In the 1960s, photo exhibitions at the Zachęta CBWA became more and more frequent. Interest in photography stemmed not only from an increasing artistic emancipation of this ‘new’ medium, which began to occupy an important place in the modernist artistic practice and reflection on the visual arts, but also its educational and propaganda potential.

1969 saw two simultaneous exhibitions, held from 19 September to 10 October. The first was titled 25 Years of the Polish People’s Republic in Photography, while the second was the exhibition in question — Warsaw 1945 in the Photography of Leonard Sempoliński. Both exhibitions were later showcased outside Warsaw and widely commented on in the national papers.

In the introduction to the catalogue of the 1968 Exhibition of Contemporary French Painting, deputy commissioner Maurice Allemand stated ‘We hope that the collection of works represented here will not be a source of disappointment’. By reviewing the press mentions regarding the exhibition, one may come to the conclusion that the reality did not live up to his expectations.

Contrary to the large Danish art exhibition organised by the Central Bureau of Art Exhibitions in 1961, this exhibition covered only the works of the young generation of Danish artists. Its context, as well as the source and authorship of the concept remain elusive.

Despite the protests that engulfed the streets of Warsaw on the 8 March 1968, the Central Bureau of Art Exhibitions presented the Unique Forms of Continuity in Space — a famous sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. The list of artists, whose works were presented at the Contemporary Italian Art. 100 Works from Futurism to the Present Day exhibition featured numerous artists, including Carlo Carrà, Gino Severini, Giacomo Balla, Giorgio de Chirico, Enrico Prampolini, Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Michelangelo Pistoletto, as well as American artist Cy Twombly, who lived in Rome at the time.

The retrospective exhibition of Stanisław Witkiewicz, also known as Witkacy, which opened at Zachęta on 9 October 1967, featured 130 works by the artist, including 97 paintings and 33 drawings. Among the presented paintings, only 9 oil canvasses were showed alongside 88 pastel works.