The Jews in Lublin - Biblioteka Multimedialna Teatrnn.pl - Brama ...

Joanna Zętar (Lublin)*
Documentation - Education - Art Projects.
The Activities of the 'Grodzka Gate - NN Theatre Centre'
for the Preservation of the Heritage of Lublin Jews
A magic spot. There are a few in the town but this one is specific.
It overlaps two separate spaces, two dramatically distinct worlds. It is the meeting point of
the Christian Upper Town and the Jewish Lower Town. Thus, this 'borderness' is characteristic
of the Gate. Its location is the cause of its uncommonness".
Władysław Panas Brama 1
Before the Second World War the Grodzka Gate (in English the 'Town Gate')
was known as the Jewish Gate. Since 1998 the Grodzka Gate has been the home to a
local cultural institution, the Grodzka Gate- NN Theatre Centre. In almost all of its
project and activities, this institution refers to the historical and symbolic significance
of its location, which used to be a passageway between the Christian and Jewish parts
of Lublin. The programmes undertaken by the centre have three characters: documentational,
educational and artistic.
1. Documentation
The collection of documentation necessary for the renovation of the historic
Grodzka Gate, and two adjacent houses, which commenced in 1992, and participation
in the contest 'Little Homelands, Traditions to the Future' held by the Cultural
Foundation, caused the centre founders to ponder the question of the identity of the
place in which they had decided to work. They gradually accumulated data and knowledge
concerning the Lublin Jews and the uninhabited vicinity of the Lublin Castle,
formerly occupied by the Jewish district. Therefore, the fledgling institution set itself
a primary objective of preserving and protecting the cultural heritage of the site and
* Art historian, employee in charge at Grodzka Gate - NN Theatre Centre, co-ordinator of Forgotten
Past - the Multicultural Traditions of the Lublin Region programme, co-organizer of the Life of
Jews in Europe Away from Metropolis project, collaborator of the Internet portal http://www.tnn.pl/
pamie.php, that is the Virtual Education Centre - Lublin Memory
1 PANAS W.: Brama. [In:] Brama. Krupska J. (ed.), Lublin 1997, p. 2.
60