings.
4. Granting a non-exclusive royalty-free licence to use the Work shall commence on the day of delivery of the Work to the
organisers of the International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oświęcim.
5. The Participant shall grant the said licence to the organisers of the International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in
Oświęcim in respect of using the Work in the following fields: a) distribution, i.e. public exhibition, display, or emission,
and making the Work publically available in such a manner that anyone can have access to it at the place and time selected
by anyone, b) printing and saving the Work on any data media (CD, DVD, memory cards, pendrives, VHS etc.) in any number
of copies, c) duplication by any reprographic, copying, printing, or computer equipment in any number of copies, d)
downloading to computer memory media, e) publication of the copies of the Work and its image in any fixed form, and, in
particular, the organisers of the International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oświęcim may reproduce the Work in
catalogues (in printed or electronic versions), brochures, studies concerning the exhibitions at which the Work may be
displayed; publish in the Internet, social media etc.
6. The licence mentioned in the Rules of the 7th International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oświęcim is non-exclusive
and royalty-free and granted for an undetermined period of time.
7. The organisers of the International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oświęcim shall be authorised to grant sub-licences to
other entities, within the fields specified above, to use the Work (including the contributed posters and accompanying digital
documentation).
8. The Participant hereby declares that he or she holds the property rights in the contributed digital versions of the Work and
hereby grants the organisers of the International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oświęcim a non-exclusive and royalty-free
licence for an undetermined period of time so that the content thereof can be used on the same terms and conditions as the
Work.
9. In reference to the Polish Personal Data Protection Law of 29 August 1997 (published in Dz.U. No. 133/97, Item 883, as later
amended), the Participant hereby gives his or her consent to personal and address data processing, specified in the
Participant’s Card of the 7th International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oświęcim, for the needs of the promotion and
organisation of the Biennial and to be published in any printed matters and electronically published contents.
Contribution of a poster, accompanied by filled in and signed Participant’s Card of the 7th International Socio-Political
Poster Biennial in Oświęcim, shall be treated by the organisers as equivalent to the acceptance of all the Sections of
these Rules. The Works that do not comply with the terms and conditions of these Rules shall not be considered by the
Jury and it will be possible to collect them from the International Youth Meeting Centre (MDSM) in Oświęcim upon prior
arrangements until the end of August 2018.
Organising Committee of the 7th International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oświęcim
