Łaźnia Nowa Theatre & Cultural Centre Krakow, Poland
The theatre building is 4,500 m2, former workshops halls of the school for mechanics, renovated and adapted as a multi-functional cultural facility. The institution is located in the very centre of the 250,000 inhabitants district of blocks of flats for steelworks employees of Nowa Huta. The theatre was attracted to start AD activities as tools for highlighting the cultural identity of residents of the Nowa Huta district. Based on earlier experience, practice and intuition, they were ready to take on the demanding work with people whose trust was manipulated, mystified and idealised through decades of local history and finally betrayed after the democratic transformation of Poland. The Theatre’s response was an affirmation of creativity, transparency and trust, providing symbolic gestures for reconciliation. To Bartosz Szydlowski Łaźnia Nowa Theatre mirrors the tradition of ancient Greece, with myths, polis and logos marking, but not determining, the sense of ‘my’ place. His dream is to develop the best cultural institution in Poland, but the goal is not reached as long as the institution runs only on the leader’s energy.
Łaźnia Nowa Theatre & Cultural Centre Krakow, Poland
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