Being in the world: The Cultural Resilience Lab in Nowa Huta

“In the cultural center we learn and teach how to be in the world and build community. This improves resilience - it builds resistance to crises; it has a preventive effect in the changing and uncertain world we live in.” Jarosław Klaś says at the official inauguration of the Lab in November 2024.

The event takes place in ARTzona, a large-scale exhibition and project space in Nowa Huta. The 40 participants of the opening ceremony take a seat in a large circle in the middle of the room. UKRAiNATV broadcasts the live video stream to more than 300 online visitors and connects to the 32 attendants of a hybrid breakfast in Kyiv. 

By meeting under one roof, a shared direction for action was established

The setup provided an opportunity for representatives of local institutions and individuals passionate about art, culture, and ecology in its broadest sense to come together. The OKN team says: “By meeting under one roof, a shared direction for action was established. The Laboratory is envisioned as a space for meetings, safety, and collective initiatives.”

The presence of representatives from various institutions, non-governmental organizations, researchers, scientists and engaged residents dedicated to the development and future of Nowa Huta highlighted the importance of the Real-World Laboratory. For OKN and its partners, the inauguration served as a moment to embrace diversity, define a common path, and take the first steps forward together.

Paweł Szczepanik, Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Krakow for Culture, says in his opening speech: “If we are to search anywhere, integrate, open up to people, build trust, and strengthen not only the resilience of cultural institutions but also social resilience, it is precisely in this sector: Culture.”

Małgorzata Hajto is the Deputy Director of OKN. She points to the fact that the role of the cultural centre has recently undergone major transformations, going beyond the accepted patterns in its activities. “Today, the cultural centre can be an extremely important place for discussions about crises and their effects. Culture facilitates understanding and interpreting reality and the changes taking place in it.”

Hajto underlines that the Norwid Cultural Centre is based on universal values, which helps build bonds and new communities, helps appreciate and nurture diversity, and finally strengthens the resilience of the community gathered around the institution. 

A sense of social equality, solidarity and connection

“The spirit of community should be particularly cultivated, giving participants of culture a sense of social equality, solidarity and connection, enhancing the sense of belonging. This is an extremely intense and strengthening experience, which we should notice especially in the life of the cultural centre.” 

During the opening, the artist collectives UKRAiNATV, Re:Frame.TV and PROTOTYP Quarterly facilitated collaborative activities such as creating a collage, writing together and sharing breakfast talks.

The opening of the Cultural Resilience Lab in Nowa Huta was preceded by a national inauguration in Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science with a poster session during the occasion co-Congress of Culture. This was followed by a presentation of the Cultural Resilience Lab in Nowa Huta during the conference “Research in the cultural sector. (Co-)creation” by Marta Materska-Samek, Sylwia Wrona, Joanna Kotlarz.