European Culture Congress

8-11 September, Wroclaw, Centennial Hall

European Culture Congress, the culminating point of the Cultural Programme of Polish Presidency combined with a broad reflection on culture and generally one of the most important events of Polish Presidency 2011, is an opportunity for unusal meetings and discussions about contemporary European culture and perspectives of its development.

The Congress will take place in an unusual city and unusual place. The host of the Congress is the city of Wroclaw – one of the most culturally active cities in Europe. Debates will take place in the impressive Centennial Hall (by Max Berg, 1911-1913), which as one of the outstanding, pioneer artworks of 20. century’s architecture has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List , as well as in its neighbourhood (the Feature Film Company, and the Four Dome Pavilion).

The goal of the Congress is to create a place for reflection on the prospects and potential ways for the development of European culture. The Congress gives the opportunity to present culture as one of the most vibrant and diversified areas of civilisation. The Congress also offers space for debates about unity in diversity, and considerations as to the nature of strength of European culture and the necessity to look for the common denominator in plurality. The Congress Programme revolves around Professor Zygmunt Bauman’s book on the condition of contemporary European culture and the prospects of its development in the future. The Congress will also include the informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for audiovisual affairs devoted to the issues of digitisation and protection of digital resources.

European Culture Congress:

4 days
300 artists, scientists, philosophers and activists
100 unique interdisciplinary meetings and projects
90 thousand square meters of area

European Culture Congress is combined of 4 key elements with a common main theme: Art for Social Change:

An informal meeting of ministers for cultural and audiovisual affairs from the EU states,
Discussions and debates of theorists and practitioners about the most important issues of contemporary European culture and visions of its development in the future – e.g. in such areas as power and culture, culture and economy, art and science, freedom in culture, Europeanness, new aesthetics,
Cultural festival – artistic events of the fields of music, theater, performance, design, architecture, film and visual arts,
Meeting of the A Soul for Europe initiative – a platform of meetings between between policy makers and EU institutions, national governments, and representatives of the EU’s active social organizations – independent managers of culture.

All events of the European Culture Congress will take place simultaneously and intertwine with the artistic portion of the programme. Artistic events will occur in city spaces and Wrocław’s cultural institutions, as well as the Congress grounds themselves.

In the Congress about 6,500 participants will take part, including representatives of culture institutions and administration, artists, culture creators and animators, representatives of cultural associations and organisations, representatives of non-governmental and volunteer organisations, co‑organisers of events of the Presidency in Poland, journalists, representatives of academic circles, pupils, students, pedagogues, citizens of Poland and EU.

The European Culture Congress is organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the National Audiovisual Institute and Wrocław City Hall. The National Audiovisual Institute is responsible for the concept and implementation of the European Culture Congress.

Detailed programme and further information are available on the official website of the Congress www.culturecongress.eu and by the e-mail adress officeECC@nina(dot)gov(dot)pl

More information:

Agnieszka Wolak – the Spokesperson of the National Audiovisual Institute
phone: +48 22 380 49 75
cell phone: +48 503 099 013
e-mail: agnieszka(dot)wolak@nina(dot)gov(dot)pl