WOK.cast: Being a Director
We are witnessing a social, political and cultural transformation. There is a tension between the old patterns rooted in violence, individualism, domination and profit-seeking, and a new template that stands for equality, diversity, respect for the fragility of the individual, and at the same time values communal bonds and ecosystemic vulnerability.
Cultural institutions are now in a trickle. The artists, animators and educators working within them are developing languages to describe the new world, aesthetics to reflect it and practices to make the new ideas real. Old laws and economics, however, do not allow these ideas to manifest themselves in the management of institutions and the way they are organised.
WOK.cast
Before the new paradigm is reflected in cultural legislation or a new approach to business, the people who run the institutions try to bring about change themselves. What tools do they use? What discourses and practices do they choose? What exactly does the idea of “transforming cultural institutions” convey? What procedures are put in place, what emotions are provoked, what languages of communication are used to talk to cultural workers? Are there insurmountable obstacles along the way, and if so, how can we deal with them?
We put these and other questions to the directors of Warsaw’s cultural institutions. We want to use the practical knowledge gained from these interviews to formulate guidelines for promoting institutional change. Perhaps they could even serve as a framework for developing new solutions.
Igor Stokfiszewski
dr Olga Wysocka
Olga Wysocka and Igor Stokfiszewski interviewed the directors of Warsaw’s cultural institutions. In 2022, they competed for the position of director of the Warsaw Observatory of Culture. Both Wysocka and Stokfiszewski are aware of the need for change in the cultural sphere and its institutions, a transformation from the old to the new. They have joined forces to discover, drawing on their own experience, how to change institutions, build alliances and create a modern, vibrant and necessary culture. They are also interested in identifying the things that change when you become the director of an institution and when a vision collides with reality.
Episode list
The Museum of Warsaw, together with its branches, is a group of 10 institutions with 260 employees. Its director, Karolina Ziębińska, talks about the challenges of managing an institution with such a complex structure, which is at the same time searching for its own identity at the intersection of the idea of a historical museum, a modern art gallery, and a place of remembrance and local activities.
Is it possible to run a large municipal theatre, known for its high artistic aspirations in a sensitive, inclusive and humane way? Anna Rochowska, director of TR Warszawa, talks about her daily challenges in trying to mix fire and water.
Community culture centres are not what they seem. The Ochota Culture Centre OKO is certainly not. Alicja Brudło, director of OKO, talks about running a multi-generational public institution with grass-roots energy, combining art and animation of the diverse local community.
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.
The British Brutalists, cultural activism and a theatre attacked by right-wing extremists – Paweł Łysak, director of Warsaw’s Powszechny Theatre, talks about the behind-the-scenes work of running an institution in the midst of political tensions.
How can popular culture be presented in museums? Is the pursuit of pleasure and the intention to make people laugh ambitious enough for an institution? Can we tell a meme? Find out how Paweł Płoski, director of the Warsaw Caricature Museum, sees his role.
The WOK.cast series Being a Director was created as part of a partnership between the Warsaw Observatory of Culture and Jasna 10: the Krytyka Polityczna Municipal Cultural Institutions. The interviews took place between October 2023 and April 2024.