A paraphrase of the popular phrase, “art is not enough,” is the shortest way to describe Krzysztof Kuliś. I have known Krzysztof Kuliś for 20 years. We have been meeting in various situations and circumstances. These encounters seem like a stop motion film and this is how I am going to try to write about Krzysztof.

Action is the word which defines Krzysztof Kuliś: the Director of the BWA Art Exhibition Bureau in Nowy Sącz, Poland, the Chairman of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, the Chairman and founder of the Association of Polish Pastellists, competition judge and curator of exhibitions, painter, organiser of plein air painting events, an art critic. He had an idea for the National Pastel Biennale and the implementation of it put Nowy Sącz on the map as an art destination. From a national event, the Pastel Biennale soon went international, recognized and significant for art in general - not only ours, but also world art. The proof? The works in the thousands that are submitted to the competition.  The name of Nowy Sącz has become inseparably linked with pastel, thanks to Krzysztof and his team at the Art Exhibition Bureau. A technique that is widely considered unstable and of lesser value, becomes rediscovered and gains great acclaim among art connoisseurs, viewers and creators from around the world. The town of Nowy Sącz owes a great deal to Krzysztof, as perhaps also do even slightly wider circles. . .?

(t/r AK)