“It’s Fun at First”. Cultural Blogging – Between Late Capitalism and Non-Work

Capitalism in its contemporary, late form does not break away from its constitutive principles – that is the actions aimed at accumulating resources – but significantly changes nature of the key capital. No longer land or labour, but knowledge, information or technology become the elements determining the position of a person on the market. Under these circumstances, the notion of “non-work” emerges, which includes activities seemingly unrelated to capitalist priorities, but still not in the direct opposition to them. One of the areas of such non-work phenomena was the Polish cultural blogosphere. Its representatives are an example of how people operating in the field of culture – especially on the Internet – combined instrumental and existential values in their activities. For this combination to be effective, it requires the collection and interpretation of relevant data that enables us to measure the achievement level of the goals set. In the case of the surveyed bloggers – also due to the specificity of their work – these measures were often not used properly.

To Measure the Carbon Footprint of a Culture. A Case Study of a Theatrical Project

The article presents the results of carbon footprint measurements of a theatre project. For the purpose of the research, data from a survey and in-depth interviews with representatives of Polish theatres were used. Based on this data, a “model” was created, encompassing different variations of theatrical performances, including production, promotion, as well as online and on-site operations during guest performances. The analysis covers both direct emissions related to electricity consumption, transportation, and set design, as well as indirect emissions resulting from the supply chain and possible audience behaviour. The results clearly indicate that the greatest challenge in terms of the carbon footprint of a theatre project faced by cultural managers is mobility and the use of air travel for transporting theatre ensembles and set designs over long distances. Moreover, the transportation needs of the theatre ensembles and set designs for long distance travels pose a challenge. Additionally, the use of individual car transportation by audiences – even for short distances, is problematic – which could be addressed through the implementation of local partnerships. Getting familiar with this analysis can help producers, cultural managers, artists, and those responsible for shaping cultural policies to identify aspects with the greatest environmental impact and take appropriate adaptive actions. Although most of these actions will involve a profound change in traditional project management practices in the theatre, paying attention to relevant indicators, consciously developing new habits, and sharing resources provides an opportunity to expedite adaptation based on knowledge and organizational learning. These types of activities are necessary due to the unrelenting projectification of the field of culture and beyond, which causes organizations to operate in a kind of “projectocene”.

Heritage and the Socio-Economic Development of Poland. A Proposal for Statistical Indicators

The article focuses on the issue of measuring the impact of cultural heritage on socio-economic development. The aim of the research, which this article was based on, was to develop proposals for statistical indicators to measure the impact of heritage on socio-economic development in Poland. In the course of the research, an attempt was made to answer the following research question: What statistical indicators can be used to measure the impact of heritage on the socio-economic development of Poland in the context of monument protection policy, society, economic situation and environmental aspects? The research was carried out using the analysis of existing data. The completed research allowed there author to establish the proposed set of statistic indicators that could be used to measure the impact of cultural heritage on socio-economic development in Poland in four areas: monument protection policy, society, economic situation and environment aspects.

Humanistic and Post-Humanistic Aspects of Managing Cultural Institution during a Pandemic. Level of Acceptance of Applied Solutions Among the Users of Municipal Public Library in Dąbrowa Tarnowska

The two years of the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a great challenge for the managerial practices of the private and the public institutions alike. In the uncertain world affected by a global health crisis as well as other types of crises; humanistic and post-humanistic management methods appear to provide a kinder, gentler alternative for directors, employees, and users of cultural institutions. Implementation of such practices was attempted and tested in the Dąbrowa Tarnowska (Małopolska region) Municipal Public Library, with a survey conducted among its users. The following paper describes the functioning of the municipal library during the pandemic, in which the government restrictions on the use of public spaces were enforced. It also analyses the users’ acceptance (in numbers and percentages) of the measures applied in this cultural institution to minimise effects of the pandemic on the local community. The paper lists the managerial efforts to ensure safety of employees and patrons in unprecedented time of the pandemic using a humanistic and post-humanistic approach in the management of a public institution.

* Artykuł powstał na podstawie pracy dyplomowej przygotowanej pod kierunkiem dra hab. Łukasza Gawła, prof. UJ z Instytutu Kultury na Wydziale Zarządzania i Komunikacji Społecznej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w ramach studiów podyplomowych z zarządzania kulturą.

Cultural Heritage as Social Research Area. Methodological Challenges on the Example of Selected Research Projects

The article attempts to partake in the debate on methodological challenges related to conducting research in the field of cultural heritage. The authors – based on the conducted research – present case studies and analyze the encountered problems as well as limitations in methodology and implementation of this research. At the same time, they share the adapted solutions and recommend what should be taken into account while conducting research in this field.

The Participation of Foreign Residents in Local Culture. A Case Study of Kraków

The article focuses on participation in local culture from a lesser-studied perspective of foreign nationals residing in Polish cities, drawing on a case study of Kraków. In the first part of the article, the authors outline the context of the migration transition in Poland, meaning the passage between a country of net emigration towards a country of net immigration, which has dynamically changed the urban landscape. Next, the results of an exploratory study on foreign residents’ attitudes and experiences of culture in the public sphere in Kraków are presented, which are the testing ground for the analysis of the changing nature of engagement at the local level. This study points to several conclusions for further analysis, namely the overwhelmingly positive evaluation of the cultural sphere by foreign nationals, the potential for social anchoring through this sphere, and the new narratives of local identity that are emerging as a result.

International Audience in Non-Institutional Theaters from Poznań. Description and Analysis of Artistic and Social Activities Addressed to Migrants and Refugees

The article’s aim is to describe and critically assess the cultural projects addressed to the international audience, which were prepared by the independent theatres in Poznań. The problem discussed in the text is analysed in the light of the current research from the fields of social studies, performance studies, culture studies or audience development studies. The article was divided into two parts. In the first part – the theoretical one – the most important notions, issues and definitions pertaining to the topic of this article were discussed. In the second one, listed, described and analysed were the specific and practical actions addressed towards the migrants and refugees, which were taken by the independent scene in Poznań. The statements of the leaders of Poznań’s independent theatre companies were included as well.

Language and the Integration Process of Migrants – the Role of Cultural Institutions. A Case Study from Poznań

Knowledge of the language of the host country plays a strategical role in the integration process of migrant communities. Language as a component of the culture constitutes a natural acting space for the entities belonging to the cultural sector, in particular for those engaging in non-formal education. Teaching Polish as a second language has a relatively short history in terms of teaching methods as well as organisation of the teaching process itself. Taking into consideration the current migrant situation, the engagement of different organisations into the teaching process becomes of particular importance. The aim of the article is to discuss the role which can be played by the Polish cultural institutions in the integration process through establishing the language and communication accessibility as well as active linguistic and cultural support for children and teens with the migration background. The case study for this article is Poznań and Poznań Heritage Center, local cultural institution, whose main purpose is to popularise, interpret and protect the (cultural) heritage of Poznań through creating a (linguistically) accessible cultural programme and adjusting it to the current needs of the audience.

Fostering Participation of International Audiences in Programmes of Cultural Institutions: A Process, Based on the Example of the Museum of Warsaw

The humanitarian crisis that we have witnessed here in Poland since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has stirred up a discussion on how to reach out to people who have fled their homeland and how to provide assistance through cultural institutions. The phenomenon of migration is not new, but the recent conflict escalation in Ukraine and the resulting influx of vulnerable people in large numbers in a short period of time have been a catalyst for many initiatives. This is a new situation for Poland; as the country was not prepared for it on many levels, including competence training for the outreach workers. After the initial efforts of providing relief we are at the crossroads and we need to ask some fundamental questions. How can we, as a cultural institution contribute towards international audiences participating in our cultural scene and, ultimately, fostering their integration into our society? What do museums need to do in order for these processes to be initiated at all? How can museums and cultural institutions assist in initiating and supporting these processes? What experiences does the Museum of Warsaw have in working with an international audience?

The author of the text analyzes attitudes, programs and current initiatives based on her own experience of working in a cultural institution as well as looks at them from the perspective of initiators and partners of such processes at the Museum of Warsaw. The article will also address the course of such process. The author, looking for inspiration at the institutions with more experience in this type of activities, completed an internship at the Framer Framed organization in Amsterdam (as part of the Erasmus+ program). The Amsterdam perspective will also be discussed in the article.

Spiral and Amplitude. Dialectic of Art

The article presents a certain dialectic of art, the dialectic developed on the basis of such concepts as essence, potentiality, completeness, sense and phenomenon. The completeness of art is hereby understood as the maximum actualisation of its potential, the pretence of art would be therefore something, in which the potentiality of art isn’t elaborated on. What would be the sense of art then? It would be the process of certain actualisation of art potentiality. The history of art then presents itself as the amplitude whose extents are drawn by the level of the actualisation of that potentiality; from the pretence of art to the appearance of immanence, the epiphanic experience of the omni-completeness. This might have been the most maximalist vision of art, which can be found, for example, in Schiller, Schelling, Heidegger or Chögyam Trungpa.

We can also imagine a different variant of dialectic of art, in which its story would have unfolded in form of a spiral. The history of art would then have been driven by the need for the realisation of its telos. It would have been the achievement of complete sense of art inherent to its concept, which may be derived from Hegel’s aesthetics.

Can this spiral and this amplitude be intersecting? And if so, how could this affect understanding of art? It seems that the dialectic form of spiral provides art with the terminological integrity, the possibility of its nominal creation, whereas the form of amplitude reinforces art as the epiphany of omni-completeness. Finally, the art would be the form of energy flow on the certain horizon, horizon of art; the form of flow into its condensation points of completeness; and the moments of transparency of this eternal flow…

Histrionics of Care. The Play Kochana Wisełko, Najdroższy Zbyszku as the Exemplification of Feminist Ethics of Care

This article undertakes an attempt to prove validity of the claim that the play Kochana Wisełko, Najdroższy Zbyszku can be seen as an exemplification of feminist ethics of care, especially in reference to its interpretation by the theorist Nel Noddings. The methodological tools used, include the textual analysis of the script as well as the adaptation of phenomenological approach. The categories of a general assessment introduced alongside this reflection are as follows: relationality and receptivity, as well as the practice of empathy, care, understanding and attunement to other people’s needs. The article proved the adequacy of the assumption that the aforementioned categories had been expressed in the play and that they can be clearly ascertained in its reception by the viewers.

An Easy Little Story about What Others are Up To. Anecdote in Theatre History Studies

The aim of this article is to draw the attention to the formation process of the theatre history on the basis of the dominant perception of phenomena, relations between them and the oeuvre of the artists, which has been shaped by the selected research methods. The material, which constitutes the exemplification for the necessity of turning towards the unconventional readings of the sources seen as not so credible, is the autobiography, with the special focus on the anecdotes which are prevalent in it.

Laboratory Questions

Laboratory still is a relatively new form of doing human sciences. One that is novel and somewhat foreign at its staring point. In the text the author discusses the intuitive associations – that are not always explicitly stated – hidden behind the idea of the laboratory, in particular this institution’s affinity with theatre, factory and workshop.

Abstraction and Reality. Enterprises of the Polish People’s Republic as the Factories of Art

Part of enterprises that were active during the time of Polish People’s Republic was fulfilling the role of an industrial art patrons, sponsoring and organising different types of artistic projects. The factories were however first and foremost obliged to fulfil the national industrial plans and their production norms, both of which could be impeded by their cultural and artistic activities. In this article the author poses a following question: why was it that the enterprises were sponsoring artistic events and how were they benefitting from it? To provide an answer, the author focused on three events under the industrial patronage – Biennale of Spatial Forms in Elbląg, 1st Symposium of Fine Artists and Scientists in Puławy as well as 1st Biennale of Metal Sculptures in Warsaw – and conducted an analysis of scientific and specialist literature on their topic. On this basis, the author drew the conclusion that the advantages related to the patronage had mostly a social character and resulted from building positive relations with the authorities, local communities and employees.

Kill Marketing, Death to Management!

The aim of the paper is to show that management and marketing, in terms of their interpretations dominating in the Polish higher education, are structurally unsustainable in a world that attempts to respond to the climatic and ecological challenges. The subject and starting point of the article is the critique of two popular definitions of management and marketing. The research problem relates to the incompatibility of social practices, such as contemporary management and marketing, with the scale of the challenges of the Anthropocene and the need to search for new, even utopian, ways of organizing reality. The main research questions are: are management and marketing practices in their current shape sustainable in a world that has decided to face the climatic and ecological challenges, and why is so.

* Recenzja powstała w wyniku realizacji projektu badawczego o numerze 2021/05/X/HS4/00317 (Testowanie metody dyfrakcyjnej w naukach o zarządzaniu), finansowanego ze środków Narodowego Centrum Nauki.

