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Towards a model of a community centre – Part 2

A system of two presentations was accepted and implemented: at each meeting two community centres will be discussed, and both will be presented by their respective directors. Two presentations are few enough in order to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of both centres, and at the same time – they are more than one, so the solutions can be compared and contrasted.

For better coherence, the MIC proposed a five-step presentation mode, which reflects the logic of intervention, i.e. the building of a cultural institution: step 1 – the environment where we are and what is to be done here; step 2 – the conditions, or how the ideal compares to  reality; step 3 – the plan, or what is the sequence of activities; step 4 – the team, or who we need to implement the plan; step 5 – the tasks, or what activities we undertake to implement the plan.
The forum also decided to introduce point 0 – the business card, or the personal history of the director who is always deeply involved in the history of the institution.
 
The second meeting featured two presentations by the director of Warsaw’s Dorożkarnia, Anna Michalak-Pawłowska, and the director of Bytomskie Centrum Kultury Becek [Bytom Community Centre Becek], Mariusz Wróbel.

The meeting was also attended by:
Antoni Bartosz, director of the Ethnographic Museum in Krakow (former director of the MIC of many years’ standing)
Tomasz Bukowski, director of the Regional Community Centre in Kalisz Pomorski
Jacek Gralczyk, Local Activity Centre Association in Warsaw
Alicja Hałoń, Local Activity Centre Association in Katowice
Piotr Knaś, Malopolska Institute of Culture in Krakow
Iwona Kusak, Regional Community Centre in Bielsko-Biała
Aneta Olszacka, deputy director of the Regional Community Centre in Kalisz Pomorski
Joanna Orlik, director of the Malopolska Institute of Culture in Krakow Karol Ostalski, director of the Municipal Community Centre in Blachownia, chairman of the District Council in Częstochowa
Krzysztof Polewski, Local Community Centre in Mykanów
Adam Radosz, director of the Regional Community Centre in Katowice
Piotr Wyrobiec, director of the Wadowice Community Centre in Wadowice
Małgorzata Wójcik, director of the Community Centre in Brzeszcze

The aim of the forum is to develop a communication situation in which we jointly seek exemplary solutions to be used in future both by directors of other cultural institutions and by local authorities who need good models. The laboratory situation which we create is demanding but effective. Directors subject themselves to the judgement of experienced culture creators – people with precise expectations and extensive experience. They know where to expect threats and they know what to ask about. They doubt in order to press, undermine, or verify. For each director the situation is a kind of public defence of their management style and their idea for a cultural institution. They should be applauded for their courage and ready co-operation.

The next meeting will be held in Krakow on 14-15 June. The following two presentations will be made by Marek Sztark, Szczecin 2016 and Adam Radosz, Regionalny Ośrodek Kultury w Katowicach [Regional Community Centre in Katowice]. A detailed programme of the event will be circulated just before the meeting. Be sure to set aside time for it. The persons who are interested in the development of institutionalised culture in Poland should attend the meeting and take an active part in it.