The movement was founded under the name Market project in 1985 in Poznan (Poland) with founders Boris Nieslony, Zygmunt Piotrowski, Tomas Ruller and Jürgen Fritz.
In 1990/91 the group appeared as Black Market International, with personal changes .
The title Black Market does not designate a group, but rather an idea of working.
The aim is to promote - like in a black market - open and free exchange of ideas, and to achieve an Art of Encounter, or mixed englisch-german “Art of Begegnung”.
[1] Until 2014, the group had twelve regular members: Past Black Market International members were: Several international guest artists have been invited to collaborate in BMI performances throughout the years.