What do We Know about Staff of Cultural Institutions? A Systematic Overview of Polish Literature

The goal of this article is to showcase the current state of research and the emerging tendencies in analyses concerning the staff of cultural institutions, while providing a systematical overview of the literature. Staff of cultural institutions was defined as persons employed in cultural organisations (of public, private and NGO character) whose work begins there where the predisposition of the employed artists ends and whose work plays a vital role in creation, distribution and protection of culture. Based on the previous research one can conclude that the topic of staff of cultural institutions is addressed by the authors, its analysis, however, proves to be fragmentary and oftentimes superficial.

Competence Requirements for the Staff of Cultural Institutions. An Analysis of Job Advertisements

Analysing the employees’ competencies is relevant both from the organisation’s and individuals’ perspective, because it allows – for example – to predict emerging competency gaps in organisations, design training offers tailored to the organisation’s needs and employees’ expectations, or to better match people’ professional tasks with organisational culture. One of the methods for obtaining information about competence requirements is the analyse of job advertisements published by the selected employers. This article focuses on the competence requirements set by employers representing cultural organisations. Its purpose is to showcase the competencies expected from the staff of cultural institutions in Poland from the perspective of job advertisements. The article presents the results of the analysis of 127 job advertisements published on the “Pracuj w Kulturze” webiste from the 31st of January to the 1st of February 2022. The analysis included the requirements regarding the following: knowledge (both formal and non-formal), skills and employee attitudes desired by the employers.

The purpose of this paper was to explore the organisation of a support system for the professional development of women in public cultural institutions. The deliberations in this paper are based on qualitative research. The research included biographical interviews with ten women who currently work in managerial positions in public cultural institutions in Poland. This research strategy made it possible to get to know the experiences of women who reached managerial positions in their professional career in culture and to attempt an explanation of the observed phenomena as they are seen by people who were part of the system. Research has shown that the support system for the professional development of women in public cultural institutions seems to be largely based on informal solutions initiated within the personal support networks of women who are part of the system, its foundation being interpersonal relations. The main contribution of the paper is the interesting dataset gathered. Moreover, the proposed rhizome metaphor enriches the field of organizational research by suggesting new ideas that contribute to expanding on how we can see and perceive the complexity and variation in organizational phenomena of women in leadership positions and therefore opening up new interpretations and directions.

Time in Organizational Space: The Perspective of Employees of a Cultural Organization

Cultural institutions are exceptional spaces where time gains new meanings. By interacting with stakeholders, responding to the needs declared by potential recipients, and setting trends – they become active participants in the process of shaping and giving meaning to cultural heritage, of which one of the most important components is also time. Therefore, it turns out that employees of cultural institutions are responsible not only for managing themselves but for managing the processes taking place within an organization as well, moreover they are also obliged to closely observe the dynamically changing world.

This text aims to diagnose and describe the importance of time – according to employees – in working in cultural institutions. To prepare the article, the author used the research conducted for the purposes of her thesis entitled Time management – aporia or utopia? In line with the adopted methodological

strategy, the method of narrative collage was used, consisting of collecting fictional stories from employees of cultural organizations. The analysis of the obtained research material made it possible to diagnose the challenges faced by cultural institutions, related to, inter alia, inadequate financing, failure of taking into account the individual needs and expectations of employees and chaos in the working time organization.

Strongwomen and McGyvers. On the Determinants of the Demotivation among the Employees of Polish Cultural Centres

The article deals with the topic of demotivation among the staff of Polish cultural centres. The aim of the paper is to explore the phenomenon from a humanist perspective. The first part describes the definitions of demotivation and the reasons it occurs. The research results were then presented. The answers obtained through an online questionnaire and interviews show that demotivation occurs in this group. The essential determinants of demotivation are elements of the internal environment of the organization.

Motivation and Needs of Artistic Workers from Generation Y. A Case Study of a Music Institution

The aim of the work is to analyse the motivational system used in one of the musical cultural institutions in Poland and to identify the motivating factors (motivators) for the work of the artists employed in it, representing the Generation Y. The first – theoretical – part contains selected motivational theories and the characteristics of Generation Y. The empirical part is a description of the results of the research carried out by the author.

A critical analysis of the literature and the results of surveys as well as interviews conducted in a cultural institution will allow the author to answer the following research questions: What are the current premises and needs of Generation Y when they start working in a public cultural institution? What are the motivating and demotivating factors for a Generation Y employee of a public cultural institution?

In order to research the topic, the author chose the case study method. A large (over 200 people) public institution promoting musical culture served as a model. Only a group of artistic creators (choir and orchestra with the decision-makers) from Generation Y (people born between 1980 and 2000) was subjected to the test.

The research showed the diversity of such occurring employee needs: stabilisation of employment, belonging to a team and the need for closer contact with art. The main motivating factors for work are also stable employment, but also finances, a friendly atmosphere and a possibility of professional development. Among the demotivators, the Millennials indicated the inadequacy of earnings in relation to work, lack of respect and poor working conditions.

Myths are Both Helpful and... Disruptive to an Organization

Throughout this article, the role of myths as part of organizational culture is emphasized. Myths, similarly to cultures, diverge according to the type of organization. In the paper, opposing types of organizations are distinguished on the basis of their attitude to power and to environmental issues.

The objective of this article is to analyze the core myths exploited in organizations for motivational purposes in order to identify the conditions for their positive or negative impact on both organizational efficiency and employee wellbeing.

Managing the Mythical Mind

The aim of the article is to consider whether the mental mechanisms essential for the functioning of a myth, used effectively for many years in culture-creating activities (especially in the area of art and entertainment), can also be applied to the processes of cultural management. The hypothesis of such a possibility is based on the belief that the same properties of human cognitive architecture that account for the popularity of the form of myth are (or can be) used to shape specific attitudes and actions. In particular, this applies to such properties of myth as narrative communication, fiction, worldview referencing, concepts of agency, as well as counterintuitive imagery and primary metaphors. The article is a theoretical study based on a review of literature in the field of the theory of myth and cognitive science, discussing the perspective of the application of findings made at the intersection of these two domains in management theory and practice as well as potential empirical research in this area.

Myth Strategy in Social Media Film Marketing

Nowadays, many marketing activities involve the implementation of modern solutions. One of these may be the use of social media. Concomitantly, marketing can also use well-known techniques that have been working for years in many different areas – such as those that refer to the attributes of myth.

The aim of this paper is to present the results of research on the use of myth strategy in social media marketing in the Polish film market. In order to achieve this goal, a literature review has been conducted and research of the best film-related Facebook profiles has been carried out. The study identified multiple ways to implement the myth strategy using the strategies of monomyth, bricolage, and counter-intuitiveness.

The Relevance of Myth in the Personal Branding of a Hollywood Actor

A hundred years ago, Hollywood became the cradle of the American film industry. It soon began to dictate standards and canons, including the shaping of actors’ personal brands. Back in that time, their profession was the exclusive domain of a ‘selected’ few who were granted the status of goddesses and heroes, with the fans idolizing their cinematic and private image. With the passage of time and the concomitant social and legal changes, the brand strategy of screen celebrities has evolved. The moral revolution in the second half of the twentieth century brought the trend of displaying one’s sexuality, generating new myths of the sex bomb and the playboy. These, in turn, were refuted with an appeal to the archetype of professionalism by inscribing mastery of the craft in the core brand message and significantly reducing non-professional content.

The purpose of the article is to present the evolutionary direction of a Hollywood actor’s mythbased personal brand strategy. By demonstrating the process of altering the strategies of image creation, the paper draws conclusions regarding the identity change of Hollywood actors. It shows their path of gradually freeing themselves from the constraints imposed by their idealization and simultaneously emphasizing the work put into improving their vocational skills, which allows them to strengthen their professional position. 

The research carried out in the article is based on secondary sources (books, articles, films, thematic websites) dealing with the subject of American cinema and covering the biographies of Hollywood actors.

Mythologizing Busking: Discourse, Self-Narration, and Self-Creation

The article deals with the phenomenon of mythologizing the activity of buskers. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that street performers, despite their rich and varied history, both diachronically and synchronically, continue to be represented in a simplistic, stereotypical way. The intention of the authors was to show the real, more complex image and identity of buskers. The research problem concerns the mythologization of street performances in terms of discourse, self-narration, and self-creation. The article relates to three research questions: (1) How are the activity of buskers and the performers themselves being described? (2) How do buskers create and explain their own stories in terms of performing in the street? (3) How do they create and interpret their image? The article is the result of a joint analysis of the outcomes of ethnographic fieldworks conducted independently by two researchers in 2011–2019 in various cities, mainly in Poland but also abroad. The results show that the activity of buskers is subject to mythologization, which impacts the discourse on their activity as well as the formation of their identity and image. 

Ideal Organizations: Creating Myths of Enterprises through Monuments in Communist-Era Poland

Myths are messages that shape people’s imaginations, determine how they perceive the world, and shape their attitudes and behaviors. Monuments are an important source of myths. In communist-era Poland, they gave enterprises a special social status. The aim of this paper is to identify the myths hidden behind such monuments and to point to the ideas about workplaces which they fostered. Appropriate research has been carried out to achieve this goal, identifying monuments to enterprises erected in communist-era Poland, collecting stories related to them, and carrying out an analysis of the assembled data. Thanks to the analysis, it has been possible to distinguish five categories of myths: 1) greatness and perfection, 2) breaking down barriers, 3) heroism and tragedy, 4) inspiration and afflation, and 5) social mission. It has also been found that these myths created the image of an ideal socialist organization in people’s imaginations. 

Moderation, Community and Non-Human Perspective as Ecological Strategies of (Post-)Art Towards Climate Crisis

The foundations of the culture as well as of the current climate and ecological crisis rely on two paradigms that require deconstruction in context of the anthropocene, namely the capitalistic and anthropocentric paradigms. The author not only criticizes them, but also looks for alternatives among the post-humanistic philosophies and post-artistic practises that exceed modernistic traditions as well as autonomous and representative art. New tools for describing and changing reality can be provided by post-artistic practices which focus on action, social use, communities and immaterial benefits. This situates post-art in contraposition to institutionalized overproduction, anthropocentric individualism and market-based rules.

Radical Inclusivity. Post-human Perspectives for Subjective Inclusion of Other-Than-Human Beings in Management Processes

The subject of the article is the issue of subjective inclusion of other-than-human beings in management processes. Due to the association of participation with human cognitive tools in management theory, consequent exclusion of other-than-human beings occurs. The aim of the research is to find perspectives in the sources of post-humanist philosophy that make it possible to transcend the anthropocentric barriers. Based on a review of selected literature – Actor-Network Theory, Object-Oriented Ontology, Dark Ecology, and Kinship – the research shows that subjective inclusion of other-than-human beings in management processes is possible. It requires abandonment of the judgement of non-human agency measured by humanly perceived consciousness in favour of a vision of symbiotic co-creation. The article also derives the category of radical inclusivity as a process of changing the perception of the role of other-than-human beings within management, with a particular emphasis on the practice of inclusive management.

Advanced NLP Procedures as Premises for the Reconstruction of the Idea of Knowledge

The article presents the current state of development of the Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, in particular the GPT-3 language model, and presents its consequences for understanding the phenomenon of knowledge. The NLP technology has been experiencing remarkable development recently. The GPT-3 language model presents a level of advancement that allows it to generate texts as answers to general questions, as summaries of the presented text, etc., which reach the level surpassing the analogous level of human texts. These algorithmic operations lead to the determination of the probability distribution of its components. Texts generated by such a model should be considered as autonomous texts, using immanent, implicit knowledge embedded in language. This conclusion raises questions about the status of such knowledge. Help in the analysis is provided also by the theory of discourse, as well as the theory of discursive space based on it, that proposes the interpretation of knowledge as a trajectory of discourses in a dynamical space. Recognizing that knowledge may also be autonomous, and in particular not be at the exclusive disposal of humans, leads to the question of the status of artificial cognitive agents, such as the GPT-3 language model.

The Post-human Potential of a Polish Comic Book Fandom

Comic books are an undeniable part of the modern culture, gaining more popularity every year. Reading comics influences the perception of communing with other products of culture, which results in the transformation of reading into new cultural practices. They may be the result of individual participation, however, the effectiveness of undertakings may often depend on the results of teamwork and collective participation practices. Initially, the grassroots movements of comic book enthusiasts are transformed with time into forms of structured activity. Such an organized community has the potential to implement the assumptions of critical post-humanism, according to which man is not hyper-causative and should participate with actors other than human. This work outlines the historical background of the comic book fandom, considers the idea of participation in culture, analyzes the initiatives taken with particular emphasis on socially engaged activities and content, characterizes the problems faced by the community and relates individual aspects of its functioning to critical post-humanism. The research methodology was based on the analysis of the literature on the subject, virtual ethnology and interviews. The obtained results showed the comic book community as a heterogeneous community that grew out of the need for change. This fandom is involved in initiatives related to diversity, ecology, emancipation and equality, at the same time trying to popularize the comic culture medium.

