Creations of Edinburgh-Krakow partnership
Lord Provost of Edinburgh Frank Ross visited Krakow between 11th and 14th June to participate in the XII Annual Meeting of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Rt. Hon. Frank Ross took part in the Mayor’s Forum where creative tools have been discussed to solve the most significant problems related to the city development.
On Wednesday, 13th June at the reception in the Wielopolski Palace the Mayor of Krakow Jacek Majchrowski welcomed the Lord Provost of Edinburgh and participants of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Congress. The main motif of this official meeting was the Krakow Tartan – the last year’s gift of the City of Edinburgh that was featured during a fashion show organized by Rafał Stanowski, PR Director of the Cracow Art Schools. Projects inspired by the Krakow Tartan have been created by young artists from the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design (SAPU) - one of the best institutions educating fashion designers in Poland. In the show organised in the historical chambers of the Wielopolski Palace creations of: Klaudia Kuznowicz, Patryk Kaleciak, Kordian Mędrala, Karolina Bochnia, Ewelina Kowal, Angelika Ożdżyńska, Wiktoria Pitala and Dominika Pitala were presented and Tomasz Karcz created the original models’ haircuts.
Young artists proposed a personalized approach to the Krakow Tartan, employing original artistic vision and individual sense of fashion. Multiple techniques were applied while working with the fabric; form prints to hand-painted and stitched-on motives. All designs are characterized by a creative interpretation of the original tartan and a belief that fashion is an art form which deeply influences societies and cultures.
The guests very much impressed by the fashion show and Lord Provost decided to reward the his favourite creation. He believed his daughter would gladly wear it ...
Lord Provost of Edinburgh Frank Ross again brought us gifts: The Lord Provost’s International Residency, in association with Krakow UNESCO City of Literature and a poem entitled The Old Town, about Krakow and Edinburgh as closest sister-cities of literature, which was written and read by Alan Spence, Edinburgh Makar - the official poet of the capital of Scotland.
Alan Spence is an award-winning poet (he has received the Glenfiddich Award, the People's Award, the Macallan Short Story Prize and the Order of the Emerging Sun from the Government of Japan), playwright, novelist and short story writer. He is Professor Emeritus in Creative Writing at the University of Aberdeen, where he founded the annual WORD Festival in 1999 and was its artistic director for twelve years. The Scottish word "Makar" means the role of a poet or author as a writer - qualified and versatile in the art of writing.
The Lord Provost’s International Residency in cooperation with Krakow - UNESCO City of Literature - a month-long residency will be held in Scotland’s capital in November 2018 for a writer from Krakow. The selected writer will be invited to spend four weeks in Edinburgh, to develop their own creative practice in the beautiful surroundings of the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature. He will be invited to meet some of key literature organisations and help promote the literary links between two cities. The residency will be a fantastic opportunity to develop the strong relationship between the creative communities of the two cities.
The International Residency is open for applications from the 17th June – 27th July 2018. Applications should be addressed to: Krakow.creative.city@biurofestiwalowe.pl
During the Congress of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, enriched with the participation of the City of Edinburg, Krakow was the venue of a real "creative crossroads". Truly it is hard to find a richer and more interesting combination of themes, creative areas and a more sympathetic encounter of creativity enthusiasts.
At the end of his visit to Krakow, Rt. Hon. Frank Ross had the opportunity to ride Krakow tartan tram. He liked the idea of decorating the tram, because - as he stated: "This tram is both Scottish and Krakovian. Inhabitants are probably proud of it”. He also said that it is not surprising that so many tourists from Edinburgh visit Krakow, because they feel at home here.