About Us
Our Vision
Pontium Foundation bridges divides and fosters dialogue across cultures and conflicts through human rights, art, and storytelling. We are dedicated to advancing and protecting fundamental rights by combining creative practice with critical engagement.
Our approach is grounded in the belief that art and materiality can restore presence and empathy in an increasingly polarized digital age. Through visual research, publications, and public forums, we create modern agoras where human connection transcends ideology and where dialogue becomes a force for understanding and accountability.
Hands-on and collaborative, Pontium operates at the intersection of advocacy and aesthetics—working directly with communities, institutions, and artists to raise awareness, educate, and inspire meaningful change. Our visual direction embraces clarity and gravity while remaining contemporary and human, reflecting our core mission: to make human rights felt, seen, and shared.
Team
Ryszard Komenda
Founder & Human Rights Director
Ryszard Komenda is an international human rights lawyer and policy advisor with over 30 years of experience working with the United Nations, national governments, and civil society across Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus. His career has focused on strengthening democratic governance, conflict prevention, and the protection of fundamental rights in post-conflict and transitional contexts.
He has served as the Regional Representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for Central Asia, as well as Senior Human Rights Advisor to UN Country Teams in multiple regions. Ryszard has also held leadership roles in UNIFEM, DFAIT, and CIDA, contributing to the advancement of human rights education, women’s empowerment, and institutional reform.
Through the Pontium Foundation, he seeks to bridge his lifelong commitment to human rights with intergenerational dialogue and the arts—supporting visual and narrative projects that foster empathy, critical reflection, and cross-cultural understanding in the face of growing global polarisation.