Managing a More-Than Human Team in the Cat Cafe „Kociarnia”

The article in the form of organizational ethnography explores managing feline-human team, and this way becomes part of animal turn in social sciences, especially management. Research problem is managing the team built with various actors, in management studies known as resources, which is placed in the space of Cat Cafe „Kociarnia”. Objects of research are the employees of the cafe, and purpose is exploring the principles of animal participation in the team under the hypothesis that animals are workers of the cafe. The research checks in which way and to what extent are animals part of the team, what roles are they performing, what relationship is occurring between them and other teams members – both human and non-human (for example cats but also the place) – and how their membership is perceived by human coworkers. Getting to know cats as the group of workers is only possible by looking at them (with interviews) through the eyes of their human coworkers. The research discovers ways of cats participation in the work team and demonstrates the importance of creating the team along the (non-essentialistically understood) cats nature. There seem to be just one main rule of cats participation in the researched team: to be a cat and to feel good in cat cafe.

Museums, University Collections and the Concept of Sustainable Development

The paper attempts to contribute to the debate on the possibility of using tangible and intangible traces of scientific and cultural activity of universities in the implementation of sustainable development tasks, especially of utilising the cultural capital of museums and academic collections for building an engaged academic community. These objectives become both a need and an obligation, next to sustainability and accountability in the field of research, heritage protection, and popularisation. The aim of the paper is to discuss how the principles of sustainable development in the area of culture can be linked to the cultural heritage of universities, and how to inscribe the implementation of these principles in the university’s activity.

Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Development in the Practice of Polish Theaters 

The aim of the paper is to present how Polish theatres implement the principles of sustainable development in practice in their day-to-day operations. The background for the considerations involves the evolution of the approach to sustainable development observed from the perspective of international documents discussing this concept. The author’s own empirical research consisted of the preliminary survey of the information available on the websites and social media of selected Polish theatres and the questionnaire sent to the theatres in the first half of 2021. The research has made it possible to distinguish four main types of activities undertaken in this respect by the theatres: 1) the content of performances and other artistic endeavours; 2) the day-to-day functioning of the institution; 3) the theatre building and its surroundings, and 4) co-creation and participation in broader initiatives for sustainable development. The questionnaire results indicate that the dynamics of activities in this domain has nothing to do with the size of the urban area in which a given theatre operates, but it is more associated with the fact that the theatres align themselves with the environmental policy of their local governments, and with the possibility of obtaining funds for such initiatives. Furthermore, and perhaps above all, it depends on the theatre’s strategy determining how it operates in the local milieu. Building upgrades involve savings and help theatres build an image of an environmentally-friendly organisation. 

Women, Ballet and Choreography. Unequal Situation of Female Choreographers in the Labor Market in Poland

One of the key tasks of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to strengthen gender equality and the position of women around the world. Unfortunately, the artistic milieu is still far from reaching the goal set by the United Nations. When analysing the history and literature on ballet and looking at the contemporary repertoires of leading ensembles, it is easy to observe that women outnumber men, which, however, does not translate into the leading role of women in the sphere of management and creation in this artistic field (choreography). The paper is aimed at discussing the circumstances of women in the Polish labour market of choreographers in the context of the above-mentioned goal of sustainable development. The analysis is focused on the occupational situation of Polish female choreographers working in leading ballet ensembles and unravels the prevailing inequalities between women and men as well as the potential solutions to overcome them.

And What if Forest Green Rovers Go Green? An Implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy by a Football Club

Sport and sports organisations are often some of the most important aspects of local culture and identity. As in the case of cultural institutions, recent years have seen numerous interesting initiatives for sustainable development undertaken by athletes and sports clubs. The paper explores the implementation and social reception of the sustainable development strategy adopted in 2010 by the professional football club called Forest Green Rovers FC in Great Britain. Using the method of content analysis, the author attempts to analyse the critical reflection on the strategy presented in the national opinion-forming press and to show how the club’s environmentally-friendly actions are perceived by the community of its fans.

Inspirations of Culture in Creating the Axiology of a New Development Paradigm

A positive assessment of changes from the point of view of a specific axiological system is a consti­tutive attribute of the definition of development which determines the relativism or uncondition­al nature of the development category and its new paradigms. In creating this system, an inspir­ing – although not always unambiguous – role is or should be played by culture. Culture also plays such a role in creating the quality of life. The article presents the main channels of the axiological impulses of culture as a carrier and creator of value systems. The identification of these channels is the main goal of this work. It shows the process of extending the dimensions of the new develop­ment paradigm and the role of culture in this process. The final part of the article illustrates this is­sue with the example of public policies and organisational culture. Furthermore, the author identi­fies axiologically diverse choices relating to the basic attributes of this culture, which are illustrated in the approach of an organisation (an enterprise or a public institution) to the category of respon­sibility, fairness or trust, and management systems, including the style of personnel management in the context of the leadership empowered in the organisation.

Archaeological Heritage in the Context of Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainable development is widely declared and used in contemporary scientific dis­course. Sustainability also refers to cultural and archaeological heritage. What is an important ele­ment of the contemporary conservation doctrine is a departure from the idea of protection of ar­chaeological heritage in favour of the rational management of such heritage, in accordance with the sustainable development rationale. It follows from the premise that, on the one hand, herit­age is a subject of protection, but, on the other hand, it constitutes potential that should be adapted to new conditions and used for cultural, social, and economic development. With the above-men­tioned concept as a starting point, the paper is aimed at analysing the role that archaeological her­itage resources can play in the context of sustainable development. As an example of good practic­es implementing the idea of sustainable development based on archaeological resources, I take and discuss archaeological tourism, because it aims to promote public interest in archaeology and the protection of archaeological sites.

New venues of Cultural Institutions in Poland — the Perspective of Local Cultural Ecosystems

Building new venues for cultural activity involves a shift in the balance of power in the entire sys­tem of relations in the local communities of authors and organisers. This is a matter of budget and, very often, also of cultural policy priorities. Furthermore, it entails a significant change in the long-term funding of cultural initiatives and cultural entities in each region. The phenomenon of the emergence of many new cultural facilities has inspired a few fundamental questions about their at­titudes to selected values in the field of sustainable development goals, particularly in the social and economic dimensions, but ultimately also of the impact of new cultural venues on the natural en­vironment. Are the new investments in culture opportunities, challenges, or perhaps threats result­ing from the rescaled or disturbed balance in local cultural ecosystems? The theoretical perspective, which organises the debate on these areas, takes the cultural ecosystem as a key concept, using it as a basis for the description of phenomena in local urban communities. The observations present­ed are based on the qualitative and quantitative research conducted in eight cultural institutions in eight Polish cities. The results reveal the importance of between ten and twenty fundamental di­mensions of the activity of cultural institutions and their local government organisers which allow them to put down their roots more deeply in the city’s cultural ecosystem. A new building opens completely new possibilities, but it is extremely important to tailor the institution to the real, saga­ciously assessed, and well-balanced possibilities of the local ecosystem.

The Idea of Sustainable Fashion in Polish Post-Secondary Schools and Universities Offering Fashion Majors

The article presents the results of research on the promotion of the sustainable fashion concept by Polish post-secondary and higher education institutions that offer fashion majors. The analysis in­cluded information on all institutions active in fashion design education in the 2019/2020 academ­ic year and aimed to assess their involvement in education on sustainable fashion by examining the content of their official internet and social media sites. Universities and schools undertake diverse activities which may significantly contribute to the development of ecological awareness of future fashion designers and the general public. Factors that determine the practical possibilities of such schools to exert impact on attitudes to sustainable fashion include both their human resources and the presence of relevant supporting partners in the schools’ surroundings.

Sustainable Film Production in Poland. The Origin and Prospects

The 21st century has seen a growing awareness of the serious impact of film and television production on the natural environment. The film industry pollutes our environment in many ways, including carbon dioxide emissions, waste production, and energy and water consumption. The initiatives for sustainable development undertaken in many sectors of the economy have also reached the film industry. In Europe and the United States, various organisations and institutions have developed a number of recommendations in the field of sustainable film production. This paper, set in the film studies trend known as production culture, presents the global context as well as the nascent Polish practices of green filming. These initiatives, based on European examples, have so far been mainly bottom-up and dispersed or in the form of non-binding recommendations. The handful of producers and authors who have undertaken them are not in any way encouraged to be eco-friendly. Driven by their concern for the environment, however, they show the forward-looking way of thinking that should be followed by the entire industry.

Experiencing Generosity: An Autoethnographic Sketch from the Process of Coordinating the Research on Theatrical Life in the Pandemic

The publication is the result of the autoethnographic research covering a year-long process of coordinating the implementation of seven sociological studies on theatrical life in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by two theatre pedagogists – a manager and an employee of the Department of Theatre Pedagogy of the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. The authors try to answer the following research question: What does the autoethnographic analysis of the experience of people responsible for project management bring to the cultural sector, and how? Thus, they attempt to strengthen the project management discourse with the perspective of those whose work is not visible. As a result of the analyses, they have identified and described two subconscious coordination strategies: playing the speed game and playing the sense game. In order to draw the attention of cultural workers to the influence of private life on professional life and to the value of support received from a co-worker, the authors introduce the details of the experience by describing collaboration in a duet. The answer to the research question is enriched with the reflection that the project coordination methodology adopted by the authors has its source in the values of theatre pedagogy. The text is divided into four parts. The first one is a description of the method of autoethnography. The second one presents the dynamics of actions in a changing reality of pandemic. The third one is focused on cooperation in a duet. Finally, the fourth one presents the authors’ conversation summarising their autoethnographic analyses and showing the influence of the authors’ roots in the theatre pedagogy on the project management.  

The Culture Support Fund – COVID-19 Compensation or a Strategic Intervention? 

The aim of the paper is to discuss the Cultural Support Fund (CSF) as an example of a reactive financing scheme. In order to understand the implemented compensation mechanism for entities operating in the creative sector, a broader context is also explored, which, on the one hand, shows the general message of the Fund, and on the other hand, the lack of efficient management of the CSF. The research is based on the analysis of the existing data outlining the operation of private enterprises in the creative sector, with the emphasis on the performing arts backstage industry. The drama of the situation is accentuated in the individual in-depth interviews with four beneficiaries of the Culture Support Fund, which presents the perspective of the CSF recipients. In order to stress the multidimensionality of the CSF structure, the conclusions are built according to the three dimensions of the analysis: procedural, substantive, and contextual.

Omni-work and Overproduction in Culture. Pandemic-induced Reflections as by-products of the Scientific Explorations in the Poznan Cultural Milieu

Bartek Lis and Jakub Walczyk discuss the phenomenon of omni-work and overproduction in the field of culture, taking into account the changes brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Omni-work, i.e. being constantly at work and involved in many parallel initiatives using mobile media, is a phenomenon common to various types of activity. On the other hand, overproduction in culture involves preparation of events, implementation of activities, and creation of programmes to an outsized extent. Although both concepts have existed for a long time, they have particularly intensified during the pandemic and acquired new, clear exemplifications. The authors explore them in a section affecting individuals and groups engaged in organisational, curatorial, artistic, and social activities in the area of culture. It is the specific nature of employment typical for culture professionals that particularly often evokes the terms discussed in this work. Among other things, by drawing on the analysis of identified data, the authors describe the notions of omni-work and overproduction and the context in which the new ‘pandemic’ reality affects the specificity of the field, reinforcing and exacerbating the long-standing problems, divisions, and disparities.

* Badania „Przyszłość kultury. Badanie poznańskiego sektora” realizowane pod kierownictwem Katarzyny Chajbos oraz Bartka Lisa przez Centrum Praktyk Edukacyjnych w Centrum Kultury ZAMEK na zlecenie Wydziału Kultury Urzędu Miasta Poznania w okresie pierwszego lockdownu (maj–czerwiec 2020). Raport jest dostępny na stronie www.cpe.poznan.pl [odczyt: 15.12.2020].

Amidst Pictures, Algorithms, and Methodological Reflections. Culture in Paris in Times of the Epidemic 

Paris is a city filled with art and home to some of the world’s most famous institutions offering unique cultural events, including exhibitions of priceless works of art and ephemeral performative phenomena such as performances and concerts. Due to the closure of cultural institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation has completely changed. The city is deserted, while cultural institutions are focused on using the Internet to run their affairs and forge/maintain relationships with the audience without the possibility of meeting them face-to-face. Based on the author’s own research conducted in Paris in December 2020, the paper presents the analysis of public space in terms of the presence of traces of culture. For this purpose, a flexible methodological approach was designed, covering both the city space and the Internet, also understood as part of the public domain. Additionally, the author’s own research experience is taken into account, depending on the epidemiological situation and the ability to move around the city. The factors discussed in the paper have provoked a multifaceted reflection – starting from the privileges of researchers, through the sense of online culture, and ending with the future of cultural institutions. The aim of the paper is to document the situation of cultural institutions in Paris during the pandemic, with an emphasis on their presence, visibility, and accessibility in the city and the Internet.

