Europolis

text: Robert Piaskowski

Bold revitalisations of historic buildings, significant expansions, new museums and entire cultural quarters… investments achieved in the last two decades are turning Kraków into a true Europolis.

In 1872, Kraków’s City Council received an application to erect a theatre. There followed something of a debate as to what should be built first: the theatre, or municipal waterworks. Eventually, the decision was made to start the construction of today’s Juliusz Słowacki Theatre. It became a symbol of the era of Józef Dietl, Mayor of the City of Kraków – as important as regulating the course of the Vistula, renovation works on historic buildings and organising the street layout. Following decades of stagnation, the metropolitan development of Kraków shifted focus on investment in spaces for art and culture.

Temples to science and art

Kraków abounds with Modernist buildings such as museums, libraries, clubs, cinemas and theatres built during the 1930s. Some of the buildings with ideological, social and artistic significance include the monumental National Museum in Krakow and the Jagiellonian Library, as well as the multi-purpose site of Kraków’s YMCA, built from funds donated by the American industrialist Sereno Peck Fenn from Cleveland.

During the post-war period, the architectural style of cultural venues was an element of the government’s propaganda. Newly designed districts and estates included cinemas, theatres and cultural centres, largely following the spirit of Modernism. The Artists’ House, Ludowy Theatre, Światowid and Kijów cinemas and the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre played a role in attempts to develop the competencies of new people of socialism. An icon of the period is the Brutalist Bunkier Sztuki, designed by Krystyna Różyska-Tołłoczko and recently extensively renovated.

The political and social transformations of 1989 brought rapid cultural developments. The division of institutions into municipal, regional and national meant a major shift of responsibility for the development of cultural infrastructure to local authorities. At the time, the freshly-minted municipal authorities did not have sufficient funds to modernise cultural buildings inherited from central government, and even less so to build new ones. This makes the development of the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, built on the initiative of Andrzej and Krystyna Wajda in 1994, all the more significant. Designed by Arata Isozaki in collaboration with local architects, the building tells the story of Polish and Japanese cultures, and it remains one of the most fascinating examples of Poland’s architecture of the 20th century.

Impulses for development

The 1990s also brought the European Month of Culture, the International Cultural Centre, the successful application for the title of European City of Culture and a period of major festivals, several of which survive until the present day. Kraków shared the prestigious title of European City of Culture 2000 with Avignon, Bologna, Bergen, Brussels, Helsinki, Prague, Reykjavík, and Santiago de Compostela.

In spite of extensive preparations over the previous four years and an extensive events programme, Poland’s capital of culture didn’t have sufficient financial guarantees for major investments. However, the energy and values of the title were important elements of Poland’s accession to the EU. They made Kraków more international, bolstered tourism and brought access to European funds.

It would be impossible to list all new “islands of culture” created in the last two decades – they include at least 200 investments of different scales in all districts of Kraków. Let’s focus on a few selected examples.

New image of the city

Let’s start with the historic city centre: the major renovation of the Main Market Square resulted in the opening of the underground museum, launched in 2010. Renovation and adaptation works refreshed the Cloth Hall, the Bishop Erazm Ciołek Palace, the Czartoryski Museum complex and the Krzysztofory Palace. Kraków’s historic centre boasts the new buildings of the Wyspiański Pavilion and the Małopolska Garden of Arts; the latter launched the process of revitalising old courtyards and dilapidated buildings at Rajska and Szujskiego streets, creating a multifunctional space on the site of the former horse riding school. The recently opened Wisława Szymborska Park has further expanded cultural and recreation space in this part of the city. A little further from the centre at Rakowicka Street, the modern building of the MuFo Museum of Photography follows the trend of adapting the historic Kraków Fortress for cultural purposes. Let’s also not forget the revitalisation of the Borek Fort to house a branch of the Podgórze Cultural Centre and the Library of Polish Song Cultural Centre, the Jugowice Fort with the Scout Movement Museum and Centre, and the planned renovations of the St Benedict Fort.

MuFo Rakowicka, photo by Dorota Marta, MuFo

One of the most important investments of the last decade is the ICE Kraków Congress Centre, opened in 2014. It has been attended by close to two million visitors, and it has hosted important events including the 41st Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and myriad festivals. The beautiful Krzysztof Penderecki Auditorium Hall hosts concerts by stars representing all musical worlds, such as the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle, Philippe Herreweghe, Jordi Savall, Piotr Beczała, Roberto Alagna, Diana Damrau, Max Richter, Ludovico Einaudi and Alexandre Desplat, as well as stars of jazz and world music. ICE Kraków has driven a major, permanent shift in Kraków’s image and cultural impact.

