Wrocław, a Polish city with a cosmopolitan history, is a reduced model of Europe where the greatest diversity has accumulated within a small space. Openness has been a constitutive feature of our city throughout its history. Wrocław is also a cultural laboratory, in which a process of mutual metamorphoses of various cultures, coming into contact in this city in the past and today, goes on continuously.
The citizens of Wrocław – inhabitants of a city with a past and a city of the future – apply for the title of European Capital of Culture because they:
feel that they have obligations towards the historical heritage and contemporary cultural achievements and to its past and present creators representing many nations;
wish to support the process of cultural integration of Polish society with the peoples of Europe, a process that lags behind economic and political integration;
believe that a life devoid of contact with works of authentic art is impoverished and incomplete;
think that culture is not merely a supplement to the material aspects of the lives of individuals and social groups, which they can do without with little damage to the quality of their lives;
are against the instrumentalisation of cultural goods and works of art and against harnessing them in the service of other goals;
stand up in defence of genuine freedom of art from economic, political, and ideological pressures.
The citizens of Wrocław want their city to become a European City of Culture for nine reasons:
The fabric of our history: We want to tell Europe about the fabric of extremely complex history that has been woven by the past and the present inhabitants of the city;
Overcoming enigmaticity: Polish inhabitants of polysemiotic Wrocław desire to overcome the enigmaticity of their city and take up a permanent place in European consciousness as a Polish and European city;
Building a multiple identity: Having created our separate, unique ‘multiple identity’, we want to take part in building a new multiple identity of a united Europe;
The flower and emerald of Europe: Wrocław, ‘the flower of Europe’, wants to be ambassador for the region of Lower Silesia, ‘the emerald of Europe’, and the Silesian architectural heritage, which urgently needs preserving; we want to restore it to Polish and European culture;
Culture against exclusion: We want to actively combat social exclusion and exclusion from participation in culture, which affect young people, the unemployed, families with many children, seniors, and people with disabilities;
Against commodification of culture: We want to combat the financial barriers that bar democratic access to works of authentic art and deriving joy from getting to know them;
Culture against public agoraphobia: The spaces of today’s cities often fill their residents with fear – a public agoraphobia; as a result they withdraw to their own privacy or emigrate; we want culture to restore their sense of being authentic co-owners of their cities;
Culture against interpassivity: Instead of promoting interactive relationships among people, cutting-edge technology often strips them of their autonomy and individuality and creates a new phenomenon: interpassivity; we want cyberspace to be an ally of free artistic creation;
Eco-aesthetics in defence of nature: Wrocław, a modern and innovative city, wants to seek genuinely innovative solutions that will be friendly to the environment.
The butterfly emblem symbolises our guiding concept: Metamorphoses of Cultures. We want this concept to be understood as referring to the real processes that shaped all of Europe in the past and those that are shaping it at present. Globalisation processes result in dynamic transformations of traditional cultural patterns and customs. European cultures are undergoing metamorphoses under the influence of pressures exerted by the immigration of various ethnic groups and followers of various religions. They are also undergoing metamorphoses as a result of the territorial enlargement of the European Union through the inclusion of new countries. Today’s Europe is a laboratory of change, in which the cultures of all the peoples of Europe – both ‘old’ Europe and ‘new’ Europe – undergo metamorphoses.
Spaces for Beauty is the slogan we want to propose to Europe.
Nowadays, people move in multiple spaces: the space of nature, social space, public space, private space, intimate space, and cyberspace. Our aim is to create sustainable and friendly spaces that will serve to satisfy the human craving for communion with art and culture. We are guided by a desire to establish the presence of beauty in social and personal lives. We intend to create spaces within which to restore a sustainable presence of beauty in public life and in daily habits. We want each of these spaces, in which present-day people live their lives, to be filled with what is beautiful and what is good, because we believe that good cannot exist without beautiful: Nulla ethica sine aesthetica.
The geographical area to be involved in Wrocław’s 2016 European Capital of Culture event is the region of Lower Silesia plus the Czech city of Hradec Králové and the eastern German city of Görlitz, both historically associated with Lower Silesia.
Wrocław’s cooperation with the European Capital of Culture in Spain will be symbolised by a gnome character, a descendant of the artistic Orange Alternative movement. Wrocław will present its twin European Capital of Culture in Spain the figure of a gnome named Delegate.
The Wrocław Culture Stakeholder Platform is a space for action and activation for thousands of Wrocław citizens. It is also a platform for dialogue and exchange of ideas among independent cultural circles, artists, and all inhabitants of Wrocław. The Children’s Culture Stakeholder Platform is a programme for the youngest citizens of Wrocław, our future, who help to shape the programme of the Wrocław culture festival.
We offer our European partners a number of themes and lead programmes. Through them we want to build spaces for beauty in Wrocław, in Lower Silesia, and in the living spaces of each and every person.
Opening up Spaces
Inculturator
Cultural Bond
European Cultural Passport
Church: Beauty, and Kitsch
Beauty in Sight
Concrete and Greenery
City Figures
Art in Space
Presence of Form
Intimate Beauty
Home for Art – Art for Home
Human Body: Artefact–Economy–Politics
Culture of Table and Wine
Parenting Culture
Beauty in Cyberspace
Wrocław Museum Pavilion
CulTube
LiveArtNet
CyberArchive of Art
Forces of Nature – Power of Culture
City of Parks and Gardens
Human Needs – Animal Rights
River of Culture
Energy Recycling
Instytucja Kultury Wrocław 2016.
Our strength stems from our enthusiasm, the creativity of our artists, and the support of our citizens.
Spanish temperament and Polish daring.
A Europe of diversity, opportunity, and responsibility.