* Tekst powstał jako efekt pobytu w Paryżu w ramach stypendium rządu francuskiego na zaproszenie Université Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Activities of Culture Animators during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections of People Implementing Projects on the Internet

The paper deals with the topic of culture organisation/coordination during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed perspective is related to the recognition of the activities of cultural animators and presents the individual experiences of people involved in project implementation. The text presents the results of an empirical study based on interviews with culture animators. The topics discussed include: ways of adapting to the situation, challenges and barriers to implementing projects on-line, forecasting the use of new tools and acquired skills in the future, building a physical and mental work space, acquiring new competences, personal reflections about oneself, and, finally, relationships with recipients and in work environments.

Implementation of Scrum Elements in a Cultural Institution

Since March 2020, managers of cultural institutions have had to dynamically adapt their methodologies for teamwork, project management, and ongoing institutional tasks to the COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines handed down by public authorities. Following the initial downtime in the spring season and the reopening in June 2020, the Pod Atlantami Municipal Library in Wałbrzych took vigorous measures to adapt its cultural project management to the new conditions, drawing on the experience of the broadly understood business sector. These measures included the implementation of certain elements of Scrum as an agile framework for project management. The goal of the paper is to showcase the pilot implementation of Scrum elements in project management in the selected cultural institution. The analysis relied on structured questionnaires and open questions, visualisation meetings, and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis showed the applicability of backlog management, iterative planning, and iterative task execution to projects pursued by cultural institutions, along with potential for winning the employees’ approval. However, a properly executed implementation is necessary, in which regard this paper offers a set of recommendations arising from the analysis.

Project Management in a Projectified Pandemic Reality – the Autoethnography of the Project Michał Wójciak – Open Studio

The main aim of the paper is to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the project management process and on projectification. Two research questions are posed: How does the COVID-19 pandemic affect the project management process and projectification? and What are the implications of projectification for the individuals? For this purpose, the author uses autoethnography, which is a research method based on the researcher’s personal experience. The subject of the study covered the project of an open fashion design studio launched as part of the Creative Scholarships of the City of Cracow 2020 in the period from July to December 2020. On the one hand, the pandemic was an impediment to the project, which is why it was necessary to adjust the planned activities to the imposed restrictions; on the other hand, the pandemic inspired certain project events, i.e. organisation of the masquerade ball.

COVID-19 vs Art. Economic, Financial, and Legal Consequences of the Pandemic Based on the Case Study of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lodz

Since March 2020, cultural institutions have become a field of social, economic, and legal experiment in terms of content, management strategies, and ways to implement a new work model. The governmental regulations have put the flexibility and strength of so-far firm public sector structures, with its resources and finances, to the test. The wide scale of positive and negative consequences of the limited operations of cultural institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic shows well the complexity of managing change during uncertain times. The change has also become synonymous with moving activities to the Internet, which often is an ad hoc and last-resort measure. The scope of dilemmas and adaptations introduced in the economic and financial repertoire as well as the legal department of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lodz may constitute an interesting case study of a cultural institution operating in an existing and much disintegrated economic and financial ecosystem. The aim of the work is to analyse the situation in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lodz divided into three dimensions: legal, financial, and accounting. Each of them have generated new problem areas. The material for the study consists of interviews with the Philharmonic’s heads of departments (interview disposition). In the interviews, both detrimental and valuable effects of the pandemic are presented, and a new approach to the problems described.

Culture During a Pandemic – Managing the Organisational Resources Necessary to Adopt the New Formula of the Festival

The aim of the article is to study how organizers of three Krakow festivals managed to adapt the new formula of the event – an online festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The research identifies the way of managing the organizational resources and discusses adopted tactics, changes in the use of resources, and supplementing their deficits. The results indicate the key importance of human resources and shortage in technical skills. The action taken by the organizers has been evaluated.

Co-Management of an Institution by the Minister of Culture and Local Governments. A “Godsend” or a Risky Game?

The mechanism of co-management of cultural institutions by the Ministry of Culture and local government units has been functioning in the Polish practice since 2005–2006. Since 2015, the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość government has taken steps to double the number of co-management institutions up to 66 entities by the end of 2019. The cultural milieu generally welcomes these actions, seeing them as an opportunity to improve the budget of cultural institutions. However, when evaluating this process from a national perspective, as well as considering its political consequences, one can also notice certain threats resulting from the expansion of the co-management system. The perspective of the last 15 years shows that the issue is associated with many problems characteristic for contemporary Poland.

Cost Accounting of Cultural Institutions in Literature Research

The article deals with selected issues associated with cost accounting of cultural institutions in view of literature research. The authors describe and analyse available national monographs as well as scientific and specialist articles. In principle, the analysis reveals a poor state of research on the issues related to the cost of cultural institutions. The deficiencies in literature, combined with the necessity to propose scientific and practical solutions to meet the management needs of cultural institutions, makes it necessary to expand the study of cost accounting in such entities. The aim of the article is to assess the existing acquis in the area of cost accounting in cultural institutions as well as to provide a starting point for discussing the issues associated with the subject.

* Artykuł jest częścią projektu finansowanego w ramach programu Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego pod nazwą „Regionalna Inicjatywa Doskonałości” w latach 2019–2022, nr projektu 015/RID/2018/19, kwota finansowania 10 721 040,00 zł, który realizowany jest przez Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wrocławiu.

Challenges of the Cultural Sector in Poland after 1989 and the Accompanying Popularization of the Idea of Audience Development

Through the last three decades, cultural workers have developed a growing belief in the importance of the so called ‘participative turn.’ The aim of the article is to scrutinize the changes accompanying the culture sector in Poland after 1989 and to identify the challenges which constitute what one could call a ‘fertile ground’ for the popularization of the idea of Audience Development. The concept in question refers to a strategic and holistic approach to the issue of building relations between cultural organizations and their audiences. The article is based on literature studies. The presented analysis focuses mostly on organisations and cultural policies in larger cities in Poland.

Implementation of Project Management Tools to the Exhibition Organization Process. Case Study of the National Museum in Krakow (2016–2019)

How to thoroughly improve the process of organizing exhibitions in a cultural institution? Is project management in a museum possible? How to implement new tools? What to do after initiating a change? This article provides answers to these questions through a case study prepared by the Head of the Exhibition Organization Department and the Head of the Coordinators Section of the National Museum in Krakow, directly responsible for the exhibition organization process. The article describes the events from 2016 to 2019. This includes an audit of the existing process of exhibition organization, implementation of corrective measures, introduction of new tools, their updating and verification, taking into account such solutions as treating the exhibition as a project, PRINCE2 and Scrum methods, a detailed description of the process, and creating standardized templates of project documents, i.e. a list of objects, project charter, project schedule, partial schedule, project budget, evaluation. These activities resulted in the improvement of team cooperation, the elimination of avoidable delays, the automation and acceleration of the process of preparing project documentation, making the obligations of individual team members public, submitting project data to the stakeholders of a given project on an ongoing basis, reducing the amount of manual work, and reducing the cost of the implementation of individual projects.

From a Public Institution to a Non-Governmental Organization. Changes in the Management of an Artistic Team on the Example of the Polish Radio Choir

The article presents the process of organizational and financial changes taking place in the Polish Radio Choir since 2012. The author is looking for an answer to the following question: can the Polish system of public support for culture accommodate regular activities of an artistic team as part of an NGO? For the purposes of the article, a SWOT analysis has been carried out among the current staff of the team, which has made it possible to understand the effects of the changes. The outcome of the analysis (along with the author’s commentary) is presented in the summary of the article.

Leadership in an Artistic Institution during a Pandemic. Case Study of the Musical Theater in Poznań

The article deals with the topic of leadership in a public cultural institution – a musical theater. The pandemic has highlighted the weakness or strength of such organizations, their passivity or proactivity. The strength of an institution lies in a team built by a reliable leader. The point of reference for the author are the leadership concepts formulated by prominent experts in management, such as Ken Blanchard or Jim Collins. A good leader creates a space for good communication, which then gives rise to an organizational culture that fosters creativity and shared responsibility. The article contains a summary of the research on organizational culture in the selected theater carried out using the Cameron and Quinn method and discusses the impact of their implementation on the development of the organization. Public cultural institutions can benefit greatly from business achievements in this area.

Pride in Science

This article is dedicated to the category of pride, which I treat much more widely than a trait of an individual. In my article, I try to determine how specific representations of pride in the scientific community are manifested, what they result from, but I also explain what types of pride can be distinguished in science and what consequences it has for the entire scholarship.

Work of Children in Arts Organizations. Two Faces of the Organizational Shadow

Children-artists participating in film, show and media projects are, just like adult artists, participants in human resource management processes (e.g., recruitment, evaluation, training or derecruitment). However, children do not have professional competences similar to those of adult members of an organization, and their professional development is determined by the decisions of managers of arts organizations. The aim of the article is to deepen the reflection on the situation of children working in arts organizations in the context of the relationship “a child in the shadow of an adult”.

In this article the shadow is the domination of adults, and the darkened space is the childhood of underage artists. The considerations lead to the conclusion that the work of children in arts organizations is a kind of challenge for adult members of the organizations.

Digital Shadow – “Shady” Elements of Internet Fandoms

Contemporary socio-economic changes affect organizations and management. Management processes more and more often concern spheres and groups that go beyond the “traditional”understanding of the organization. Among them are online communities such as fandoms. Along with the process of organizing, the organizational shadow is emerging. Organizational shadow is defined as “a set of unacceptable features, tendencies, aspirations rejected in the process of socialization” (Kostera 2014, s. 23), the appearance and functioning of which is negated or hidden within the organization. Fandoms are governed by slightly different rules, often more variable and more difficult to identify than in formal organizations. That does not make them free from “shady”elements such as certain people, activities, features and values that do not match the current shape of the community. The article describes fandoms as new, informal organizational forms and subjects of management processes, and then identifies examples of the emergence of organizational shadow within them. These are three main causes of such a shadow manifestation –excessive control (e.g., of the forum moderator), undisclosed actions of administrators of the internet platform used by the group, as well as negligence (e.g., forgetting someone’s contribution to the project). The conclusions indicate the need for a further, in-depth identification of the elements influencing the development of the shadow in non-standard organizational forms.

The main purpose of this article is the presentation of the relationships of coopetition among the internal stakeholders of a cluster that could contribute to the development of tourism in its area of operation. This analysis is based on the case study of the Historical Tourism Cluster, which operates on the Polish-German border. This article is theoretical and conceptual in nature. In it, the following research methods have been used: a critical analysis of the literature, logical inference, and observation. Currently, clusters are considered to be among the organizations with promising perspectives for development. The EU has decided to support transnational clusters in its latest strategy (after 2020). In this case, the specialization of the cluster (historical tourism) could be an obstacle. However, this article indicates how the cluster described here could make use of the existing development opportunities.

In this article, I analyze the factors influencing the motivation of tourists for purchasing regional and traditional products, which are a significant element of the tourist culture of a given region. According to a poll, tourists visiting West Pomerania are interested in such products, although their knowledge of local specialties is limited. The market is characterized by an increasing demand for local products related to local traditions and culture.

The aim of the study is the presentation of organizational culture and its importance in the management of an enterprise in the tourism industry. Specialist literature as well as the method of observation and induction and deduction have been used in writing it.

Employees are the basis for the functioning of each enterprise and the achievement of its goals. It is they who shape its image, create the organizational culture, and reputation in the environment. Their competences, knowledge, and skills determine the effectiveness and efficiency of each enterprise. Thanks to their work, products and services that meet social needs and thus create organizational progress are created.

Organizational culture consists of a system of values, norms, principles, and methods of thinking and acting that has been accepted and adopted by a group of people. This phenomenon can be seen in organized social systems such as companies, schools, and others. It is a social phenomenon because it can be discussed and noticed only if it is accepted and practiced by a group of people. The notion of organization culture entered the theory of organization of management in the 1980s and 1990s on a wider scale, and studies on the topic flourished in the 1970s, when they were at the forefront of anthropological research. Organizational culture is an important basis for the effective functioning of each tourist enterprise and influences the effectiveness of its management. The importance of organizational culture is significant because it influences the work results of individuals, efficiency, job satisfaction and involvement, planning strategy, task execution, and recruitment and selection of employees, as well as their acceptance by the business entity.

