Taboo-free talks at the Malta Festival

Focusing on the foundation's core areas of work—menstruation, menopause, and andropause—exclusive, free events have been prepared for partners, mothers, children, fathers, women, and men. Admission to all events is free.

Intimate parts are body parts

On June 22nd, there will be a cozy breakfast with gynecologist Dr. Agnieszka Nalewczyńska, known on Instagram for discussing things we're too embarrassed to ask—even, or perhaps especially, in the office. This meeting for mothers and daughters will address topics that every adolescent girl needs to hear. It will be a talk about the body, puberty, but also about the changes and emotions that accompany them. On the same day, there will also be a Biustopogadanka (BUSTTalk) – about promoting healthy habits, breast positivity, choosing the right bra and breast self-examination as an effective method of early cancer detection. 

Until hormones do us part

We examine relationship tensions in the festival's most talked-about production: "The Second Woman," starring Magdalena Cielecka. During the 24-hour performance, the actress will reenact the same breakup scene with a hundred different partners. Each breakup has a different reason, starting point, and temperature. It often stems from understatements. Therefore, it's important to discuss it openly.

On June 24th, Odeta Moro will discuss relationship balance at different stages of life with guests. The series will open with the premiere of the spot "Menopause Without Taboo," directed by Monika Kmita, accompanied by a panel on femininity in adulthood.

Then during the Couple Balance meeting Mateusz Damięcki and Paulina Andrzejewska-Damięcka will discuss how to build and maintain balance in a relationship. How can you stay close despite daily responsibilities, parenting, professional challenges, and the changes that inevitably come with life? Balance isn't a state achieved once and for all. It's a process of constantly tuning in to each other.

A perfect complement to this talk will be Couple-Pause, a discussion centered around the book "Until Hormones Part Us." Its authors—gynecologist and endocrinologist Dr. Katarzyna Skórzewska and andrologist and sexologist Dr. Piotr Paweł Świniarski—address a topic that affects millions of couples, yet is still rarely discussed openly. What happens to a relationship when partners begin to drift apart? When intimacy becomes more difficult, and everyday life increasingly leads to frustration? Experts demonstrate that many changes stem from the natural processes associated with menopause and andropause. They will discuss the impact of hormones on relationships, sexuality, and emotions openly and without taboo.

Male perspective

One of the highlights of this year's Malta Festival will be the play "Distance." Tiago Rodrigues has created a moving story about the love between a father and daughter and the conversations we too often postpone—until they become the ones that are simply too late. This topic will be the starting point for the "Between Closeness and Distance" meeting (June 25th) devoted to male maturity and relationships with children. UW professor Jacek Wasilewski and actor Piotr Głowacki will participate in this no-holds-barred conversation, moderated by journalist Grzegorz Markowski. The discussion will touch on contemporary fatherhood, the emotional presence of men, communication between generations, and building closeness in a world that increasingly chooses independence over relationships. Andropause and the challenges men face as they age will also be discussed.

On the final day of Malta (June 28th), following the premiere of "The Second Woman," the Festival Club will also host a male audience participation circle led by sexologist and psychologist Dr. Robert Kowalczyk. Ten of Magdalena Cielecka's stage partners will sit in the circle, exploring their fresh post-performance emotions and their own experiences.

The meeting will be an attempt to look at how men experience emotional presence, closeness and contact with other people; what moves them, what they confront and how this influences the way they think about themselves, relationships and contemporary masculinity.

The conversation will not have a predetermined script. Mutual listening, responding to the stories of other participants, and building reflections in response to the experiences we hear will be crucial. This will not be an expert debate or a traditional panel discussion, but rather an open meeting devoted to emotions, relationships, and the various ways of experiencing masculinity.

We all go through this. Naturally.

In the center of Poznań, opposite the famous Maltese Steps, on the other side of Freedom Square, a unique gate will be erected – a massive performative installation by the Kulczyk Foundation. It is a striking intervention in the city's everyday landscape. A visual and emotional arrest. Passing through the gate is both physical and symbolic. Visitors will immerse themselves in a dense fabric of fringes and diverse forms, experiencing touch, closeness, and sometimes discomfort or pleasure. The installation engages the senses and body, creating an experience that is difficult to reduce to mere observation. It almost compels reflection. Especially when paired with the pulsating red neon sign: "We all go through this. Naturally." The project was created to highlight a socially important issue.

Kulczyk Foundation events as part of the Taboo-free Talks series

Performative installation "We All Go Through this. Naturally"
Date: June 21-28
Place: Freedom Square

Oh mother and daughter!
Date: June 22
Time: 9:00
Location: Zielona Weranda
Presenter: Dr. Agnieszka Nalewczyńska
Registration for the event is required: menstruacja@kulczykfoundation.org.pl , limited number of places, 13+

BUSTTalk
Date: June 22
Time: 14:00
Location: Atrium UAP (entrance from 23 Cała Street)
Presenter: Izabela Sakutova

Conversation and premiere of the spot " Menopause without taboos " directed by Monika Kmita
Date: June 24
Time: 5:00 PM
Location: Atrium UAP (entrance from 23 Cała Street)
Presenter: Odeta Moro
Guests: Dr. Alicja Długołęcka, Dr. Katarzyna Skórzewska, Anna Samsel

Couple Balance
Date: June 24
Time: 17:45
Location: Atrium UAP (entrance from 23 Cała Street)
Presenter: Odeta Moro
Guests: Mateusz Damięcki, Paulina Andrzejewska-Damięcka

Couple-Pause
Date: June 24
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Atrium UAP (entrance from 23 Cała Street)
Presenter: Odeta Moro
Guests: Dr. Katarzyna Skórzewska, Dr. Piotr Paweł Świniarski

Between closeness and distance
Date: June 25 Time: 7:00 PM Place: Aula Artis Presenter: Grzegorz Markowski Guests: Piotr Głowacki, Dr. Jacek Wasilewski

Men's Circle
Date: June 28 Time: 15:00 Place: Festival Club Presenter: Dr. Robert Kowalczyk