for artists

26 lutego 2024 roku Warszawskie Obserwatorium Kultury zorganizowało spotkanie przedstawicielek środowiska tanecznego ze Slavą Gepnerem, dyrektorem zarządzającym i artystycznym oraz pomysłodawcą TanzFaktur w Kolonii. Spotkanie miało na celu poznanie historii tej instytucji oraz zdobycie wiedzy o tym, jak budować nowe miejsce dla tańca, czego w tym procesie unikać oraz jak współpracować ze środowiskiem niezależnych tancerzy i choreografów. Spotkanie moderowała Joanna Leśnierowska.

Na zlecenie Warszawskiego Obserwatorium Kultury IPSOS przeprowadził badania na temat nowej instytucji – sceny tańca współczesnego. Raport dostarcza informacji na temat potrzeb środowiska i oczekiwań publiczności, a także zawiera rekomendacje dotyczące założeń programu pilotażowego nowej sceny tańca. Jest to część prowadzonego przez WOK wieloetapowego procesu wspierającego powstawanie tej placówki.

The Committee consisting of Justyna Czarnota-Misztal, Anna Galas-Kosil, Michał Krawczak, and Joanna Synowiec would like to thank all the applicants for the submitted aplications and materials. The process of reading and familiarising ourselves with them was demanding but it also made us aware of the diverse needs for support within the artistic and research community.

The Warsaw Observatory of Culture is inviting applications for the second edition of its residency programme, which aims to enable reflection and self-development as well as creative and research work. The idea of ​​slowing down the pace and creating comfortable yet flexible conditions for development seems brave and significant in today's world, where there is often a demand for rapid creation and delivery of completed works.

The paradigm of the artist-mother (and other parents) is changing from one that has historically excluded combining a career in the art world with caring responsibilities, to the increasingly common need to function in both worlds and to fulfil the role of a practising artist on an equal footing with that of a parent.

Czego warszawskie środowisko artystyczne oczekuje od niezależnych przestrzeni twórczych?

Pomysły na projekty zwykle przychodzą mi do głowy ze wszystkiego, co widziałam, słyszałam i czytałam w określonym momencie, a to wymaga czasu i możliwości skupienia się na tym procesie.

Poprzez swoją aktywność uparcie dążę do tego, by zmienić Polskę w kraj przyjazny dla wszystkich, w miejsce wypełnione akceptacją, radością i wolnością ekspresji.

Potrzebę radykalnej zmiany w relacjach z więcej-niż-ludźmi zauważyłam, gdy próbowałam zdefiniować kryzys klimatyczny jako kryzysu dialogu.

Moja zmiana to wyjście z imaginarium do realu.

On Friday, 1 December 2023, an engaging workshop on architecture took place at the Museum of Modern Art at ul. Pańska 3. The session was led by Maciej Siuda, the mastermind behind the project to transform the Vistula River Pavilion into a dance centre. The event consisted of two modules: a presentation and a hands-on session. It successfully brought together a diverse group, including representatives from the theatre and dance communities specialising in directing, choreography, performance and architecture. Participants also included technical staff from Nowy Teatr and TR Warszawa and members of the Culture Office of the City of Warsaw.

In late October, the WOK Lab hosted a presentation of Artwork by Florin Flueras. In it, Florin Flueras shifts the focus from the final product of art to the process of experiencing it and asks whether art that transcends consumption is possible. The show featured Eliza Trefas, Martina Piazzi and Florin Flueras.

From January 22nd to February 2nd, 2024, a cohort of 100, professionals, students and teachers from Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and the UK will converge in Warsaw and Lviv with a collective mission to create sustainable solutions addressing Ukraine’s urgent need for a sustainable recovery. Workshop activities will take place daily at the WOK Lab space. The main project partners are Umeå University, Umeå School of Architecture, University of Limerick, and Kharkiv School of Architecture.

Are cultural institutions destined to be organised in traditional ways? How can we think differently about structure and working methods? What kind of model would we like to see if we are tired of the hierarchy of roles? How can we communicate effectively? How can we make decisions safe and fast? These and other questions drove the workshop on the basics of sociocracy that I ran for the team of the Warsaw Observatory of Culture. Here is a brief overview of the model discussed for those interested in self-organisation.