The Education of Culture Managers: The Example of the Postgraduate Program in Cultural Management at the Jagiellonian University

The aim of this article is the presentation of the results of an evaluation of the postgraduate program in Cultural Management at the Jagiellonian University in 2010–2019. The introductory part of the text presents the circumstances of the emergence of the program and its later development. The evaluation itself is based on three elements: an analysis of the students’ profile, an alumni career survey, and an analysis of the environment. The collected data have been supplemented with information obtained from interviews with students.

The Director Leaves, the Team Stays

The article discusses the results of the research carried out in theatres in the Silesian Region of Poland among the technical and administrative staff. The research concerned a crisis situation of director change, often a turning point in the life of each theatre. We examined the employees’ attitudes, emotions, and opinions associated with the change. We selected teams that were lower in the theatre hierarchy than the artistic team. It turned out that, contrary to popular opinion, the change in the directorial seat has a certain impact on these employees, who are extremely aware of the processes taking place in the organization. The empowerment of theatre employees postulated in discussions about culture coincides with the results of our research. It creates an opportunity for the traditionally-managed theatres to transform themselves into so-called learning organizations.  

Masters, Leaders, or Usurpers? The Ambiguous Status of the Creators of the Cricot and Cricot 2 Theatres

The article is an attempt to look at the principles of operation and the resulting organizational practices characteristic of the Cricot and Cricot 2 Theatres. By recalling the work of the pre-war Cricot Theatre, the author puts forward a thesis that the theatre had developed practices and modes of action typical of the contemporary artistic collective. The cooperating group of artists, with Józef Jarema as an undoubted leader, was quite a flexible constellation, re-established in different configurations with each subsequent undertaking. This mode of operation strongly influenced the aesthetics of particular performances and artistic evenings. The further part of the article raises the issue of the impact of Jarema’s theatre on its post-war successor, the Cricot 2 Theatre. It turns out that the initial Cricot 2 performances stemmed from similar concepts of theatre group organization. When describing also Tadeusz Kantor’s later work in this context, the author emphasizes the artist’s perverse takeover of the collective modus operandi, which he consciously utilized in the realization of his own authorial vision of theatre. The disputes which emerged over the artistic heritage of the Cricot 2 Theatre immediately after Kantor’s death are also discussed. By raising questions about the status of creators and co-creators of the Cricot and Cricot 2 Theatres, and thus about the type and distribution of power in these organizations, the author observes certain organizational mechanisms which, in these cases, took or could have taken place. 

In 2019, a call for a new director for Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium – Odin Teatret was published. This, however, did not mean that the artistic leader of the group theatre Odin Teatret, Eugenio Barba, was to be replaced completely – there is a distinction between the laboratory and the theatre. In this article, we explore the problem of the passing on legacy and tradition from one generation to another in group theatres such as Odin Teatret. We ask: (1) How would it have been possible to continue after such a visionary director retired? (2) Would the next step be continuation or something new? In search for the answers we discuss the history, method, and dramaturgy of Odin Teatret and Barba, as well as the process of generational change in the laboratory, using documents which assess the situation of the organization and analyzing Barba’s theoretical writings. We consider them in terms of transformational leadership theory. In conclusion, we deliberate on possible scenarios of the generational change in group theatres that could provide a balance between keeping the tradition and implementing the new vision. 

Puppeteer: director

The position (today the profession) of a puppet theatre director appeared on a large scale after the WWII and, with the development of institutional state puppet theatres, to a large extent determined the artistic shape of theatres. From the very beginning, this position generated considerable tensions in the milieu. The author discusses the main conflicts around the puppet theatre directorial positions in the Polish post-war period and analyses the reasons behind personnel shuffles. Because he was the head of two different puppet theatres in the 21st century, the author also shares his personal experience and reflections.

The Aristotelian Paradigm in Theatre Management – a Case Study of Maciej Nowak

Models of theatre management in Poland are a widely discussed issue, given the fact that no satisfactory role model of a theatre leader and manager has yet been developed. This paper proposes a critical view of one of the most famous directorial tenures in Polish theatre, i.e. the management of Maciej Nowak at the Wybrzeże Theatre in Gdańsk (2000–2006). In this context, it aims to identify the most urgent problems related to theatre management and to answer the question of how they can be prevented. Maciej Nowak’s managerial practices are analysed in the context of the management paradigms developed by Peter Bendixen [2008] and in relation to the three-part (artist–priest–manager) leadership model proposed by Mary Jo Hatch, Monika Kostera, and Andrzej K. Koźmiński [2010].

Ateneum, mon amour – Jaracz and Cywińska in the Theatre of Powiśle

The article focuses on the presentation of the circumstances under which Izabella Cywińska resigned as the Artistic Director of the Ateneum Theatre. The author tries to discover the roots of this notorious failure by comparing Cywińska’s activities with those implemented by Stefan Jaracz. The comparative analysis of the two management strategies covers the managers’ previous experience, repertoire and personnel policies, and internal and external conflicts. Cywińska’s turbulent three-year tenure provides a good opportunity to take a look at the situation when new repertoire and personnel changes argue with the expectations of actors accustomed to different methods and embodying different values. The paper attempts to answer the question of why the changes described by Cywińska as evolution could have been perceived by the artists as revolution. The confrontation of the two management styles gives one a chance to look at her tenure from a broader and less obvious perspective. Moreover, it shows that the intention of carrying out Jaracz’s last will and testament was doomed to fail. 

Manager, Artist, Priest… On the Management of Jacek Głomb in Legnica

A theatre is where the audience meets the art, a place of culture, but also an organisation typically managed by a strong artist-leader. This organisation, along with its management, have already been examined and discussed from many different angles. In their book The Three Faces of Leadership: Manager, Artist, Priest, Mary Jo Hatch, Monika Kostera, and Andrzej K. Koźmiński deliberate management from the perspective of a theatrical metaphor. By analysing reality through a theatrical interpretation, it is possible to look at the life of the organisation as a closed system with its elements closely intertwined and participating in various types of interactions. In this paper, the observations made by the three researchers will be used to analyse the management tenure of Jacek Głomb at the Helena Modrzejewska Theatre in Legnica. 

Constructive Episode. The Culture Development Fund 1983–1990

The main goal of the article is to present the first comprehensive and universal mechanism of financing of culture in Poland – state-earmarked fund, the Culture Development Fund. I present the circumstances of the birth of the idea, the creation and functioning of the Fund. This is one of the most interesting examples of cultural policy reforms in Poland – in the article I present the pros and cons of this solution. This text is part of institutional research on the organization and financing of theater in the People’s Republic of Poland. 

*Artykuł napisany w ramach realizacji stypendium Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego. 

Financing Classical Music Festivals on the Example of the International Festival “Music in Old Krakow” in 2011–2020

The publication deals with the topic of raising funds from public and private sources by organizers of classical music festivals in Poland. It presents the results of own research in which an attempt was made to find an answer to the question from what sources how and with what result do the organizers of classical music festivals obtain funds for their implementation? The research was conducted in the field of obtaining funds for the implementation of the Festival “Music in Old Krakow” in the years 2011–2020. Nowadays, one of the most valued competences of people involved in organizing festivals is the ability to raise funds, as financing festivals from various sources is not only an art but it has become a necessity. 

Infrastructure of Values. Literary Prizes in Poland after Breakthrough of 1989 as a Tool for Exchange Capitals

The literary prize is one of the basic categories of the literary field. According to the latest research, the institution of an award is also the most effective capital conversion tool. It broadens the understanding of the term economics by its non-intuitive scope – the economy of culture. Thanks to the existence of prizes, economic capital turns out to be only one of the variants of capital, and the field of culture reveals the principle of transaction that guides it. The literary award is not only a tool for the exchange of capital, but also allows to see the dimension of social mission, tasks of governments, negotiating relationships between the public and private sectors. Prizes as well align the story of literary life, axiology and social reception of works by drawing an alternative history of Polish and world literature of late modernity, marked by awards themselves. 

Artists Must Eat as Well. Possibilities of Undertaking Completely Non-profit Cultural Activities

Difficulties with financing cultural activities are a subject of many analysis throughout the years as well as many attempts of finding a way to construct a balanced cultural policy at both the state and local government level. Facing those, culture is a sector that is at the forefront of attempts to raise funds for independent initiatives in a non-standard way. The article presents the analysis of three cases of cultural projects of a fundamentally non-institutional and bottom-up nature, as well as crossing sector boundaries. It points to the difficulties that such activities face, while identifying the existing potential and willingness to undertake non-financially motivated cultural actions. In connection with development of the phenomenon of self-organization in culture, as well as the privatization and deinstitutionalisation of cultural participation, there is a need to change the approach of financing cultural activities and actively going beyond the existing framework of cooperation in this field. 

Culture is Our Business? Underestimated Financing Schemes for Development of Culture as Part of the Research and Development Activities of Polish Enterprises

This article deals with issues of cultural management, and in particular the acquisition of financial resources from European Union funds. It analyzes the possibilities of financing the development of culture with funds allocated to innovation, research and development. Its purpose is to diagnose the barriers encountered by Polish enterprises conducting research and development activity in the area of KIS 13 “Intelligent creative technologies” when designing and obtaining funding. The article is based on evaluation studies of national and regional intelligent specializations, materials related to the assessment procedure and evaluation of projects, observations of the author assessing projects submitted for co-financing, and thus new scientific sources. 

Contact: Organizational Culture of the Museum and Visitors in the Light of Entries in Guest Books

The paper deals how to define relations between guests and organizational culture in museum. Guest books are lectured at temporary exhibitions presented at the Museum of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, from the half of 20th Century up today. They are the source of analysis of the characteristics of the relationship between the museum and visitors as well as the review of opinions and assessments when receiving the exhibition. The exhibition is a product of the museum’s organizational culture. The culture is the process and state that determines the hierarchy of values and activities, it decides about the identity of employees, as well as about the convictions the institution about itself. Statements about the museum and exhibitions, recorded in guest books, reflect the characteristics of organizational culture and they signal various ways of self-identification of the recipients of the exhibition. Contact is understood here as a state of compliance of the museum’s mission and strategy as well as the intentions and goals of the visitor. Analysis of entries due to content will allow to find answers to the following questions: What are the symptoms of connecting the visitor to the museum? Which elements of the museum’s organizational culture are distinguished by the visitor? What are the characteristics of the space of “contact”?

The Affordances of Cultural Institutions’ Objects: The Evaluation of Organizational Museum Visual Offer from the Perspective of Communication Strategy

The interdisciplinary study bordering communication management and media psychology aims to present the possibility of using the “affordance” concept in the cultural institutions study, and more precisely in the organization’s museum research. It may be particularly useful to extend the theoretical apparatus to describe the phenomena of the organizational iconosphere, where behavioural models seem to be insufficient to analyse the relationship between the designed institutional environment and its ability to influence the visiting audience. The author has conducted qualitative research on visual messages in the newly created Polish Vodka Museum in Warsaw. The theoretical foundation was the model proposed by Meyer et al. [2018], which synthesizes the functions of visual messages in the organization’s space. The article, referring to the theory of affordances, presents a new application of this concept in the analysis of the communication potential of an organization’s museum. The assessment of the offer of cultural institutions may begin with the analysis of affordances of the main objects exhibited. This is a complementary approach to studying the preferences and experiences of visitors.

Marketing Communication of Polish Museums in the Opinion of Their Audience – Conclusions from Empirical Research

The aim of the article is to present the results of qualitative and quantitative research of the museum audience on the subject of marketing communication implemented by these institutions. The research was carried out using the focus group interview method (FGI) and the online direct interview method (CAWI). As part of the research, it was determined, among others, what are the main sources of information about the museum’s offer, what marketing communication activities of these institutions can be considered the most effective and what communication channels are preferred by the public. It was also determined what factors have the greatest impact on the audience’s loyalty towards the museum.

* Niniejszy artykuł stanowi poprawiony fragment niepublikowanej rozprawy doktorskiej autorki, pt. Zintegrowana komunikacja marketingowa w działalności muzeów (promotor: prof. dr hab. Mirosława Pluta-Olearnik, promotor pomocniczy: dr Anetta Pukas), obronionej w czerwcu 2018 roku na Uniwersytecie Ekonomicznym we Wrocławiu [Macalik 2018]. Rękopis dostępny jest w Bibliotece Głównej Uniwersytetu.

Marketing Strategies in Museums

Many Polish museums have yet to discover and claim their position in the broader social context. All too often, their activity is in no way related to the needs, expectations, and aspirations of the visitors. This state of affairs is caused first and foremost by the attitude of suspicious aversion towards marketing strategies, with the latter being perceived as an element of a market-driven game characteristic to the business sector which, in turn, is commonly associated with dishonesty and objectives standing in stark contrast to public cultural institutions’ mission. This article delineates the actual significance of marketing strategy in museums by presenting the effects of their lacking in interest in own auditoriums’ needs.

