The first of three international conferences being held this year as part of the Cornwall-led European Regions of Culture campaign or EROC (www.e-r-o-c.com) has been heralded a resounding success by those that took part. Together with a team of Cornish creative practitioners, representatives from Cornwall Council spent one week in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie area of Poland to strengthen links with their local government counterparts and examine ways in which the two regions can work together.
Like Cornwall, Kujawsko-Pomorskie is an economically-deprived rural region that has turned to investment in the tourism and creative sectors. Made up of two historically distinct areas that are geographically split by Poland’s longest river - the Vistula - Kujawsko-Pomorskie has joined Cornwall and the Finnish region of South Ostrobothnia in the EROC campaign. With funding from the European Union’s Culture 2007 Programme, EROC is designed to get the EU to officially recognise ‘Regions of Culture’ in the same way in which urban areas such as Liverpool have been recognised by, and therefore benefited from, the EU ‘Capitals of Culture’ programme.
During the course of the week-long conference, the Cornish delegation, led by EROC campaign director Miranda Bird, was invited to a number of key cultural sites in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region, including the village of Lucim, a folk and visual arts stronghold that is enjoying something of a renaissance; the Biskupin Museum of Architecture; and the 18th Century palace of Lubostron where thousands of disabled and disadvantaged children are offered arts-based experiences. At the Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) in the city of Torun, Cornish creative practitioners Bruce Davies (landscape installation artist), Rae Chapman (visual artist) and Paul Farmer (writer & film-maker) were also involved in collaborating with their Polish and Finnish counterparts on a series of artworks and performances that will be developed as the campaign progresses.
“This has been a highly interesting and productive week that has really catalysed the EROC campaign in a number of ways,” says Miranda Bird. “Kujawsko-Pomorskie has its own unique set of problems and challenges – many of them caused by the wars and political struggles that have resulted in so much cultural displacement throughout the years. But the region also has an amazing youthful energy, a wealth of local heritage and a real sense that, like Cornwall, there is a massive amount of creative potential to be tapped into. Already we are looking at links between institutions such as the Tate St Ives and CoCA, and the development of a young people-based exchange programme. We have also learnt a lot about the way cultural activity is successfully structured in outlying Polish communities.”
The conference in Kujawsko-Pomorskie, which will be followed by a second in Finland this August and a final event in Cornwall in November, coincided with an announcement from Brussels that the European Union’s Committee of the Regions has formally invited EROC to present their case for ‘Regions of Culture’ at an official meeting later in the year – a major step forward for the campaign.
Julie Seyler from Cornwall Council’s Creative Unit also attended the Polish conference. She says it is clear EROC is gathering momentum:
“The Regions of Culture bid is not a theoretical thing – it is something that can bring practical benefits to our people and other people in the European regions that participate. It’s a great opportunity and it gives Cornwall a leadership role that has been demonstrated from the word go. We’re striking up relationships despite the language barriers and that is something we can hopefully continue to expand.”
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