Although I took part in this conversation, it seems to me that certain topics were barely touched upon. We did not address issues such as educational effort, sponsorship and patronage, or the city’s aesthetic image.
No one needs convincing that reading poetry, looking at paintings, listening to music, admiring people, and delighting in the beauty of the world are not innate skills. They must be developed in order to prepare oneself to receive a work of art. Experiencing aesthetic emotions must be preceded by a certain educational effort. I do not intend to formulate demands here for educational or cultural institutions. We all know what a civilizational gap was created by removing arts subjects from schools. I am thinking instead about ways to reduce that gap.
The family home is a place where cultural education can begin. It would be good if books reigned supreme at home, if they were eagerly anticipated gifts, and if the family made use of cultural offerings together. Going to the cinema together and visiting an exhibition are important. Parents with their children are rarely seen at vernissages, meetings with writers, or concerts. I know families that organize home screenings, exhibitions of children’s drawings or family photographs, or stage performances involving children and adults—nativity plays and family cabarets. In short, one should attend events, read, listen, organize things oneself and together, and remain open to new experiences.
If we create a fashion for art at home early on, this bug will multiply and infect more people. Let us remember that societies deprived of contact with culture are particularly vulnerable to the influence of a ruthless, all-encompassing commercial offering, often shoddy and kitschy. One side effect is that a society that is neither creative nor capable of independent thought is easier to manipulate.
You will say that there is television and the Internet. Yes. Good. Provided that we teach children, and convince ourselves, that we must learn how to use these media. Let us explain that the more time we spend in the virtual world, the less time remains for contacts in “real life.” Let us not buy children games depicting killing, whether of insects, spiders, or little figures. Very often, this is a way of becoming accustomed to killing and violence, an infamous example of which is the much-discussed film “Avatar.” No one will convince me that this is a film children can watch—I saw them flocking to screenings with their parents! “Avatar” teaches nothing and does not move the viewer. It is an anti-fairy tale built on technological marvels.
The only way to change the way people think about culture is to familiarize them with it by giving them access to things of a higher standard. Artists help us explain the civilizational dramas that no one else can explain. Culture creates an opportunity to discover what cannot be counted or measured, but what takes place in human relationships and their interactions.
Getting to know the local artistic community is also extremely valuable. Each of us needs an authority figure. Direct contact with an outstanding person or their work is ennobling—saving us from consumerist and herd-like thinking and motivating us to pursue our own searches. The work of Bolesławiec artist Czesław Matyjewicz illustrates this. A few years ago, he ran an art studio at the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre. Children, young people, and adults were drawn to him. Something emerged in his studio that could be called a master-apprentice relationship. Classical music played quietly in the background; sculptures dried on tables and easels. Hands were covered in clay. Everyone created and talked with one another—about art, life, and plans for the future. More than one person from that studio followed in the footsteps of their first master. Others gained something for life: aesthetic sensitivity. Cultural development is not only about making use of the offerings of official cultural institutions, but also about participating in and supporting alternative activities and initiatives. Through innovative ways of practicing culture and changes in lifestyle, we change the audience’s habits.
Cultural activities also need sponsorship and patronage. If by sponsorship we mean a civilized form of advertising—something in exchange for something—then we view patronage as a nobler form of supporting culture. A patron takes the long view. A municipal government can itself be, and sometimes is, a patron. This could include, for example, a grant for artists in difficult life situations; writer Ryszard Gruchawka could certainly use such a grant. Patronage can also be provided by a private individual or a company. We should support people who want to do something for others, people who come up with ideas and initiate projects. In doing so, we build an important value that cannot be disregarded.
To conclude, I would like to add a few remarks about developing the city’s strategy for cultural development—a cultural policy that could make Bolesławiec a unique place, recognized throughout Poland and perhaps even the world. We should strive to change the aesthetic image of our city. We should take action against graffiti, as Łódź did. Together with offices, schools, and local media, an initiative was launched in which young people patrolled the city and looked for places where graffiti was unsightly, while institutions purchased suitable materials to paint over the scribbles. It would be good to create a municipal model collection of ceramic works. The opinions of artists living in Bolesławiec and the surrounding area could be sought more often. Together, we should create an aesthetic image of the city. There are too few ceramic and sculptural accents in Bolesławiec. Annual competitions should be announced for outdoor sculptures to be placed in the landscape, on squares, in parks, or in public gardens. We should control the color schemes of renovated façades, which are excessive and not always acceptable. Such proposals could be multiplied. In short, decision-makers should have a clear vision of Bolesławiec’s image—one that communicates that the authorities are open to creativity, because creativity drives development.
Danuta Maślicka – Doctor of Humanities specializing in pedagogy and sociology, a longtime teacher, amateur artist, poet, author of the book "Znikopis. Pamiętasz była Solidarność...", a councillor during the first term of the City Council, one of the founders of the local television station, founder of Bolesławiec’s “Teachers’ Solidarity” in 1980, and director of the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre from 1990 to 2001.