*Niniejszy artykuł jest rozszerzoną i uzupełnioną wersją tekstu drukowanego w: Ł. Gaweł, F. Skowron, A. Szostak, Raport z projektu badawczego „Krakowski Odbiorca Kultury”, Wydawnictwo Attyka, Kraków 2019.

The Impact of Cultural Blogers on the Decisions of Their Readers in the Area of Participation in Culture

In the face of changes that take place in socio-economic aspects of reality, particularly in the field of culture, it is worth looking at the previously rarely considered in analysis social actors such as cultural bloggers. Their influence on attitudes and decisions regarding the participation in the culture of their readers remains unknown to the broader research perspective. Among them anonymous online surveys have been made that allowed for cautious drawing of several conclusions: regular blog readers passively read subsequent entries, but actively search for them, moving the discussion to social media; blogs about culture are trusted sources of opinion and knowledge among the readers; readers also admit that blogger entries and opinions have had an impact on their decisions in the area of cultural participation, but at the same time they have been selectively approaching the content offered to them. The research was of quantitative and preliminary nature, therefore it does not give the right to formulate more in-depth and general conclusions – they point, however, to the interesting, and usually omitted in the analysis links of modern education and cultural discussion.

Audience Research as an Integral Element of Creating a Temporary Exhibition. Teens Love Design and Iconic Things – the National Ethnographic Museum’s Exhibitions

The aim of the article is to focus on, connected with democratization, culture’ s changes. These changes entail modification of culture research. On that theoretical base the Teens Love Design and Iconic Things projects conduct by National Ethnographic Museum are presented. The research in these projects help to work out the shape of the temporary exhibitions.

Extended Methods: Seven Issues for Culture Studies That Increase Our Freedom

The author presents a model of the research approach that increases our freedom. What issues should a researcher consider if he/she wants to study culture in the 21st Century technological, social and economic circumstances? The author distinguishes seven issues that a researcher guided by the broader concept of culture, one that defines culture according to Raymond Williams as a “specific way of life” should consider. These issues are: (1) research is an interaction between scientists and study participants; (2) research can democratize the culture field; (3) research can be a cultural animation; (4) cooperation with artists, activists, educators, etc. is important; (5) there are many regulators of human behavior; (6) researcher has to answer a question what important social goals the study supports; (7) ethical aspects of social phenomena have to be taken into consideration. The article is a voice in a discussion of whether research methods only describe social reality or help to create it.

* Tekst powstał w ramach grantu Narodowego Centrum Nauki nr 2015/19/N/ HS6/01682.

Beacon Technology Use in the Marketing Communications between Museums and People with Disabilities

The aim of this paper is to point out the directions of beacon technology use in marketing communications of museums with people with disabilities. At the outset, the museum is presented as an open institution. Then, beacon functionality is discussed that can be used in marketing communication with persons with disabilities. In the following part of the discussion, results of qualitative research are presented. To this end, interviews were conducted in selected museums that use beacon technology, followed by an analysis of applications deployed in these museums in order to adapt them to the needs of people with disabilities. On the basis of the research, the article outlines the level of utilization of the potential of applications used in marketing communication with people with disabilities and analyses the technology development trends. The presented results can be a contribution to further research and a starting point for other research topics depicting the marketing activities of museums, including those aimed at persons with disabilities.

The Modernization of Polish State Archives’ On-Line Service – Search the Archives: How to Invite New Users to the Service?

The article presents the most important conclusions from different surveys aimed at studying the search models, motivation and needs of search the archives service users. The UX survey used only the qualitative research methods and was conducted in two steps. First step consisted in individual in-depth interviews with surveyed persons and usability test on existing version of search the archives service. We surveyed a group of 15 persons. We met the same amount of surveyed persons during the second step consisting in creative workshops aimed at generating ideas on new ver sion of the service. The survey showed that service users can be divided into three groups: Viewers, searchers and specialists. Those groups differ in the way they use the service and the reason they use it, and the knowledge they have on the start. The conclusions from the survey where used during the service modernization process.

* Artykuł jest kontynuacją, swoistym rozwinięciem, wystąpienia autorek, które miało miejsce podczas konferencji naukowej „Badania publiczności w instytucjach kultury” zorganizowanej w Krakowie przez Zakład Zarządzania Kulturą w Instytucie Kultury Polskiej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w dniach 11–12 kwietnia 2019 roku.

Who is Not Interested in (Institutional) Culture? Segmentation of Cultural Participants

Referring to the role of institutions in the field of culture and concepts of participation and (un)participation in culture, we sought to answer the question of who can be defined as a potential audience of cultural, above all musical, institutions. In the text we justify why it is worth to use survey and segmentation studies to identify and describe cultural (un)participants, despite the limitations of both methods. We present the segmentation prepared by the National Centre of Culture which was developed based on a nationwide survey carried out for the purposes of the Moniuszko Year. We refer to the motivation and barriers to participation characteristic of each of the five distinguished segments, that is: distanced pragmatists, connected omnivores, those remaining in the comfort zone, visitors of aesthetes, immersed in culture. In the conclusion part we present which of distinguished segments, in the first place, could be effectively encouraged to participate in the culture by institutions such as operas and philharmonics.

Crisis of the Audience in German Theater?

Research indicates that German theater is struggling with an audience crisis demonstrated by a decrease in audience attendance. The aim of the article is to present various positions indicating an audience crisis in German theaters and their analysis in the context of the latest concepts of audience research. In modern German theater, two orientations clash, one focusing on the art itself, the other leaning towards the audience and its development. Can you find a compromise between such extreme positions? Does the crisis of the public in German theaters refer only to economic factors? Or it is worth, as I indicate in this text, to analyze the situation of the progressive development and responsibility of the audience of some German theaters, examples are theaters in Halle, Weimar and Berlin.

„Audience Research in Polish Museums”. Project Narodowego Instytutu Muzealnictwa i Ochrony Zbiorów

Project „Audience research in Polish museums” was started in March 2017 as a multi-annual project of the research and educational shape. The starting point was our belief that recognition of your own audience is the first step for each museum to frame the methods of performing your mission, creating educational programmes and offer for visitors. Regularly repeated, it helps museums to follow changes in the structure of the audience and in its intents, and to find common ground to form and maintain the cooperation with the public. Hitherto, NIMOZ completed two annual editions of the project: the pilot one in 2017 committed to the general overview of the Polish museums’ audience and the second one in 2018 entitled „Museum in the local society”. The project is now being continued in the contexts of the elderly people as recipients of the museums’ offer. To achieve the educational aims of the project we facilitate our studies to the museums, organize trainings for the museums’ staff and publish the handbooks. 

The article is based on the results of a questionnaire survey of visitors to two major aristocratic residences in Poland (Castle Museum in Łańcut and Castle Museum in Pszczyna). Sketching the specificity of this type of museums and heritage sites as the background for further analysis, in the text several key issues important from the perspective of management of such institutions and getting financial support for them are discussed. These include: an up to date socio-demographic profile of visitors (direct users of the museums’ offer), their motivations to visit, local spending patterns linked with the visitors’ stay in a given town, the level of satisfaction with the visit, shortcomings of the museums or their surroundings from the perspective of tourists. Undertaking this sort of audience studies might also, as shown by research results, provide a broader perspective on the social perception of museums, supplying them with evidence on the complexity of values that might be linked with such heritage institutions by society in general.

How to Find our Oudience? Experiences of Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów

The Museum of King Jan III’s Palace in Wilanów is one of the biggest and most-visited cultural institutions in our contry. As a protector of the cultural and natural heritage, museum runs its own programs of historical and environmental education, reenactment of old crafts and also conducts large-scale events for mass audience (exhibitions, concerts, performances, festivals). It addresses its offer to children, adolescents, adults, recipients from the senior group, school groups, individual tourists as well as organized groups of foreign tourists. Such a large diversity of the offer has a significant impact on the structure of the audience, which we have started to examine a few years  ago.

The text is a first attempt to formulate a synthetic summary of the activities of the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów in the field of the audience research, taking into account the context of contemporary reflection on the borderline of sociology, anthropology, museology and culture marketing. The elaboration presents selected topics from surveys conducted by the museum in recent years (evaluation of the educational offer, examination of a new audience, foreign tourist profile, brand and image study, auditing the quality of service for visitors, product turnout statistics), and tools located on the periphery of audience surveys, which enable in-depth and multidimensional analysis of the obtained data. The time perspective of the conducted research (about 10 years) allowed for a better understanding of the results obtained and the relations between them. 

Local Community in a Museum – Scientific Research and Everyday Practice

Visitors in a museum are also people who live nearby. Keeping in mind the all-over-Poland research conducted by NIMOZ. The research done in Sulejówek is the example of widening the social range of influence of Polish museums and creation of new actions. Why did these aspects become a part of the creation process of the museum? For which reasons did the relation between the museum and the local community become a part of work of the museum employees and the team responsible for generating the strategy of the new institution? Was it because of the specific features of a given museum or was there a different ground? Putting together the results of two different research processes allowed to identify a number of reasons that determined the creation of a bond between the local community and the museum. It became the subject of a Poland-wide research and the experiment conducted by the Jozef Piłsudski Museum in Sulejówek.

In the article, I presented the results of the study of the social impact of Mazovian public libraries, focusing on groups of users coming from disadvantaged backgrounds – older people, people in the worse financial situation and residents of villages and small towns. Surveys were carried out in 2017 on 1098 users of 38 Mazovian public libraries (rural and urban). Based on the data I concluded that there are some differences both in the models of public libraries’ use in the analyzed groups, as well as in the range of the benefits of contact with libraries.

Theatre Talks emerged as an audience reception research method in Sweden. In this article I describe the evolution of the method and put it into practical perspectives. At first, Theatre Talks provided extensive insights into the experiences of Stockholm theatre audiences in the 1980s. Those results inspired the inventor of the method, Willmar Sauter, to develop a theatre communications model, which changed the academic discourse on the theatrical communication process. In Australia, Rebecca Scollen successfully applied the method for an audience development projects aimed at non-attenders. In Denmark, Louise Ejgod Hansen noticed that Theatre Talks might access a democratic potential of theatre. All of these effective applications of the method inspired me to look at Theatre Talks as an audience development tool from three combinatory perspectives: (1) marketing – its potential for increased ticket sales and changing the behaviour of the customers, (2) cultural policy – for higher diversity and participation in theatre, and (3) theatrical communication – for improved understanding and better satisfaction from participation in the performance.

The Aleksander Wegierko Drama Theater in Bialystok in the Opinions of Recipients of Culture

The Aleksander Wegierko Drama Theater in Bialystok is one of the oldest and largest cultural institutions in Bialystok. The offer of local institutions allows theater enthusiasts to choose from a variety of proposals. How to reach viewers? How to encourage them to come exactly to the Drama Theater? Until 2012, the research on consumer preferences was not conducted in this institution. Almost seven years ago, in cooperation with the Institute of Sociology of the University of Bialystok and the “SocLab” Foundation, the study was carried out and the report “Diagnosis of participation in culture in the Podlasie Voivodship” was create. The aim of the whole project was to learn about the cultural needs of the inhabitants of the Podlasie region, as well as their opinions on artistic activity and the image of cultural institutions.

After six years – in 2018 – the theater staff decided to ask the viewers again to share their opinions about the institution. In May last year, a study entitled “Theater in the opinions of theviewers” was conducted. Thanks to all the information, the institution managed to find out how audience rate it’s offer, what are the expectations regarding future repertoire proposals, as well as from what communication channels viewers obtain information about the operations of the institution. The article aims to describe the most important research results also it presents the distribution channels used to inform about the offer of the Drama Theater. 

Raport z projektu badawczego „Krakowski odbiorca kultury”

Marcin Bańdo, Łukasz Gaweł, Patrycja Król, Iwona Parzyńska, Filip Skowron, Agnieszka Szostak (redakcja naukowa), Wydawnictwo Attyka, Kraków 2019, 192 ss., ISBN: 978-83-65644-57-2

The aim of the paper was to examine and analyze the context of activity of street performers, presented by the mass media in Poland. The research question was: How the image of street performer in media looks like? Who creates this image? The intention was to describe the way the  street performers are being shown by: the media representatives, their own customers and also by themselves. Moreover, the paper highlights the aspect of social role of presenting this kind of human activity in media discourse. This text is a result of ethnography conducted among the street performers in the biggest Polish cities from 2012 to 2016. The ethnography was broadened with the analysis of various examples from media discourse: internet, television, radio, press, film and literature. The analysis includes three different meanings of media discourse: (1) as a communication occurrence, (2) as a compilation of values and (3) as an interaction. The results of the article show the media influence on contemporary meaning and shape of street performances. Moreover, the paper reveals a present social knowledge concerning the street shows.

