Warsaw

The 1990s were for Warsaw, as for the whole Poland, a period of political, social and economic breakthrough. The fall of communism and central economic planning meant that individual creativity and entrepreneurship were no longer qualities essential only to outlast but could finally be transformed into business ideas. At the same time, the system of state patronage in arts and culture collapsed, which forced artists to take on activities based on market rules. What is more, also many of state funded cultural corporations and institutions ceased to exist at that time and it was another factor that caused private entrepreneurship to flourish. The companies set up in the 1990s constitute the core of today’s market. The transformation period generated new space for what are now called creative entrepreneurs. Warsaw is an example of a city where the space continuously inspires creative entrepreneurs. Most of the inspiring spaces in Warsaw can be found in Powiśle, an old district by the Vistula river, in the postindustrial Wola or in the underdeveloped and until recently marginalized Praga, district situated across the river from the city centre. Those are the areas that boast the biggest concentration of creative activities and are home to numerous galleries, cultural centres, design studios .

Currently, the place which is undergoing intensive urban planning is the district by the Vistula river, already home to the Warsaw University Library, which apart from its basic function offers space for exhibitions, bars or climbing wall. Next to the Library, right on the river bank, in autumn 2010 the Copernicus Science Centre will open - a new interactive exhibition space where both children and adults can carry out experiments demonstrating how different scientific processes work.

Warsaw has a capacious labour market and is able to attract best specialists, both national and foreign. The market participants range from small, often one-man companies, limiting their scope of activities to the home market, to internationally acclaimed big players.

The local studio CD Project Red, on the basis of Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, created a PC game „The Wicher”, which quickly became an international hit and remained in the top 10 for many months, even on such demanding markets as the US or Russia.

Also the Warsaw architecture begins to blossom – an example of which is the Golden Lion at the 2008 Venice Biennale of Architecture for „Hotel Polonia. The Afterlife of Buildings”.

Last but not least, new schools and faculties are being established, offering higher education in the fields of computer graphics, industrial design, multimedia, urban space architecture. The students have various choices – Faculty of Media Arts and Scenography at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, International Costume & Fashion Design School, Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology, among others. The graduates from those schools set up their own creative companies, often with the help of university incubators. Such initiatives enrich the city and contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of its inhabitants.

The local authorities try to foster creative activities by inviting different kinds of creative initiatives in the city, but also by building up structures in order to facilitate establishing and running creative, often risky, businesses.

WARSAW PHOTO GALLERY

WARSAW EXPERIENCE EXCHANGE EVENT PHOTO GALLERY

SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE WARSAW CREATIVE SECTOR (POLISH)

SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE WARSAW CREATIVE SECTOR (ENGLISH)

GUIDLINES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACTION PLAN FOR WARSAW'S CREATIVE DISTRICT PRAGA POLNOC (POLISH)

GUIDLINES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACTION PLAN FOR WARSAW'S CREATIVE DISTRICT PRAGA POLNOC (ENGLISH)