European Capitals of Culture are the topic of a conference being held in Kraków. The International Cultural Centre in Poland’s southern city has opened a forum for individuals involved with the preparation of Polish cities for the 2016 edition, including town mayors and cultural officers. The conference has also seen many people come from abroad to share their know-how on how to organise such events, which are monumental annual undertakings on a truly European scale.

Report by John Beauchamp

In 2016, Poland and Spain will present cities that are European Capitals of Culture. This yearly event has taken place since 1985, when Athens became Europe’s first capital of culture. Every year one or more European cities become capitals of culture, and prepare events on a European scale. The conference is being held in Kraków, which itself was a European Cultural Capital in 2000, and is a first meeting between representatives of Polish cities and towns that have aspirations of becoming European Cultural Capital in seven years time.

There are a number of Polish cities that have aspirations of becoming European cultural capitals in 2016, the most talked about is Łódź, an industrial city in central Poland and home to Poland’s film school. Apart from major Polish cities, including Wrocław, Poznań, Warsaw and Gdańsk, there are some smaller towns also interested in the tender, such as Gorzów Wielkopolski in the west, or Gniezno, historically one of Poland’s most important cities and the site of the first coronations of Polish kings in the 11th century.

During the conference, Minister Zdrojewski emphasised his surprise at the willingness of so many cities to take part in the call for tenders, saying that from the point of view of a culture minister, the fact that “so many cities want to be cultural capitals […] only proves that culture has become a key element in promotion and PR. This is a complement to artists and cultural institutions.”

The official call for tenders for European Capital of Culture 2016 is set to be announced by Bogdan Zdrojewski later on this year. For now, the conference is to prepare those Polish cities that wish to be cultural capitals in the future. And what about Kraków? Well, the city’s already been cultural capital once, now it’s time to see what other Polish cities have to offer to Europe.