Finally the book presenting curriculum of postgraduate studies for high school teachers of study of culture and for practitioners is ready.

The project of an newly-formulated program of postgraduate studies for teachers is associated with the idea of postgraduate studies for practitioners of culture. Of course, the specific goals for these two kinds of participant - teachers and culture animators - will differ somewhat. Teachers will still be taught to teach cultural science in the course of their studies whereas for culture animators, activity is their profession and their priority . The program’s aim is to ‘animate animators’, provide them with anthropologically grounded animation skills, update their knowledge, encourage them to go beyond the institutionally consolidated image of the world, in which culture happens in a local council cultural centre, most likely on a stage. Despite these differences in specific goals, however, we assume the program will remain an integrated whole. After all, teachers play a role as a practitioners of activity in the culture and culture animators are also teachers.

Book includes  curriculum itself, commentary to it and detailed programmes of classes and workshops. Its available in Polish. We attach also introduction to the book (curriculum and commentary) and the programme of media workshop in English.

Curriculum in Polish                  

Introduction in English

Media workshop in English

Guidebooks sometimes provide us with a guide to what we already know. They invite us to admire, but not to be curious. They lead us down certain (well-worn) tracks and perhaps confirm some existing prejudices. (Read more…)

The 14^th of April will be remembered by Lithuanian and Polish students as the day on which their impressive cultural adventure started. On that day they met each other in the capital of Lithuania Vilnius to continue their trip through the regions called Lithuania Minor and Samogitia and finaly reach the unique sand dunes in Curonian Spit. Students have met the representatives of non-professional theatre troupes as well as the independent professional artist, cultural workers and academicians on their way. This gave them a great opportunity to study a structure of non-professional theatre movement in Lithuania and to better understand its function in cultural animation. Beside that students were introduced to different professional artists, who seek for alternative ways of social interaction. (Read more…)

In addition to the workshops offered in April 2007 in Warsaw, Laundry and alphaGroup undertook somethingElse in Saska Kempa. This became an action research initiative, engaging with people in Saska Kępa which is the neighbourhood next to Rondo Waszyntona and what I know as "the dodgy market" which was a football stadium but then became a bazaar where virtually everything could be found - from guns to Russian chocolates.

(Read more…)

That were two very busy days of workshops. First day we were getting to know each other and looking for as many inspirations as it possible. We started with presentation of Laundry and ę. Then we have 3 meeting on different subjects: Marta Wójcicka form Studio Teatralne Koło was presenting her experience with organizing animation events in post industrial space like PZO on Praga. Her speech was very energetic and one of most interesting message was the question of personal imperative. “You have to believe that your project is good otherwise you would not find partners and sponsors”. Beata Jaszczak from Farbiarnia ( Płock) presented the methods of work with young kids from the backyard. She gave many examples of how  to keep children interested in our work and how to make them authors of their own activities. Last but not least Beata Tokarz from Akademia Rozwoju Filantropii w Polsce make a presentation on seniors problems in Poland. She gave a bunch of information on seniors: what are their main problems and needs. She also shown us examples of polish and European good practice in this issue. We finish first day on the film show in Skład Butelek. Completely tired but (I guess) full of ideas.

The second day started with active workshop “first contact” run by Pamela Wells and Brendan Jackson form the Laundry. Everybody had a chance to do “1 euroJ” project and start the interaction with strangers on the streets. We had 5 interesting ideas of how to make a first contact and what can come out of it….

The very last part “generator of ideas” run by Marta Białek and Piotr Stasik from ę showed up the creativity of all participants. More then 30 ideas for project has appeared! And slowly, slowly there were changing into project…It seems there is a lot of work in front of us and a lot of fun I hope. Pleas feel free to leave any comments on our workshop………  (Read more…)

A long long time ago, in a universe far far away, I was a student. I struggled a lot with my teachers but they were fabulous enough to allow this. They put up with my constant questioning, my constant challenging, my constant misbehaviour. One day, one of the other students came up to me and said, “I was having a tutorial with Tony and he said I should talk to you about safety nets.” I said, “What?” (Read more…)

So, we are preparing ourselves to work together and to work in/with this place called Gozdowo. We are in the middle of a 2 week visit and we are tired. (But rather excited I think.) We are painfully aware that we can do everything wrong, that maybe we are not doing everything right or in the right order or in the right room.

Yesterday evening I ran a workshop introducing Photoshop as a tool for cultural animation. I work with this tool myself. A lot. But not exclusively. I work also with paint, with performance, with chocolate, with statistics, with plastic bags. (Read more…)

An introduction to the Seven Wonders of Warsaw was made at Tarabuk café. Brendan Jackson from Laundry gave a brief overview of the project, and Jarek Kaczmarek and Gosia Litwinowicz outlined of the work that Studnia O will be undertaking over the next few months, working in seven districts of Warsaw, startrng in Saska Kepa and Żoliborz with the first public presentations of the work in progress (Sniadania Warszawskie) on Sunday May 20th and Sunday June 17th at the Instytut Teatralny on Aleje Ujazdowskie 45.

Later in the autumn, Brendan will be leading workshops for young artists and cultural animators to create their own Wonders of Warsaw. If you’re interested in participating, email him at brendanjack@gmail.com

A background paper to the Wonders project can be downloaded here, in English (wonders-en.pdf) and Polish (wonders-pl.pdf)

For further information on Studnia visit: http://www.studnia.org/
 

Implementing and disseminating the idea of cultural animation - episode 1. (Read more…)

"Katedra Kultury" Assocciation was founded in 1997 by employees, students and graduates of the Institute of Polish Culture. From the beginning of its existence the main activity was to cooperate with the Institute in conducting the Cultural Animation specialization and organizing workshops and internships for students. This cooperation is one of the most important statutory objectives, but the overarching goal of the Association is to promote and support active engagement in society. Therefore it is an equally important objective  to establish a dynamic network of students and graduates of Cultural Animation, to initiate exchange of ideas and information between them. (Read more…)