IN-PERSON Prague Research & Teaching Conference

Abstract

Contemporary cultural institutions in Poland are strongly intertwined with changes taking place in the society during last few decades. First, they had to catch-up to the institutional change of re-construction of a democratic state, second, they underwent the same changes as their European counterparts – the need to attract more numerous and varied public and to improve ways of communication art to them. At the same time, art and culture in Poland has a log history of social and political involvement. Thus, topics such as social inclusion or climate crisis found their way not only into the works of artists but also to a broader programme of cultural institutions, especially, museums of modern art and theatres. In this process curators and creators have often sought cooperation with researchers and academia to create meaningful and knowledge-based content of exhibitions and educational programmes accompanying them. Presence of researchers in cultural institutions take various forms: presentations; published books and booklets, elements of the exhibitions, workshops for schools, etc. The paper presents chosen Polish cultural institutions and their practice of communicating knowledge and achievements of science to the broader public. The study encompasses: topics of educational programmes and artistic performances/exhibitions; scope of scientific knowledge included; means of cooperation between cultural institutions and researchers; characteristic of participating groups. Investigations is based on the information from the institutions, semi-structured interviews and field studies. It encompasses period 2020-2024 and the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic period are included.