 |
 |
 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
 | | | | ||||||||||
|
Culture | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
You just can't escape the sense of history in Cracow. Designated European City of Culture in 2000, the whole Old Town has been declared a World Heritage Site by the UN. Poles are rightly proud of what they call the cultural capital, but they're not stuffy about it. There's a palpable sense that its all work in progress, rather than an historic theme park. Obviously there are highlights like Leonardo Da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine at the Czartoryski Museum and Wawel castle, but Poles are ardent followers of all aspects of art, from film to literature and cutting edge art.
Cracow (also spelt Krakow) is a city of students, many of whom study at the world-renowned Jagiellonian University. There's also the Academy of Fine Arts, the oldest Art Academy in Poland, whose students and graduates invigorate the local cultural scene. There's always something going on, particularly at the Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art, which has a dynamic programme of exhibitions and talks, as well as a pretty decent cafe - bar! That's the way it is here! There are a number of Cultural magazines to look out for, such as Arteon, many of which have articles both in English and Polish. Poles are film fanatics, and you can enjoy them (often in English with subtitles) in some of the coolest cinemas in Europe. Arthouse films are mainstream here, and little-known actors, writers and directors household names. |
Above: the Leonardo masterpiece
|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||
