"You had to take some responsibility"

Krzysztof Czyzewski to speak at the TiF Final

He is a social activist, theater producer, essayist and publisher, as well as the founder and director of the Borderland Foundation in Sejny, Poland - Krzysztof Czyzewski. In 1990 he established the Borderland Foundation as an innovative institution devoted to memorializing, rebuilding, and sustaining the rich cultural diversity in Central and Eastern Europe. From 21 – to 23 May he will participate in the Final Conference of the Trans in Form project and will talk about the culture of co-existence on practicing the Ethos of the Borderland.

“Suddenly you had to take some responsibility”, said Czyzewski in an interview with the New York Times in 2002 talking about the time after 1989. Maybe this explains the immense activity of this man:

After graduating with a degree in Polish literature, Czyzewski co-founded in 1977 the now world-renowned Gardzienice Theater Company in Lublin. In 1990 Czyzewski committed himself to creating a model of a living civil society and founded the Borderland Foundation. He also founded the Borderland Center of Arts, Cultures, and Nations and in 1993 the Borderland Publishing House as well as the magazine Krasnogruda. Czyzewski participates in meetings of the European Discussion Club Gulliver in Amsterdam and the Remarque Forum in New York. As a member of its council on culture he collaborates with the Open Society Institute in Budapest. He has lectured at several Universities and has been a member of the Council on Culture for the President of Poland, the Council on Culture UNESCO-Poland, the Adam Mickiewicz Polish-Lithuanian Council, and many more. Since 2003 Krzysztof Czyzewski has been an active member of the European Culture Parliament.

Krzysztof Czyzewski is one of several keynote speakers of final conference of the Trans in Form project. This event will bring together decision makers, politicians and stakeholders focusing on achievements and impacts of the project, discussing main challenges for regional politics in Poland and Scandinavia, presenting demographic megatrends and the Chase for a European Identity. During the three day conference several keynote speakers will present the challenges for North European regions.

Partly taken from http://www.polishculture-nyc.org

Picture: Center of Documentation of Borderland Cultures

Updated: 14. May 2012