“Solidarity and Care”is the slogan of this year’s edition of the Forum for the Future of Culture (Forum Przyszłości) that took place in Warsaw (14. – 16.10. 2022) and Prague (20. – 21.9. 2022). The conference is organized annually by Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw since 2017 as an answer to the social situation in Poland.

Organizers of the event mention various crises Europe and the world in general are facing today from Russian invasion in Ukraine, to irreversible social changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, to climate disaster, and related changes in social and political reality. In the face of these crises they feel that the definition of culture and the tasks and duties of institutions that create it have to be redefined: a progressive project for culture and a search for new narrations are now needed more than ever before. The main slogan of this year’s edition “Solidarity and Care” is considered to be the foundation of a new way of thinking about culture and society.

The program of the Forum for the Future of Culture, organized by Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw, focuses not only on the bigger and medium-sized cities but takes into account that the culture is created also in tiny centers, online or in the streets during civic protests. That is why the first part of the Forum was held outside of Warsaw, in opposition to the previous editions. From the middle of April until the beginning of June meetings were taking place in 12 different places in Poland with an aim of showing the diversity of Polish culture and the topics that are relevant to it today.

The Forum in Prague that took place in Divadlo pod Palmovkou was focusing on the topic “Theater as a public cultural institution of the 21st century”. During two days of discussions, round tables, workshops and performances it was seeking answers to questions such as: What challenges does the theater face as public institution of the 21^stcentury? Can the idea of a New European Bauhaus be its compass? How can arguments in favor of maintaining public cultural institutions defend themselves in the face of contemporary crises? How in an ideal world should a well-established and independent theater be developed? How can the potential of cultural institutions be better used by cities and communities, and what economic and legislative problems do institutions still have to cope with?

For more information (in PL and ENG), please visit the link.