Warsaw
Observatory
of Culture

At the Warsaw Observatory of Culture we aim to explore the processes of contemporary culture and share our findings with the wider community. We believe that connecting art and artists with scholarship affords us a better understanding of the world and the tools to engage with and contribute to the future.
About Us
Activity
On the WOK.radar
How do the people of Warsaw participate in culture?
The Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK) has developed a new research approach to better understand how people use the city's cultural offer.
Study on the Situation of Artists and Artist-Parents of Children Aged 0–6 in the Creative Labor Market
The Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK) is launching a research project dedicated to the situation of parents working in creative professions. We are witnessing a paradigm shift for mother/father/parent-artistic individuals—from the historical exclusion of combining a career in the arts with caregiving responsibilities to an increasingly common need to function in both realms and to fulfil the role of practising artist on an equal footing with the role of a parent.
REPORT: Who are we all? The Experience of Cooperation on Theatre Projects between Polish Cultural Organisations and Belarusian Artists
The publication Jacy tacy nowacy? Doświadczenia współpracy polskich organizacji kulturalnych z białuskimi artystami w zakresie projektów teatralnych [Who are we all? The Experience of Cooperation on Theatre Projects between Polish Cultural Organisations and Belarusian Artists] attempts to observe the cooperation of Belarusian artists and artist groups with Warsaw-based cultural institutions on theatre projects. We are primarily interested in the challenges and possibilities of supporting artists.

Residency – resilience. Recruitment for the third edition of the WOK.residency programme

The Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK) is pleased to announce the third edition of the WOK.residency programme. The experience gained so far confirms our conviction that it is worth continuing to accompany artists and researchers in their development and search for new ways of acting, offering them conditions for reflection and supporting the implementation of new ideas. In 2025, the keyword will be resilience, which we understand as the ability to adapt and be flexible in the face of the volatility, unpredictability and complexity of today’s world. By strengthening the individual practices of WOK.residencies participants, we aim to build the resilience of the arts and cultural community.

More about: Residency – resilience. Recruitment for the third edition of the WOK.residency programme

Publication Artistic, Collective, Metropolitan. Warsaw art studios as micro-institutions

The publication which sums up the project Artistic, Collective, Metropolitan. Warsaw art studios as micro-institutions address the issue of creative work, its regulatory frameworks and constraints through viaf the functioning of art studios. Focusing on city-owned properties, studios rented on the commercial market, the creative space available at the Academy of Fine Arts, and studios run by creative cooperatives, we explore the different ways in which creative work can be organised, which usually depends on the availability of dedicated space.

More about: Publication <em>Artistic, Collective, Metropolitan. Warsaw art studios as micro-institutions</em>

How to create a dance house? Joanna Leśnierowska in conversation with Eva Broberg

We need stable long-term funded institutions to sustain the work and protect the community from multiple crises that are going to haunt us more and more. If you don’t have any structure at all, if everything relies on independent artists and NGOs, all the competence is at risk and likely to be gone when hard times come – says Eva Broberg in conversation with Joanna Leśnierowska.

More about: How to create a dance house? Joanna Leśnierowska in conversation with Eva Broberg

The museum is ours. A conversation with Joanna Mytkowska

Will the new model for a cultural institution be an outlet in a state of constant formation, uninterrupted transformation and repurposing? How do you manage a museum that is constantly migrating, under construction, shrinking and expanding its space? Joanna Mytkowska, the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw talks about managing an elusive structure.

More about: The museum is ours. A conversation with Joanna Mytkowska