Katarzyna Belczyk produced a series of drawings during the rehearsals for the List of Shortcomings presented at WOK. The works inspire reflection on the cultural sector as a working environment.

The Warsaw Observatory of Culture is researching the local artistic community and its needs by observing the municipal infrastructure of art studios. The aim of the project is to increase the visibility of art studios and empower artists by highlighting the importance of these premises to the functioning of the city’s cultural scene.

In mid-November, we visited the Nowy Theatre on ul. Madalińskiego as part of our work on planning the Warsaw Dance Centre. This time we were inspired by a post-industrial space adapted to the needs of a theatre.

At the beginning of November, we went on a study visit with representatives of the dance community to the Vistula Pavilion, which now houses the Museum of Modern Art. The pavilion will be adapted to meet the needs of a pilot dance programme next year.

How is it possible that the capital of a Central European country with a population of almost 40 million does not yet have a venue dedicated to one of the most dynamically developing performing arts? - asks Joanna Leśnierowska in a conversation with Julia Hoczyk.

List of Shortcomings is an interdisciplinary theatre project developed by a team of community artists from the Association of Theatre Educators and the Warsaw Observatory of Culture. Together we want to discuss culture as a working environment, the prevalence of precariat as a form of (un)employment in culture and the conditions, hierarchies and the discrepancies between stated values and their realisation.

Presenting the solutions developed by experts for the cultural sector during a time of transition. On 26 September, a debate on the organisation of the financing and functioning of culture in Poland took place at the Nowy Teatr in Warsaw. The debate focused on four main issues: the law on the status of professional artists, cultural institutions, the decentralisation of culture, and social and civic culture.

Elise Bernhardt led a workshop which launched a study aimed at facilitating the process of modelling a dance institution in Warsaw.

On 7–9 September, a conference on the creation of the Belarusian Institute of Theatre (BIT) was held at WOK.

How can immigrant artistic communities be integrated into the structure of Warsaw's cultural institutions? Can art be used as a tool for integration? This is a summary of a series of presentations held as part of the Future of Culture Forum 2022. The event was organised by the Powszechny Theatre in cooperation with the Warsaw Observatory of Culture.

In October, the second workshop for the dance community took place at the Warsaw Observatory of Culture. This is the next stage of the work on modelling a new dance institution in Warsaw. The meeting was attended by representatives of dance organisations, the Culture Bureau of the City of Warsaw and WOK. The workshop was chaired by Joanna Leśnierowska.

At the Warsaw Observatory of Culture, in collaboration with the dance community, the Culture Bureau of the City of Warsaw, and the Museum of Modern Ar, we are developing a yearly pilot program at the Pavilion by the Vistula River. Our goal is to establish a dance institution in Warsaw.

We present a summary of the discussion Conversations on the performing arts ecosystem: Production House vs. Dance Stage, or How They Do It in Berlin... held on 26 April 2023 at the Komuna Warszawa theatre, with the participation of Joanna Szymajda (dance curator associated with the Art Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences), Urszula Kropiwiec (Deputy Director of Nowy Teatr in Warsaw), Wojtek Ziemilski (director), and Grzegorz Laszuk (co-founder of Komuna Warszawa). The discussion was moderated by Piotr Morawski. The Warsaw Observatory of Culture was a partner of the meeting.

At the Warsaw Observatory of Culture, we carefully monitor the contemporary artistic landscape and the mechanisms that condition it. We are interested in the changes that are currently taking place in this field.

The Warsaw Observatory of Culture was a partner of an international discussion panel during the 22nd edition of the Ciało/Umysł Festival. Our research interests are close to the topic of the state of the creative sector, taking into account the psychophysical well-being and working conditions of people working in the cultural sector, which, among other things, was the subject of the meeting on 7 October 2023.

On the 16th and 17th of September 2023 at the WOK Lab we invited actors and actresses to take part in a workshop led by Agnieszka Glińska and Weronika Pelczyńska. During the workshop, we looked for tools and methods for inner stabilisation and stimulation.

At WOK, Marta Seredyńska is researching the working conditions of freelancers working in the field of contemporary and conceptual dance.

On 15 July 2023, as part of my residency at the Warsaw Observatory of Culture and Herbal Artistic Research, I organised a herbal zine workshop with the participation of Chwaściarnia (a herbal studio I run as part of the Autonomous Educational Space in Jazdów) and my guests. I also invited artists and educators Joanna Klikowicz and Adu Rączka to co-lead the meeting.

