After two months of planning and anticipation and discussions via email, all participants have arrived by sunset and gather in the basement of the manor house, where food is being prepared for the hungry travellers. (Thanks to those behind the scenes organisers who make things appear as if by magic.)
After dinner, Agnieszka and Weronika introduce the programme, welcoming our participants to a week of “intensive workshops as well as pleasure, concerts, talking, meetings…” The programme offers both a practical sharing of skills and time for reflection. Krzysztof Czyżewski then spoke about the challenges of this kind of work for young cultural practitioners, about how after the many years of constructing borders and building fortresses and the buttresses of national identity, it is now time to focus on the connective tissue between people of different cultures, nations and religions.
He described the historical background to the reconstruction of Krasnogruda, this place where we meet, how it belonged to the Miłosz family until 1939, when war dispersed them, how after the war it was used by forest workers for many years, finally falling into a state of disrepair; how the founders of Borderland met with the poet here in 1990. Their background at this time was alternative and avant-garde theatre; coming here they decided that, rather than move from stage to stage, place to place, they would stay here and do their daily work with people. At first, Miłosz asked them why not go to the West, why be here, in this abandoned poor place? But they stuck with their decision and intended to change the way they thought about culture and engaging with people. Although it appears we are meeting in a medieval basement, this was actually not part of the original structure, it is a modern embellishment. He explained the rationale in the reconstruction. The outside looked more or less in the style of the original (apart from the colour scheme of the red porch) though the inside spaces were new. It was not intended to simply a heritage project, but a living space for dialogue and ideas. He spoke of how Miłosz had been involved in the plans right up until his death in at his Kraków home, aged 93.
Krzysztof then outlined an aim beyond this summer school, how the organising team planned a second stage – follow up workshops in each of the participating countries to develop project ideas – and finally a third stage, to select one of these ideas in each country and bring it to realisation. In this way, the work could be developed and continued, offering practical tools and resources.
Then, there was time for questions and personal introductions… (and a quick update between the workshop leaders). One of the most popular questions: can I get internet access? This is a topic we’ll revisit in the presentation about working with digital tools later in the week…