The article concerns the phenomenon of artists coming out on mass media. Their decisions to make the information about one’s homosexuality public, form parts of their image-building strategies. A sociocultural context of those decisions and ways of their realizations are presented in this article. Basing on press interviews in which four selected Polish artists have made identity declarations there has been made an attempt to picture the character and types of coming out statements.

Many monuments that exist in the social space were erected on the initiative of enterprises. Monuments contain a symbolic message referring to various aspects of this type of organization, for example to their creation, to their achievements and successes, to what they do, to people who co-create them, to patrons and many others, sometimes less clear issues. Thus, monuments show enterprises from a chosen, specific point of view - they also create their images. This article presents which images of enterprises are produced by monuments and how this is done. Nine separate categories are listed: 1) images based on difficult experiences of enterprises; 2) images based on remembrances of enterprises; 3) images based on outstanding persons of enterprises; 4) images based on human work; 5) images based on the achievements of enterprises; 6) images based on the company’s trademarks; 7) images based on the social involvement of enterprises; 8) images based on political involvement of enterprises; 9) images based on the metaphysical values of enterprises.

The article is of the theoretical and empirical character. In the first part, the definitions, types, components and the process of shaping the image of cultural institutions are discussed. The second part presents research hypotheses, methodology, results, conclusions and the implications for management. The results of the research presented in the article prove that the online activity of social media users stimulates the image of cultural institutions. Statistically significant relationships were observed for the components of the image related to awareness/associations of cultural institution and for the relationship related to the perception of quality its offer.

The paper presents current trends in the operation of cultural institutions owned by the local government. They often become similar to enterprises and implement market solutions applied by the latter. The conducted analysis has revealed modern changes in the institutions functioning in the sphere of culture, which – besides cultural and artistic activities to which they are obliged by their statutes – are also involved in undertaking educational, trading or promotional measures. Typically, cultural institutions, while operating within the framework of the state’s cultural policy as entities autonomous in terms of their legal status, organisation and finance, are subject to a dynamic transformation, ever more often extending the offer addressed to their target groups and redefining the way of their participation in culture. The activities are closely related to the definition of image identification, requiring coherence and consistency. This translates into problems with image communication, resulting from the dispersed offer, but also typical of the operation of the signs performing the functions of identification, information and utility meaning.

This document presents the results of research on the perception of the museum by younger children (aged 5 to 7 years). The research was carried out in a group of 250 children attending kindergartens in the Silesian Voivodship. The results of the research served to get to know how children perceive the museum as an institution, its tasks and functions. This knowledge should be preceded by all educational activities of museums.

The qualitative strategy with the methodology associated with the interpretive paradigm was chosen for the implementation of the research. Assuming that children are not able to accurately answer questions related to defining concepts and phenomena, research should be based on such methods of expression that would reproduce the image of the analyzed phenomenon in the most readable manner possible. One of the most frequently used forms of observation of children’s ideas about the world are children’s drawings. Hence drawing as a research technique, in the case of children’s questions about phenomena and definitions, it proved to be the most appropriate research tool, allowing to reproduce these fragments of knowledge, experiences, insights and opinions of children who can’t be verbalized. This did not mean giving up verbal statements. From the research experience it is clear that these two methods of data acquisition, in the case of younger children, should occur together, eliminating any possible understatements resulting from the use of any of the methods separately. Their simultaneous use eliminated possible false ways of reading data. That is why, apart from the drawing (as projection techniques), the method of focused group interviews was used. Interviews were conducted with children in groups (8 groups in total), the number of which ranged from 5 to 8 people.

As a result of the research, a rich research material was obtained, including 250 drawings and over a two-hour collection of verbal statements. Detailed analysis with conclusions is the content of this article.

In publications of recent years, embedded in the discipline of management studies and regarding the issue of image, it is pointed out that one of the most frequent mistakes of modern organizations is the lack of coherence between communicated values and everyday practice. In the article, I propose to look at image crises in polish institutional theatres (those caused by phenomenon mentioned above), in a way that recognizes and appreciates their positive aspects. They can be treated as „tools” that inspire system change. On the examples from recent years, I argue that the vast majority of image crises in art institutions are caused by the lack of coherence between the declarative sphere (mainly shaped by artistic program of institution) and intra-institutional practice. I also show that thought on the discussed subject matter has developed in art thanks to the evolution of the concept of criticism and critical attitude, and not, as one would suppose, in relation to the achievements of management studies. I will also discuss the determinants of contemporary institutional critique, in which the thought on relations between the declarative sphere and practice develops, and which affects the perception of the crisis itself.

Participatory Culture and New Media: Between Well-being and Ill-being

This paper addresses the issue of participatory culture from the perspective of new media, which are typically associated with the advancement of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and information technology (IT). These technologies (co-)create the foundation of the network society, also referred to as the information society, and influence the economy and, naturally, the realm of culture. The fundamental research question raised in this paper concerns the reflection upon the participation patterns mediated by new media in the context of mental well-being and its opposite – the state of ill-being. This task requires a redefinition of the concepts of participatory culture and new media, and also the adoption of certain determinants of well-being and ill- -being, which – unlike the psychology of happiness – will be specified through the category of redistribution and recognition.

This paper describes crowdsourcing as a concept of using the knowledge and skills of virtual communities. The analysis focuses on the case study of the polish, cultural Open Monuments Project. The Open Monuments project was initiated in 2012 by Centrum Cyfrowe Projekt: Polska. Its main goal was to encourage Poles to verify and add information on the monuments featured in the Polish national monument register, which often lacks current addresses, exact dates when particular monuments were constructed, or data which was not required in previous years (e.g. GPS coordinates). The effect of the community work became a springboard for the development of a nationwide website. Today, each monument featured on the website has its own separate page, and Internet users can add information, upload photos and documents, and submit “non-encyclopedia” content, i.e. trivia, legends, or anecdotes. The overriding goal of the paper is to shed some light on the factors that motivate Internet users to engage in social crowdsourcing.   

Although crowdsourcing is no longer a new phenomenon, it is constantly evolving and influencing the formation of exchange mechanisms and relations between their participants. To the advertising and marketing industries, which need the perpetual influx of fresh and unconventional ideas, it has become one of the ways to acquire innovative solutions and (often) the content produced at costs below the market price level. Crowdsourcing has also become a tool to get consumers involved and build their brand loyalty. This paper analyses how brands use crowdsourcing platforms to acquire advertising content and sheds light on some of the associated problems. 

This article was prepared on the basis of parts of the unpublished doctoral dissertation entitled Advertisement at the Dawn of the Post‑network Era. Branded Content, a Case Study. SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities 2017

Participatory Budget as an Instrument of Social Participation in the Culture Sector

For the last decades, public management has recorded a dynamic growth, which is manifested by the concepts of new public management and public governance. As part of these concepts, there emerge tools to support the process of public sector management, including a participatory budget – a tool that allows local communities to decide on the allocation of budget resources in their local government units. The aim of the paper is to try to answer the question of whether the participatory budget is an effective instrument of social participation in the culture sector. In order to investigate this issue, the author describes the idea of participatory budget and presents the analysis results on how this tool is applied in public management in the capital cities of 18 Polish provinces. The results show that that the participatory budget is rarely used to its fullest potential. 

Crowdfunding Urbanism as a Challenge for Contemporary Urban Policies. An Outline of the Research Perspective.

The aim of the paper is to present the issue of crowdfunding in relation to urban projects, with particular emphasis on the participation in its latest media dimension. Combined with a critical approach to urban creativity policies, this perspective broadens the scope of the debate on urban communities and the involvement of city dwellers in the bottom-up modification of these policies.

The paper constitutes a commentary on the current state of research on crowdfunding and proposes a holistic approach towards it which is based on the concepts stemming from cultural studies, media studies, and urban cultural studies.

Culture is an important determinant in assessing the development and growth of the individual economies and societies. The culture sector is financed from public and private (patrons of art, sponsors) sources. However the funds for this sector are not enough to cover all the needs. Finding new possibilities of funding culture becomes particularly important. One of the possibilities is to encourage the society to co-finance cultural initiatives that are important and valuable for them. This kind of crowd wisdom can be implemented through crowdfunding. Crowdfunding has enabled large crowds to fund innovative cultural projects. This type of support might tap into the wisdom of crowds who were previously disconnected from the funding process. The aim of this article is to analyze the idea of crowdfunding in the cultural projects. Some successful examples of crowd wisdom in financing cultural projects in Europe are discussed in the article. 

Crowdfunding of cultural projects based on small but numerous amounts of money paid to the initiator via dedicated Internet platforms is an increasingly common phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to describe the mechanisms of supporting cultural projects on Polish crowdfunding websites and to determine the nature of this type of fundraising. The text presents the results of the preliminary study, which involved the weekly monitoring of 84 projects launched on PolakPotrafi.pl and OdpalProjekt pl. The collected data was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The authors arrive at numerous conclusions, including that the success of crowdfunding for cultural projects to a large extent depends on the relatively high donations of more than a dozen funders than on the power of the “crowd” supporting projects with symbolic payments. It was also determined that what is the most crucial to the ultimate success of the collection is the first three days from the project launch on the website. The dynamic increase in contributions during this period significantly boosts the chances of success. According to the authors, the factors with an indirect impact on the success of crowdfunding  initiatives include the donors’ need of being a  patron and maintaining social bonds.

Historical Crowdfunding as a Manifestation of the New Forms of Socialisation of an Individual in Contemporary Culture. The Case Study of PolakPotrafi.pl

In the paper, I pose the question about the type of communities with which we are dealing in the case of historical crowdfunding. The subject of research includes the crowdfunding projects whose goals are related to the past and have been published on the PolakPotrafi.pl platform. I place the answer to the above question in the context of the socialisation of individuals and in the context of the change that takes place in this field in a postmodern society. I arrive at the conclusion that there are new online tribes forming around the registered historical crowdfunding projects. These tribes are always temporary, short-lived communities of supporters. The bond that ties the group together is immediate and intense but precarious.  

About the future of projectified areas. A closer look at scientific and artistic work

The article discusses selected examples of artistic projects and scientific papers in the field of management sciences from 2008-2018 in which the authors strived to outline the possible shape of the future. Two methodologies were used in order to show what visions of the world that is yet to come are veiled in the statements being analysed. The first one, the narrative collage, was applied at the stage of selecting the examples, while the second one, the discourse analysis, allowed to penetrate the content of the statements. At the same time, every effort was made to pinpoint the key theme of "relations" in which individuals and groups would be involved. Furthermore, the author factors in the organisational phenomena, and also the interactions within private relationships or communing with nature. The research part is complemented with a review of the literature on management and art, as well as with a comparison of the ways in which scientists and artists formulate their thoughts about the future. The focus on these two fields of activity, science and art, stems from the conviction that they are highly projectified. On the one hand, this justifies the choice of the future-related topic, because projects can be construed as tools that co-shape the future; on the other hand, it is a logical starting point for the research process combining these two perspectives.

The future of the past in digital reality – reflections on the digital heritage

The paper discusses the concept of digital heritage, which is becoming increasingly popular in the scientific discourse, but still leaves many questions unanswered and problems unsolved. The first part of the article constitutes an introduction based on the authors’ own deliberations and the definition proposed in the UNESCO documents. On this basis, the paper outlines the risks associated with the lack of appropriate security tools and methods. The second part of the article describes the duality of digital heritage based on specific examples. The final part – the research – shows the results of the questionnaire conducted in Polish museums.

Institutional revisions and (un)likely scenarios. The Polish “self-diagnostic” theatre.

The paper discusses the phenomenon of theatre performances as well as the curator practices focussed on the organisational/production/administrative dimension of a theatre which is reserved for theatre employees or experts with specialist knowledge and thus usually unavailable to a wide audience. We will treat the selected practices as a tool shaping the future of the institution (and the people employed in it). The most important questions which we will try to answer include: To whom and what do these practices give the floor? On what problems do they shed light? Are they a self-diagnostic tool, and if so, to what extent? How do they deal with the subject of the future? The first part is devoted to the phenomenon of institutional critique. It examines its specific nature and development in the activities of Polish directors and curators. In the second part, we show the most salient examples of the Polish “self-diagnostic” theatre. In part three, we are deliberating on the four problematic areas in which theatre institutions are to operate (hierarchisation, precarity of working conditions, capitalist model of “production,” and illusions that support the status quo) and the possible scenarios indicated by the theatre performances and curator practices described in the article.

A Library in a New World or a New World in a Library?