ICE Kraków Congress Centre, photo by Jacek Kabziński

On both sides of the Vistula

Cricoteka was launched around the same time as ICE Kraków. The building of the Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor with its mirrored ceiling stretches over the former power plant in Podgórze. Cricoteka combines many functions: it hosts exhibitions, stage plays, film screenings and concerts. The KTO Theatre is another multifunctional space in Podgórze; its current venue, with its opening roof and terrace garden, follows the expansion of the former Wrzos Cinema.

Terrace garden of the KTO Theatre, photo by Robert Siwek

The MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art was opened in 2011 in nearby Zabłocie at the grounds of the former Oskar Schindler factory. Next door, the historic building of Emalia is home to a branch of the Museum of Krakow: the Schindler Factory tells the fascinating, tragic story of the local Jewish community during the Second World War. The trend of assigning new functions to historic spaces also includes the adaptation of the former salt warehouse into the Planet Lem Centre for Literature and Language, paying homage to the author of Solaris and providing a space for literary circles and local residents.

One of the most beautiful examples of revitalisation of Kraków’s industrial heritage is the Świętego Wawrzyńca Quarter in the Kazimierz district and the Museum of Engineering and Technology at the former tram depot. The recent renovation of the complex, completed with EU funds, has resulted in the creation of a modern museum with an unusual permanent exhibition The City. Technosensitivity.

Muzeum Inżynierii i Techniki, photo courtesy of the museum

Towards Nowa Huta

Tauron Arena Kraków was launched in 2014 near the popular Stanisław Lem Garden of Experiments and the distinctive building of the Aviation Museum. Located half-way between the city centre and the Nowa Huta district, this important metropolitan venue serves cultural and recreation purposes; it is the largest site of its kind in this part of Europe, able to accommodate up to 22,000 visitors. It has permanently changed the area on the boundary of Czyżyny and Grzegórzki districts, and it has had a major impact on Kraków’s economy and international success. Participants in concerts and sports events held between 2014 and 2022 have spent over 580 million zlotys in Kraków – twice the amount spent on building the venue. Tauron Arena Kraków has hosted major stars including Sting, Paul McCartney, Harry Styles, Björk, Elton John, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden and Depeche Mode. The Arena Garden, an event and recreational space developed during the pandemic for local residents, has been such a success it has become a permanent fixture of the building.

Tauron Arena Kraków, photo courtesy of Tauron Arena Kraków

Nowa Huta – a district with many cultural institutions – has also gained new venues in the last two decades. The Łaźnia Nowa Theatre at the revitalised buildings of a former school complex focuses on phenomenal theatre events including the prestigious Divine Comedy Festival, and it conducts popular community activities. One of its important initiatives is the Utopia House, a centre of theatre crafts and residencies, while the nearby Ludowy Theatre has launched an interdisciplinary Young People’s Theatre Institute at the revitalised former carpentry workshop. The active, constantly growing Nowa Huta Cultural Centre recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. It continues to teem with life and present extensive artistic and educational projects. With over a thousand events every year attended by over 700,000 viewers, it hosts important concerts and festivals and popular permanent exhibitions of paintings by Jerzy Duda-Gracz and Zdzisław Beksiński, while its outdoor stages and the nearby Nowa Huta Meadows are popular with local residents. The nearby building of the former Światowid Cinema is earmarked to become a modern Nowa Huta Museum – a long-awaited project telling the story of Kraków’s largest district.

But our tale about the development of Kraków’s cultural infrastructure doesn’t end here. I should also mention the acquisition of the former hospital site at Wesoła and its conversion into Kraków’s major cultural quarter, home to the recently-opened Pharmacy of Design. Nearby, a brand-new building for the Kraków Library will be built using the latest environment- and climate-friendly technologies. Construction of the long-awaited Centre of Music in Cichy Kącik is ongoing; it will be home of local orchestras and it will host events, as well as closing the loop of sports and cultural institutions surrounding Kraków’s Błonia Meadow. Planet Lem will intertwine Kraków’s literary heritage with stories about the future.

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I frequently recall Kraków from before 2000, when I first arrived here as a student. It already had a reputation as Poland’s cultural capital with its institutions and energy of its myriad circles; today, following two decades of important municipal, regional and national investments, it has reached a status of a true cultural Europolis. It is a city of over a hundred museums, modern theatres and multifunctional entertainment venues – an ambitious city which continues to grow and develop. All this infrastructure, rooted in the powerful cultural identity of local residents, creates new social ties, drives employment, supports the development of all of Kraków’s districts and bolsters social cohesion.

Robert Piaskowski
Polish philologist, sociologist, diplomat, musician, commentator on cultural life, music lover, Programme Director at KBF, currently Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of the City of Kraków for Culture. He coordinated Kraków’s efforts to be awarded the UNESCO City of Literature title and developed the programme between 2009 and 2019.

photo by Adrian Pallasch