Art Moves 2025
18th International Festival of Art on Billboards
September 1 – October 5, Toruń, Poland

In September, Toruń blossomed into a sprawling, open-air art gallery. Here, Art Moves unfolded – the world’s only festival dedicated solely to billboard art, brought to life by Galeria Rusz’s own artists. Year after year, this event shatters the boundaries of traditional art spaces, proving that creativity can spill onto the streets, captivate every passerby, and transform our view of the city. For a few vibrant days, billboards that usually sell products instead spark ideas, stir emotions and invite reflection.

The festival breathed fresh life into Toruń. Streets and squares turned into vibrant crossroads where art mingled with daily routines, inviting locals and visitors alike to see the city through new eyes. Art Moves emerges as a beacon of openness and modernity, pulsing with creative spirit. Through this festival, the city pulses with artistic energy and claims its place as a source of inspiration on the world stage.

Every edition of Art Moves sparks a question that delves into the heart of our era, exploring everything from social struggles and existential dilemmas to the pursuit of freedom and the many challenges we all encounter. Artists from across the globe respond, weaving their creations into the city’s fabric and inviting locals and visitors alike to join a vibrant, thought-provoking conversation.

For the 18th edition, we present a rich tapestry of visual reflections from artists worldwide, all centred on a pressing question: “Love or fear? How do we stop running and step up to shape  our own future and the world’s?”. The festival’s theme is both a call and a challenge: do we let fear isolate us, or do we embrace love as a force that unites and inspires hope? Here, love is not a worn-out phrase, but a powerful source of courage. Love or fear? It is a crossroads we encounter daily.

Artists from every corner of the globe responded to this question by pouring their visions and emotions onto billboards, transforming them into powerful voices for reflection, mirrors of our era, and open invitations to conversation. Their creations sparked fresh thinking about what truly matters in our relationships, our communities, and the wider world.

As always, the festival consists of a competition phase and then a presentation of the artists invited by the organisers. The best works were presented on billboards. Leitmotifs of our festivals always correspond with social processes and phenomena that shape the contemporary world. They stem from a deep sociological, psychological and philosophical reflection, and express our care of the shape of reality we are living in. International artists are largely interested in the competition and festival, which indicates the mesmerising potential of the idea of this event, and of public space that serves for deep reflections and social communication.

This year works relate to the leitmotiv of the entire event: “Love or fear? How do we stop running and step up to shape  our own future and the world’s?”. 313 artists from 50 countries entered the contest. We received allmost 600 artworks from Europe, Africa, North and South America, Australia and Asia!

The jury panel composed of artists and curators, including:
Adam Niklewicz / artist / North Haven, Connecticut, USA
Mark Titchner / artist / London, Great Britain
Małgorzata Augustyniak / art historian, representative of the Management Board of AMS SA / Warsaw, Poland
Rafał Góralski / artist, curator, Art Moves Festival director/ Toruń, Poland
selected 6 most interesting projects which will be exhibited on billboards during the Art Moves Festival 2025.

Here is the list of honoured artists:

Goyen Chen / Taiwan

Lex Drewiński / Poland

Gabriela Moskal / Poland

Ege Güllü (The Mamizine) / Belgium

Wojciech Janicki / Poland

Łukasz Dukowicz / Poland

Muzaffar Yulchiboev / Uzbekistan

Michał Łącki / Polska

The Main Award of 6000 PLN receives Goyen Chen from Taiwan.

In this edition of the festival, we were exhibited the works by 40 artists from 9 countries:

The show on the billboards, citylightes and on the LED screen:

Goyen Chen / Taiwan

Lex Drewiński / Poland

Gabriela Moskal / Poland

Ege Güllü (The Mamizine) / Belgium

Wojciech Janicki / Poland

Łukasz Dukowicz / Poland

Muzaffar Yulchiboev / Uzbekistan

Michał Łącki / Poland

Mark Titchner / Great Britain

Adam Niklewicz / USA

Ying-Hsiu, Chen i Hsiang-Ying, Chen / Taiwan

Krzysztof Skrzypczyk / Poland    

Krzysztof Białowicz / Poland

Aleksandra Sojak-Borodo / Poland

Joanna Górska (Galeria Rusz) / Poland

Rafał Góralski (Galeria Rusz) / Poland

The works of the following artists will be presented in the special show, on the pillar:

Zuo Biao Peng / China

Aleksandra Haduch / Poland

Anna Michalik / Poland

Christoph Stettler / Switzerland

Diana Kopeć / Poland

Dik Him Fung / China

Du Huanhuan i Li Mingliang / China

Grzegorz Myćka / Poland

Jagoda Węglewska / Poland

Josip Mijić / Croatia

Justyna Markiewicz / Poland

Kamil Skrzypiec / Poland

Klaudia Cisek / Poland

Marek Maciejczyk / Poland

Mateusz Domeradzki / Poland

Michał Dyakowski / Poland

Mimi Wasilewska / Poland

Peipei Hao / China

Piotr Depta-Kleśta / Poland

Po Hui Chen / Taiwan

Wei Su / Canada

Wenlong Zhang / China

Art Moves Festival was held under the honorary patronage of Piotr Całbecki, Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region and Paweł Gulewski, President of Toruń