Due to the profound changes in the modern world, the role of a contemporary library is also not what it used to be. The paper presents new various roles fulfilled by libraries in the 21st century, showing that, in the current reality, measuring the effectiveness of a library only quantitatively oversimplifies the issue and does not do justice to the socially complex function of this cultural institution. Based on the quantitative and qualitative research, the author attempts to specify certain elements of the future role of a library, indicate how the library performance evaluation systems should be improved, and suggest his own original method of measuring the library total value and performance.

Facilitation of Team-based Strategic Diagnosis and Planning in Local Cultural Organisations

The goal of the paper is to describe the process of a team-based (participatory) strategic diagnosis and planning in a local cultural organisation. The team-based method involves the participation of as many organisation’s staff members and stakeholders as possible in strategic diagnosis and planning. The scope of such participation principally covers the management; however, it can be expanded to include a workgroup of selected employees, all the employees, and representatives of the organisation’s environment. The selection of the scope of participation in strategic diagnosis and planning is conditioned by the objectives set by the entity responsible for the organisation (e.g. the management or a supervisory body), the effectiveness of the planning process (decision-making dilemmas: participation – effectiveness), the needs of the local environment, and the selected model of the organisation. A crucial role in supporting the team-based (participatory) process of strategic diagnosis and planning is played by a facilitator. The facilitator’s task is to create optimal teamwork conditions, so as to reveal various perspectives and use the participants’ experiences, knowledge, and ideas in diagnostic and planning work. Preparing the organisation for change, so the process of strategic diagnosis and planning, should factor in the key forces in the organisation and the environment, as presented in the Kurt Lewin’s field theory. These forces have an inhibiting or supporting impact on the strategic management process in the organisation. The paper presents a preliminary analysis of these forces based on the perspectives of the organisation’s management, local self-government (the most common supervisory body of a local cultural organisation), and the organisation’s staff.

Application of the Effectuation Concept in Organising a Cultural Event – a Case Study

The paper presents how the effectuation model, which stems from the business studies, can be applied as a tool for analysing the activities undertaken as part of culture organisation. The key element of this model involves the control-based approach to the future instead of making predictions about the future. The outline of the theoretical background is followed by the results of the qualitative research, where the answers were provided by the founder of the foundation organising a cultural event. The elicited answers were analysed in terms of their compliance with the effectuation model and the causal model contrasted with it. The analysis demonstrated the legitimacy of using the models to describe the ways of organising cultural events. Furthermore, the conclusions drawn could be food for thought for people who manage such undertakings and face the necessity of dealing with the precarious future

Diversity Management as a Challenge to Cultural Organisations

The paper explains the concept of diversity management and answers the questions of whether, and if so – why, diversity management should be part of the cultural organisations’ strategy of preparing for the future. The article is an attempt to look at the phenomenon of diversity management in the cultural sector from the perspective of the challenges and benefits it brings to cultural organisations and managers. In this respect, the paper presents a fragment of a broader research project which discusses the five most-repeated arguments justifying a diversity-based approach: demographic changes, desire to reach the so-far-excluded groups of people and provide wider access, increasing innovation and adaptability, reducing risk, implementation of internal policies and/or legal requirements, and caring for a “better” work environment and commitment.

W tym co robię najbardziej wciąga mnie, spotykanie ze sobą różnych światów i ludzi, którzy kierują się różnymi wartościami. Jak stworzyć sytuację bezpiecznej niezgody? Jak wyjść z bańki, w której każdy z nas mieszka i pobyć z innymi ludźmi? Jak zbudować nowe formy dialogu? – z kuratorką i opiekunką Generatora Malta Joanną Pańczak rozmawia Waldemar Rapior.

Dilemmas of the Living in the Research Project. Autoethnographic Report

Abstract

Anders Fogh Jensen states that projects seem to have no value other than bringing forward change, regardless of the ethical dimension of that change. However, when living in a project and being part of the process of projectification of such institutions as universities, flesh-and-blood individuals are caught in various and often moral dilemmas. In the paper, I attempt to answer the question of how to include moral values in the analysis of project life. Do we know how to present in detail the dilemmas of a life in projects? What causes these dilemmas? I answer these questions in the autoethnographic account. In August 2015, I started a three-year scientific project entitled “Tacit morality.” At the same time, I began keeping a field diary and describing my experience within the project. Autoethnography of science, which I present here, can be run by every scientist; after all, each of us carries projects. On the basis of my field notes, I have managed to identify controversies and dilemmas which appear in projects. Having analysed them, I have come to the conclusion that the relation between a (scientific) project and a stable institution (university) should be based on values, e.g. solidarity, and institutional facilitation. I start the article with the question of how to criticize the disadvantages of projectification and at the same time notice its advantages.

We make up the rules as we go along? Projectification, ‘smart’ cities, and the spectres of emergence

Abstract

The paper discusses the issues of the so-called projectification of reality from the perspective of the praxis philosophy. This point of view triggers the reflection upon the profound transformations of social reality resulting from the proliferation of “projects” as methods of operation and organizational forms. However, due to such transformations, it is necessary to move on from the deliberations inaugurated predominantly based on management sciences to a more humanistic (philosophical) reflection and the associated ontological issues. As a consequence, a “project” is understood not only as an educational method, a method of (e.g. creative) work in general, or an organizational form (e.g. in business) but, above all, as a property of social reality. Due to the projectification processes of the modern world, such fundamental variables of our functioning in reality in general as time, space, and social relations are evolving. This approach, proposed by Anders Fogh Jensen, for instance, records the fundamental transformation of modern disciplinary societies into contemporary project societies. Nevertheless, it prompts the following query in a critical plan: What are the consequences of this process? What is the post-project reality like? What are the effects of such temporary activities: flexible tools for the transformation of the world, emergent interventions into social reality? These questions are raised in relation to a specific case: the Oasis Little India project implemented in the historical Indian district of Singapore. This case perfectly fits into one of the most “projectified” ideologies of urban development—the notion of smart city.

When a project swallows an organization. Projectification in cultural non-governmental organizations and organizational imagination

Abstract

Projects have a widespread presence in the non-governmental sector. Sometimes, they make it possible to perform tasks which would otherwise remain uncompleted due to insufficient funds, for instance. At the same time, however, the increasingly common phenomenon in smaller NGOs is when one large project swallows the organization along with its more modest initiatives. With time, the Cracow’s foundation under scrutiny, which operates in the cultural sector, has evolved from a self-help organization engaged in a number of minor activities, often completely devoid of external funding, into an entity focusing all its strength and resources on one large annual project funded from grants. In her autoethnography combined with the material from individual in-depth interviews, the author, who is both a participant of and a witness to these changes, describes the process of the main project having supplanted the grassroots initiatives, which has resulted, inter alia, in the disintegration within the foundation. Simultaneously, she provides at least a partial solution to this problem in the form of organizational imagination understood as a management style oriented towards people with all their needs and capabilities as well as towards taking action based on far-reaching trust in people.

Impact of project financing on the operation of community archives as a possible research problem

Abstract

Community archives are grassroots documentative initiatives including the collection, storage, development, and sharing of archival materials. The paper contains a description of the project-based activities of six community archives. The data was obtained through interviews, observation, and analysis of secondary sources. The issue of the projectification of the work of community archives was included in the research project as a by-product, when it emerged while the author was exploring the research questions concerning the employees of community archives as well as how such initiatives are funded and what challenges they have to face. In the archives under examination, the issue of projectification appears in the context of how it impacts employment and archivist works and what problems are generated by project management.

Humanistic factors of project success. A case study of the World Youth Day Cracow 2016

Abstract

The text attempts to reflect on the project management practices from the humanistic perspective. The subject of consideration involved the World Youth Day (WYD) project, which took place in Cracow in July 2016. In the paper, the World Youth Day is shown as an example of a mass-scale organizational event, which required the people involved to have advanced management skills and the knowledge of methodologies and various tools necessary to manage large projects. Attention, however, was focused on the role that these people and their related values such as faith, emotions, pride, hopes, and dreams played in the management of this project. Thus, the research problem formulated in the paper investigated how the values of the people co-creating the WYD events impacted the effective and timely implementation of the project and its goals.

The paper discusses the problem of the policy of remembrance in the context of modern and contemporary art museums. The main focus of the research includes the collections which each museum institution gathers and displays as part of their basic activity. The shape of the collected works of arts is influenced by the collection policy of a given institution. Not only does such a policy determine the profile of the collection, but it also defines the research area in which the museum’s narrative is constructed. The aim of this thesis is to monitor, based on the art collections of the above-mentioned institutions, the dependence between the museum’s discourse and the policy of remembrance. 

The culture of algorithms

The culture of algorithms in which we live is a culture based on reduction, simplification, and model-building. We are overwhelmed by the data fetish, with the imperative of computability and the quantifiability of the world. We do not wonder why, because the only thing that has a value is the thing that is or can be measurable. The reduction to the digit format becomes necessary in order to generate profits. This compulsion to calculate appropriates everything, even the spheres where   countability becomes not so much possible as irrational. In this way, a human being, who cannot be counted in many dimensions, becomes—as Foucault said—a “countable person” fitting perfectly

The power of media algorithms—between reification and the market

The aim of the article is to identify the power of algorithms interpreted as mythologized and reified culture machines which establish relations in the new media cyberspace of the algorithm culture.From the humanistic point of view, algorithms are understood as a relation between a code, project assumptions, the institutional and cultural context, and a user.

In digital media ecosystems, we consider the presence of algorithms to be indispensable, and we attribute them with the redemptive potential of compensating for human limitations—they are supposed to restrict the bias of media, to perform browsing tasks, to recognise patterns, and to provide data compression and automatic correction. All of this is done better, faster, and more accurately than if performed by people. 

The analysis of the significance of media algorithms, and of the digital media technologies in general, scarcely goes beyond the simple schemes according to which they come across as ultra-modern, neutral (although not easy to be recognised) elements of IT infrastructure and management in the eco-systems of new media. Usually, the role of algorithms in media is perceived in the way the management of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other organisations would like to perceive it. Such organisations call themselves technological companies (not media organisations) without any influence on social attitudes and hence without any responsibility for them.

When viewed in the context of the discussion about responsibility of new media (technological) organisations in the post-truth environment, the interpretation of algorithmic solutions in the category of power becomes not only legitimized but also indispensable.

Google for education. Benefits and threats to the official system

In 2017, the Google company was recognized as the most valuable brand in the world. It is primarily a technologycorporationthat aims toearnprofits and become a leader in the global market of Internet products and services. In its strategy, Google also refers to the idea of a public mission, whichis to consolidate the image of a company that serves the  users by fulfilling their needs. As part of the mission, Google uses free educational applications designed to modernize and improve the education process. Google offers students and teachers tools to bridge the social differences and democratize the school. The educational practice in many countries points to the advantages and serious threats associated with the implementation of Google’s educational applications. Violation of students’ privacy, treating them as potential customers of the advertised products, or using student profiles to collect data—all this castsdoubt on Google’s intentions. It is also a challenge for traditional educational systems.

Excess freedom as a source of oppression—the reasons for the collapse of the Google+ social networking site

Google has a wide range of services and products that provide nearly end-user service. In addition, Google’s multi-year experience and the ever-growing number of its users is likely to lead to the successful launch of another social networking product. In the meantime, it turns out that it is quite the opposite.

This paper is an attempt at answering the question about the reasons why the Google Plus social site has failed. To that end, an analysis of the tools offered by Google Plus and the leading social networking site Facebook will be conducted.

Google’s cultural interface: the paradigm of audiovisuality in the universe of words

Although the Google search engine is considered as the nervous sytem of the Internet, its role in the new media universe is still undetermined. The search engine, placed between the Web 2.0 medium and the mechanism of content selection, is ambigous, and its website can be easily distinguished from social media news feeds. As for the domination of visual content, SERP can be considered as the last stand of the words in the Iconosphere. In the context of the digital content and its representation, the borders between verbal and visual communication are fluid and mistakable, while the relations between them can be discussed in a wider cultural context.

The article discusses the process of Europeanization of Polish cities. This process is analysed from two perspectives: top-down and bottom-up. In the first case the author analyses the urban policy in EU and the way it is implemented to National Urban Policy in Poland. This process is illustrated by three of twelve priority themes initialled in Urban Agenda for UE “Pact of Amsterdam”: air quality, inclusion of imigrants and refugees, housing policies. In the second case the author analyses bottom-up processes of Europeanization in Polish cites stimiulated by civic movements.

The paper focuses on the cultural policy of the City of Cracow, including its premises and priorities, in the light of the incentives and support provided by the EU programs. Using Cracow as a case study, I make an attempt to show to what extent the European Community has contributed to the Europeanisation of Polish cities by triggering changes in the perception of the role of culture in the development of regions, including changes in the aesthetics of public space, human capital development (talent support, development of the cultural sector staff, development of civil society), quality of infrastructure, and support for creativity and innovation, including the use of new media and new technologies in culture.