Untitled - Narodowe Centrum Kultury

tytuł artykułu 15
Travelling Cinema, outdoor screenings of 1920s movies in small
towns and villages, a project of the Regional Cultural Centre in Lublin.
http://www.kinoobjazdowe.yoyo.pl/
A similar, private initiative is depicted in Marcin Sauter’s 2005 movie
The Travelling Cinema.
Model 2: The efforts undertaken
in your own backyard often,
though not always, centre around
the sandbox
Sometimes culture animators do not come from a far-away place, but
work locally. This model applies to projects run by animators in their
own backyard – developed and held locally. Projects of this type are
sometimes initiated by a person or group linked with a local institution
– the titular sandbox. They can also be initiated outside of institutions,
at grassroots level, and run by an independent culture animator.
Projects centring around the local “sandbox” like a cultural
centre, community centre, library, local association, include regular
events such as festivals and fairs. Though action-oriented, these
events focus around a locally relevant subject (e.g. local stories) and
– despite largely conveying preexisting content – offer participants
not only passive but also active participation, for example in family art
workshops that accompany the event. Such regular events, which prioritise
wide accessibility, universality and good communication, satisfy
some needs of local residents, but certainly don’t exhaust them.
Therefore it is a good thing that institutional activities sometimes take
the form of a longer process. Using a method that goes beyond the
permanent offering of widely available activities, we can address new
topics (e.g. creative work related to local history), use new tools (e.g.
offer workshops on artistic techniques that are not locally available)
or meet the needs of a specific group of residents (e.g. young parents
for whom a series of psychological workshops is developed).
To succeed, the institution planning such projects must not project
its own vision of the average resident, but, before each project, it
must carry out creative research or social consultations seeking to determine
the project’s target group and objective.
The added value of a project’s objective or subject notwithstanding,
institutions often repeat their activities using a range of
proven methods, which are usually on-site, structured, not necessarily
experimental. This might be an advantage, because residents
can use the institution’s infrastructure, but also a limitation,
as regular activities and those relying on so-called tried-and-tested
methods can get animators into a rut, making them ignore the
changing needs of residents.
The in-your-own-backyard model also includes grassroots, locally
based, extra-institutional initiatives driven by interpersonal energy,
sometimes animated by one person, sometimes the outcome of
a collaboration. They can result in one-off bursts of activity or turn
into big projects. They can network local potentialities, combining
them in a non-obvious manner. They sometimes use surprising (e.g.
extremely simple) solutions and audacious forms. Their grassroots
nature can be their greatest asset – in the form of genuine needs,
willingness and energy of residents who are ready to act here and
now – as well as their biggest challenge, since it is difficult to maintain
and manage interpersonal energy, especially when there are many
participants.
Notably, the key feature of this model is the lack of anonymity.
Culture animators are members of the local community, gaining
invaluable knowledge and establishing contacts that may help them
in their work.
However, anyone who takes up the role of local activist must be
aware that she may become pigeonholed in their role for much longer
than the time of the project. The model may require you to be a culture
animator also beyond your office hours.
Example projects
animAction, movement workshops, a concert, film screenings,
filming workshops, a cycling trip and poetry slam held under the slogan
“We Fight Boredom Creatively and with Passion”, a project of
Sokołów Cultural Centre.
http://www.animakcja.pl/
http://www.sok.sokolowpodl.pl/
Festival of Children’s Culture in Pacanów, a family festival held by
the European Tale Centre: music, dance and theatre workshops which
culminated in an outdoor Gala Finale and a procession. The festival’s
motto is “Fun Learning”.
http://stolica-bajek.pl/
Where Do I Come From a Personal History of Kociewie, a documentary
about the Kociewie region, made by young people from
Starogard District as part of the project of the Good Village Foundation.
The project culminated in a screening of the film in Sokół, the local
movie theatre.
http://www.dobrawioska.org/index.phps=2,4,59,94