Biennale Warszawa was established in the late autumn of 2017 and it is a cultural institution financed from the Warsaw municipal budget. It was designed as an interdisciplinary hub working in a continuous manner at the intersection of various disciplines, with a distinct socio-political profile. It collaborates with other cultural institutions, non-governmental organizations, and social initiatives, and prepares an „interdisciplinary event in the form of a biennale”. Biennale Warszawa is an institution integrating artistic ideas with research, discursive and publishing activity, in accordance with a practice well-known and established in the art world. Primarily, however, it enabled the creation of a new type of institution that operates in parallel in the artistic and political areas, while attempting to reclaim influence not only through public debate but also social and political life.

Using the known and disputable biennale format, the Biennale Warszawa team applies it in a specific way. The main emphasis is placed on the ongoing programme of the institution, executed between subsequent editions of the festival. Therefore, „Biennale Warszawa” is, first and foremost, the name of a public institution of culture. Secondly, it encompasses two-year-long cycles of ongoing artistic, research and socio-political activities conducted collectively by the curatorial team. Finally, it designates the biennale itself, which in this instance is a complement, extension, and summary of the programming carried out over two years, rather than a separate event, entered into calendar of great exhibitions or festivals entrusted to eminent curators.