Project for Warsaw – Operational program for the development of creative potential and support for artists

The second operational programme concerning Warsaw cultural institutions is being developed by a team from the Kraków University of Economics led by Prof. Jerzy Hausner. A good introduction to our task and working method is the conversation that Prof. Tomasz Szlendak (Nicolaus Copernicus University, member of the PRK Steering Committee) conducted a study with Edwin Bendyk, published on the website of the Warsaw Culture Office: Tomasz Szlendak: You and your team prepared a project to look at the field of Warsaw cultural production. What do you mean here? How will this project proceed? Edwin Bendyk: The task of the team that was established as part of the Future Cities Laboratory that I created at the University of Warsaw is to prepare an operational program for the Culture Development Program. We deal with the "development of creative potential and support for artists", i.e. translating the goals indicated in the PRK into the language of specific, operational recommendations. And we read there that in 2020. Warsaw is a city that has focused on the development of creativity, both in the avant-garde, experimental and classical dimensions; developed in institutions, in non-governmental organizations, within the creative sector and, of course, by artists. PRK provides a good introduction to the issue, not only defining the goals, but also formulating a preliminary diagnosis of Warsaw's creative potential. Starting from this point, we began our work by formulating a theoretical model in which we refer to the latest research findings and practical experiences regarding the issue of creativity. In short, creative activity is an individuation practice in which both the individual subject – the artist, creator – and his environment, the city – a complex structure influencing this creative subject through its institutions, visible and invisible circulations of criticism, places for exchanging opinions and building prestige, the culture and art market, and the system of cultural and artistic education, participate. Tomasz Szlendak: I know that the first stage of your project is to create a map of Warsaw culture. Edwin Bendyk: Yes, the first stage is an in-depth diagnosis of the existing creative potential, a map of Warsaw culture showing spatially the places emanating creative energy and those places, spatial nodes that influence culture-forming processes: clubs, galleries, institutions, people, and media institutions. The diagnostic process is quite complex because we analyse existing documents; we examine metacultural discourse, i.e. the way culture speaks about itself through the media and other venues that deal with criticism; we examine the presence of Warsaw culture in the so-called prestige economy, i.e. in the system of local and supra-local awards and distinctions. Finally, the most interesting, but also the most difficult stage of the diagnostic process – individual and focus interviews with the most important actors of the Warsaw creative scene. The diagnosis and the map created on its basis will enable us to formulate hypotheses regarding the best methods of impact; in simple terms, we will consider a range of solutions, from instruments supporting individual artists through solutions in the field of education to the management of public space and cultural institutions. We have no preconceptions or hidden agenda beyond the framework defined by the PRK. We also know that developing a programme proposal within the planned deadline will require intensive cooperation with Warsaw’s cultural and social circles. And we are not so much concerned with serving all interests as with the most effective process of co-creating knowledge about Warsaw culture. Tomasz Szlendak: When you look at the Warsaw cultural map, what do you see in the foreground? What catches your eye? Edwin Bendyk: First of all, Warsaw culture is one of the most important aspects of the city's capital and metropolitan nature. A significant part of Warsaw's culture and artistic life has a supra-urban dimension and is a phenomenon noticed by the national media. This situation is intensified by the strong presence of national cultural institutions and capital, which makes Warsaw also the Polish centre of creative industries. Warsaw is therefore a metropolis, which is visible in its culture, and at the same time it is a city composed of 18 districts, which is also increasingly visible in local cultural and artistic initiatives undertaken by city cultural institutions, social organizations and the independent scene: clubs, galleries, grassroots initiatives. The vitality and strength of these independent circuits is impressive, but it also reveals a certain structural weakness – these initiatives create an archipelago of islands that communicate poorly or not at all with each other. This could be seen during the inaugural meeting of the Prague Cultural Platform. While the metropolitan dimension of Warsaw culture takes care of its presence in the social consciousness, the urban, local culture of Warsaw is largely terra incognita, which is why it is so interesting. Tomasz Szlendak: Do you think Warsaw will have to answer CLEARLY what interests it in terms of cultural policy? Will it be a transgression in art, an experiment and emancipation? Or maybe rather stabilizing the structure through culture, i.e. tradition? Edwin Bendyk: A clear strategy for Warsaw culture based on selecting specific directions of support will not be possible. Warsaw must balance the metropolitan dimension with the local dimension also in the cultural space. Of course, it is impossible to support all initiatives with equal attention. The set of instruments we are creating is intended to help define optimal policies, with the intention, however, to pay special attention to places and creative initiatives that emerge somewhere on the margins and that may have great potential that goes beyond their original niche. The point is not to miss something – Warsaw as a metropolis will not be able to measure up to the metropolises of the most developed countries in material terms for a long time, but the original creative potential does not depend on material resources and is distributed more or less evenly. Gilberto Gil proved this by implementing the Pontos de cultura program in Brazil, which revealed the culture-creating potential of favelas. To sum up, it is about a dynamic balance between supporting initiatives that are already recognized, which determine the strength of Warsaw culture, and supporting what is most important in culture – autonomous and spontaneous creative initiatives, because of course not all of them, but certainly some of them will determine the strength of Warsaw culture in the future. Tomasz Szlendak: What is more important for Warsaw's cultural policy: the race with other metropolises or maintaining the offer for the residents of such a diverse urban structure? Edwin Bendyk: Warsaw is doomed to develop metropolitan functions, this also applies to culture. It must therefore invest in cultural infrastructure worthy of a metropolis, something it has had considerable trouble with so far, and it must also support initiatives and institutions participating in global culture. In this way, not only is metropolitan vanity satisfied, but the needs of the growing cosmopolitan metropolitan class are also met. Its representatives expect an offer in Warsaw that is as attractive and original as in other world cities. This dimension of culture, however, does not have to conflict with the development of culture and culture-creating initiatives that meet the aspirations and needs of residents of districts and housing estates who do not participate directly in the global symbolic circulation. However, the division into the global, metropolitan and local, urban dimensions is often artificial – cultural locality, alternative scenes, clubs are increasingly becoming an aspect of the metropolitan dimension. An example is the offer of travel agencies offering exotic tours around Warsaw's Praga, the so-called places of authentic local culture which are, after all, a product of contemporary creation.