The Impart 2016 Festival Office was established in 2012 as a result of a merger of two institutions: Wrocław 2016 – an organisation responsible for Wrocław’s successful application for the title of European Capital of Culture and the “Impart” Art Centre – an organisation which has been creating the city’s cultural landscape for several decades. The new organisation became the organisational centre of the ECoC year; it has implemented hundreds of projects, and in the case of many others it collaborated with over 350 partners and thousands of Wrocław residents. Wrocław, as one of the few European Capitals of Culture, decided to support the operations of the unit responsible for organising the celebrations after the title was passed on. “From the very beginning, we knew that the institution responsible for the organisation of the ECoC would remain open to Wrocław residents after 2016, and with it, the most important projects initiated in the year of the celebrations would be continued,” said Rafał Dutkiewicz, Mayor of Wrocław. “The European Commission’s report evaluating the ECoC initiative in Wrocław assessed spoke very highly of this decision.” The multitude of ECoC achievements, the need to preserve the long-term legacy of the “Impart” Art Centre and the new challenges, which the organisation has to yet face all decided that it would start 2018 as Culture Zone Wrocław.
The new programme of the organisation is divided into three areas, comprising projects created as part of ECoC Wrocław 2016, as well as projects previously implemented by the “Impart” Art Centre and Impart 2016 Festival Office and those established as a result of the evaluation conducted in 2017. “The shape of our institution is the sum of several dozen years of experience in building Wrocław culture,” Krzysztof Maj, General Director of the Culture Zone Wrocław, explained. “The European Capital of Culture has added another wonderful chapter to this history. Continuing our activities will provide further opportunities for residents to benefit from the heritage of the ECoC.” The activities of the Culture Zone Wrocław are based on three main pillars: places, festivals and programmes.
PLACES filled with culture
Among all places included in the Culture Zone Wrocław , Impart is the one with the longest history – for many years, the venue, which is widely considered as one of the best acoustic spaces in the city, hosted numerous festivals and reviews held in Wrocław, as well as concerts, performances and jam sessions. Another venue belonging to the Zone – Barbara – is located in the very heart of the city. A legendary fast food outlet, which was turned into a venue open to the residents of Wrocław, with a space for cultural activities, a café run by Etno Cafe, infopoint and reading room. The list of venues also includes the Engraver’s House, which carries on with the heritage of Eugeniusz Get-Stankiewicz, the Gallery at the Main Railway Station with over 1000 square meters of exhibition space and Residences for Residents, as well as the Studio at Komuny Paryskiej 45 – a place of neighbourly meetings in Przedmieście Olawskie. There are also two venues on the cultural map of Wrocław, the opening of which is still being prepared. Later this year, the Reception will be launched in the Ruska 46 Backyard, and the Nowe Żerniki Culture Centre will be launched in spring of 2019.
Exceptional FESTIVAL editions
The second area of Culture Zone’s Wrocław activities are festivals, which are lauded and appreciated in Poland and abroad. The last days of April are traditionally reserved for jazz music. During the 54th edition of Jazz on the Odra Festival, the audience will once again have an opportunity to listen to the results of a collaboration between Leszek Możdżer, the artistic director of the festival, with the winners of last year’s Jazz Individuality Contest, and on 30 April the International Polish Jazz Day will be celebrated again. All literature enthusiasts should mark the calendar on June 9th. This year’s European Night of Literature will take Wroclaw residents outside the city centre – this time, fragments of the best prose will be heard in ten locations in the Przedmieście Oławskie district. The programme of the upcoming edition will be developed by Michał Nogaś – a new curator of the ENL, who will invite an artist associated with Wrocław’s literary circles to collaborate. The Culture Zone Wrocław also organises the Non Sola Scripta International Organ Festival. The 25th anniversary edition will be held on summer Sundays in the Church of the Holy Cross on Cathedral Isle – a venue that remains unavailable to visitors and tourists on a daily basis. Another opportunity to celebrate will be the 10th anniversary of the WROsound Festival. Since last year’s edition, the curator has been the key to the “local” nature of the event – every year, one of the artists associated with Wrocław is tasked with creating the musical programme, showing how local music goes together with music from other cities, as well as with art by foreign artists. The Dziecinada International Children’s Theatre Festival, the only theatrical event of such a scale in the city addressed to the youngest audiences, will surely heat up the autumn. Adult theatre enthusiasts will have to wait until 2019 for the 10th anniversary edition of the Dialog – Wrocław International Theatre Festival.
Local and international cooperation PROGRAMMES
Programmes, which comprise both local, national and international activities are the third pillar of the Culture Zone Wrocław. They include the well-known microGRANTS project – the programme of project co-organisation, which aims at choosing and supporting the best ideas of Wrocław residents for local activities of a cultural and creative nature, or In the Neighbourhood – a programme of local cultural events for the residents of four neighbourhoods in Wrocław (Ołbin, Brochów and Przedmieście Oławskie will be joined by Kleczków in 2018). The list also includes the Wrocław Publishing Programme aimed at publishers of books and magazines, as well as AIR Wro – a programme of residences study visits and international cooperation. AIR Wro will also carry on with Mobile Culture – a programme supporting the mobility of local artists, which was established last year. The Culture Zone Wrocław will continue to operate within the framework of the Coalition of Cities, which in the coming years will be implemented as a joint initiative of partnered cities, aimed at improving competencies and developing the field of culture. In 2018, the Practitioners of Culture programme will also come to fruition. The programme is aimed at preparing creators of culture to respond to the needs of their audiences, co-creating places dedicated to culture, as well as developing cooperation networks at the local, national and global levels.
Culture needed daily
Apart from the activities specified in its programmes, the Culture Zone Wrocław also publishes the Wrocław Cultural Guide monthly – the only magazine with extensive information about the cultural life of Wrocław. “The current shape of the Guide is the result of an extensive discussion in the artistic circles regarding the need for a single magazine, where everybody will have their own space,” Dominika Kawalerowicz, deputy programming director explains the idea behind the magazine. “The great interest in the Guide revealed that a periodical presenting Wrocław culture is a valuable tool, both for the organisers of cultural life in the city, as well as its participants.” Each issue comprises a calendar with announcements of several dozen events organised by Wrocław institutions, associations and organisations, as well as features, including interviews, lifestyle guides, columns and city guides. The free monthly magazine is published in a bilingual (Polish-English) version and contains a special supplement addressed to the Ukrainian minority.
