Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN
The Center's main building is the clue to understanding the idea behind it. The Grodzka Gate (Brama Grodzka) was the city gate linking the Christian and Jewish parts of the city, the Gate of a city of many cultures and peoples, as Lublin used to be. The Gate's aim is to preserve the truth about the common past of the Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Roma, Tatars and Germans who lived in the Lublin region side by side. It also aims to help modern Lublin discover the wealth of its own history-the history of a place where the cultures of the East and West met, where different kinds of prayers were all said to one God, and where wars left deep wounds. The Center undertakes a variety of activities in the community so that these wounds do not transform into hatred and alienation. In order to do this, what is needed is to show people that things were once different.
The NN Theater was founded in 1990; at first, it staged its own productions. With time, the NN Theater began to be involved in community and educational activities. Reconstructing the Center's headquarters and the buildings adjacent to it spurred the revitalization of Lublin's Old Town. One of the Center's first programs was a series of events titled "Cultures Meet", which brought together artists from East Central and Western Europe.
In 1998, under the aegis of the NN Theater, the "Brama Grodzka -, history and achievements of Lublin's Jews. This aim is realized through various methods, including artistic activities, exhibitions, meetings, sessions, book and magazine (Scriptores) promotions, concerts, an internet site, and publishing activities. In 1998, an educational program titled "Great Tome of the City" (Wielka Ksiega Miasta) was launched. As part of this program, archival materials related to the Polish-Jewish history of Lublin were collected. These included photographs, oral histories, and documents.
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Another very important project has been the program "The Forgotten Past: The Multicultural Traditions of the Lublin Region". The target audience of this project is intended to be Lublin area school children. The project's designers were guided by the words of Professor Jacek Wozniakowski: "Education should begin with the deciphering of our closest surroundings, the significance and power of that which has been called our cultural landscape (...). Education should open our eyes to other landscapes as well, to the significance and power of other cultures, in other words, to the value of diversity." (Tygodnik Powszechny, no. 33, August 1999.)
The regional education system proposed as part of the national educational reforms cannot represent a repetition of history lessons, but should be based on a creatively engaging young people in the discovery of their own immediate environment, in the search for their own identity, their own "Small Fatherland" (Mala Ojczyzna), which takes on special significance as Poland joins the European Union. Regional education cannot be marked by "Polonocentrism", a danger which has been often noted by Professor Jerzy Kloczowski, director of the East Central European Institute (Rzeczpospolita, November 10-11, 2001). It is the "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN" in Lublin that tries to guarantee that this is not the case.
Oœrodek "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN"
ul. Grodzka 21, Lublin
Tel: (+48 81) 532 58 67
Fax: (+48 81) 534 61 10
Email: teatrnn@tnn.lublin.pl
The Center's programs and coordinators:
Director - Tomasz Pietrasiewicz (tomek@tnn.lublin.pl)
Deputy Director - Witold Dabrowski (witek@tnn.lublin.pl)
Photographic Archives - Beata Markiewicz (beata@tnn.lublin.pl), Agnieszka Wisniewska (agnieszka@tnn.lublin.pl)
Education - Grzegorz Zuk (gzuk@tnn.lublin.pl)
Oral History - Marta Kubiszyn (marta@tnn.lublin.pl), Marta Grudzinska (martag@tnn.lublin.pl)
Internet - Krzysztof Wojteczko (krzysiek@tnn.lublin.pl), Rafal Sawicki (rafal@tnn.lublin.pl)
Scriptores - Marcin Skrzypek (marcin@tnn.lublin.pl)
Forgotten History - The Lublin Region's Multicultural Heritage - Joanna Zetar (asia@tnn.lublin.pl)
You are welcome to discuss about "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN"
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