summary

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.

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.

One year has passed. During this time, we have achieved a great deal, but there have also been many surprises along the way. For us, it has been a period of formation and defining the identity of our institution. The most important experience for us thus far has been change. We understand it both as the dynamics of a contemporary, uncertain world and as the condition of a cultural institution that aims to break down established patterns of thought and attitude. That is why experimentation is embedded in our DNA.

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.

In December 2022, the Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK) concluded a contest for the design of the institution’s visual identity. It was a process we wanted to run in a model-based way, and, as time has shown, the model works. We are sharing our knowledge and expertise to develop best practices in the cooperation between cultural institutions and graphic designers.

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.

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.