How can young people from Łódź help get the European Capital of Culture title? How do they perceive their own city? Can culture become their way of life or is it just a hobby? We have been given answers to those questions by Paweł Justyna from Fabrykancka Association and Michał Wasilewski, the EUroads 2008 project coordinator.

How important for young people, active in Łódźculture, are our city’s attempts to win the title of the European Capital of Culture?


Paweł  Justyna, „Fabrykancka Association”: First of all, it is a huge challenge all residents of Łódźshould face. It is a great opportunity for everybody, young people in particular. Our „Fabrykancka Association”, strongly interested in Łódź culture, is very happy about the candidature. Łódź attempts to become the Cultural Capital of Europe give a magnificent chance for the development of the city’s cultural tissue.


Michał Wasilewski                                    Paweł Justyna (foto: Michał Justyna)


Michał  Wasilewski, “EUroads”: As we know, the competition and the ECC title mean not only a great deal of prestige for the winning city, but also substantial cash. The money would help speed up the cultural development of the city – through funds for renovating Łódźmonuments, organizing prestigious festivals, supporting young talents in different fields of art, new theatres, art galleries and cultural centers. On the one hand our city needs all that to improve its attractiveness, on the other it would create development possibilities for talented young people who frequently must give up their passions for a mundane job. Apart from all that, a growing, interesting city works like a magnet for tourists and foreign students. Łódźneeds to develop as a metropolis, it needs a lot of investment and building.

How can you help Łódźget the title?

Paweł  Justyna, „Fabrykancka Association”: Our association deals mainly with promoting the city – both through the Fabrykancka.pl portal and activities aimed at creating fabrySTREFA. It is supposed to be a small art and festival center in the heart of Łódźon Piotrkowska street. It will be set up for all interdisciplinary activities such as plastic arts, music, architecture, city planning, etc. The Fabrykancka Gallery, promoting interesting modern art phenomena created by young artists from Łódźand well-known Łódźrelated authors , will constitute the main part of fabrySTREFA. ŁódźArt Residence, which will form a part of the Fabrykancka Gallery, is an excellent example of an immensely interesting project developed by Katarzyna Goł êbiowska. This project should focus on widening fabrySTREFA activities through presenting works of art created in Łódźby foreign artists staying in our city as temporary residents.

Near the Fabrykancka Gallery there will be a fabrySCENA whose main task will be to present young musicians on one and the same stage with well-known Polish and foreign artists. The FabrySCENA is supposed to be a place attracting alternative music creators. We hope these projects will be implemented as soon as possible, becoming an integral part of Łódźcultural life – both today and in 2016 when this factory city will be the European Capital of Culture.


EUroads 2008


Michał  Wasilewski, “EUroads”: We believe Łódź has a great chance of winning the title thanks to its unique character. I mean all the factory architecture and interesting buildings which, albeit not as monumental and intricate as the historic ones in other Polish cities, make the city atmosphere so special.
We can’t forget the multicultural aspects of our region. They are stressed by the Four Cultures Dialogue Festival and other similar events. These things should be stressed even more. We want to provide possibly the largest number of people with our information.  Both in Poland and abroad. We want to show all the Europeans how special and attractive our town is, and make them want to visit it. Good, friendly relations with student organizations and authorities of European cities can also be very helpful for reinforcing the interest in Łódź. We want to show our best side and establish long-term external relations.



The SWOT analysis clearly shows that the ECOC title creates new jobs in culture. Do you think culture may be treated as a way of life, not simply a hobby? Are your cultural activites tantamount to your jobs?

Paweł  Justyna, „Fabrykancka Association”: At present we treat our cultural activities as a hobby. We are happy, however, about what the SWOT analysis has shown in regard to the ECC title. I think every young man would like to have a job that brings not only financial stability, but also emotional and intellectual satisfaction.


Michał  Wasilewski, “EUroads”: As I have mentioned before, Łódź – even for its huge scientific, art, film and music potential – is a city of numerous talents which frequently cannot grow due to financial reasons. It would be fantastic if Łódźbecame a talent incubator, if we could soon toast of a bigger name of well-known names. What we do in culture right now can be called voluntary service – we don’t want any money, but, of course, the last trip was definitely a sort of compensation for our attempts [smiling]. The project was financially supported by the Promotion, Tourism and Foreign Cooperation Office of Łódź Town Council, Łódź Polytechnics, and the Marshal Office. It’s just the beginning of our activities, we want to spread our wings, so who knows? I’m thinking about setting up a non-profit foundation which could help promote the city not only abroad, but also in Poland. What then? Nothing but success, of course!