There are the conclusions of the discussion entitled Residencies and fellowships, or how to live on(off) the stage/Conversations about the performing arts ecosystem, held as part of a series of conversations on the performing arts system. The meeting took place on 23 June 2023, at Komuna Warszawa.

WOK Lab host the FSH1 platform for Belarusian photographers. On July 12, 2023, a networking meeting was held aimed at people from the Belarusian art community interested in contemporary photography.

On May 31, the Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK) held a meeting between the holders of the City of Warsaw scholarship with directors of cultural institutions. Its purpose was to encourage discussion on matters important to culture in Warsaw now and from a long-term perspective of 150 years. The experts from infuture.institute, whose report served as inspiration, estimated that adopting this long-term perspective is crucial for ensuring a positive future for our cities and culture, benefiting our children and grandchildren.

The Museum Watch Governance Management Project was drafted to help the museum community address management challenges more efficiently. The idea emerged out of the existing Museum Watch Programme, introduced by CIMAM with the aim ‘to assist modern and contemporary art museum professionals in dealing with critical situations that undermine their ability to undertake their professional practice and effect a museum’s ability to operate to international standards of best practice’.

The document contains recommendations, guidelines, and inspirations on the subject matter of projects, ways, and methods of working with recipients, as well as support tools for individuals conducting activities in the field of cultural education. The Cultural Education in Warsaw document intends to aid in planning individual educational activities an comprehensive strategies of institutions in which cultural education plays an essential role.

The Cultural Map of Warsaw project is developed alongside our other projects, and research and artistic processes. By adding new thematic layers, we will develop a map of Warsaw, or more precisely, a map of Warsaws – accessible, created and respected by different groups. We want it to benefit the people of Warsaw, respond to their needs, and inspire them to make unusual and surprising discoveries.

A showcase of the work Secondary Archive: Ukrainian artists' sound statements was shown in the WOK's front window from 23 February until 5 March 2023. The installation could be seen and heard from 34/50 Marszałkowska Street.

We would like to thank all the shortlisted participants for the inspiring conversations. During the interviews, our aim was to understand the needs of the applicants as best as possible and to determine the conditions necessary to support them in their exploration processes.

The Committee, composed of Szymon Adamczak, Małgorzata Bakalarz-Duverger, Anna Galas-Kosil, and Magdalena Komornicka, would like to thank all the applicants for their submissions and materials. The reading and evaluation process was crucial and inspiring for us.

Process-ing Change. An Artistic and Research Accompaniment

On 17–28 March, WOK Lab hosted eighteen participants and four mentors for the curatorial and research activities of Territory in/out.

Warsaw became one of over 70 cities globally that offer refuge to artists and activists. The Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK) was appointed the coordinating institution of residencies executed as part of the ICORN (International Cities of Refuge Network). The contract between the Capital City of Warsaw and the ICORN network was signed on July 20, 2023 at City Hall.

At the Warsaw Observatory of Culture, we know education and culture have a prominent role. In the ever-changing reality, given the new challenges and global and local crises that keep cropping up, we need tools to develop soft social skills and artistic tools, much needed to establish and maintain relationships. This is the rationale for our involvement in studying cultural education in Warsaw, and we made it one of our core programming priorities.

WOK Lab – workshop space located at ul. Marszałkowska 34/50
WOK Office – you can find us at ul. Mokotowska 29a in Warsaw.

Since we work on a project basis, we do not have regular office hours. If you wish to visit us at the office, please contact us so we can schedule an appointment.

We have prepared an Ethics Map to help everyone, working at and collaborating with WOK, understand the essence of the desired behaviours and conduct. This is the kind of institution we want to create, and this is how we want to live and work together.

The Warsaw Observatory of Culture runs an artistic-research residency programme. Every year, in early spring, we announce a new thematic edition and format of the few-month-long WOK Residencies.

We believe that knowledge and culture have much to offer and can serve as a platform for mutual conversation and formulating an outlook for the future. We also want to create a space for experimentation and exploration for people working in art and involved in research work. We are interested in non-obvious forms and formats in projects that bridge local practice and global discourse.

Let's get to know each other! The Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK) is a new cultural institution of the Capital City of Warsaw. It presents a completely innovative format and has been operational since September 1, 2022.