Letter to the Mayor of Łódź Hanna Zdanowska, regarding the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center
Dear Mayor of the City of Łódź
Hanna Zdanowska,
Following the information about the non-renewal of the contract of Joanna Podolska as the Acting Director of the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre in Łódź, we, the citizens of Łódź, people from the cultural milieu as well as all those who care for Łódź, express our opposition and deep concern about the future of this institution.
The Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre is a unique place on the cultural map of Łódź, as well as the whole of Poland. According to its statute, it is an open, secular cultural institution, operating beyond political divisions, and its primary goal is to carry out educational and cultural activities, primarily aimed at popularising the achievements of different cultures, promoting the multicultural and multiethnic heritage of Łódź, with particular emphasis on Jewish culture, and disseminating the idea of tolerance and counteracting manifestations of racism, xenophobia and disrespect for people of different worldviews, origins and culture.
From the very beginning, Joanna Podolska created the DNA of the Dialogue Centre who, with incredible sensitivity, openness and expert knowledge, fulfilled the objectives approved by both the City Council and the founders of the institution.
It is thanks to Joanna Podolska that for fourteen years the Dialogue Centre has become an institution of world renown, close to the citizens of Łódź, including the former residents - the Survivors of the Łódź Ghetto and their families, who regularly visit our city, the Dialogue Centre and the Survivors’ Park.
The Dialogue Centre is not only about commemorations but also cultural events, educational activities, debates, meetings, picnics, guided tours, exhibitions, publications and the Łódź of Many Cultures Festival (previously: Łódź of Four Cultures), the last edition of which was very well received. With every event, the Dialogue Centre brings multiculturalism closer to the citizens of Łódź and promotes empathy and genuine dialogue.
This makes us even more disappointed that this dialogue was missing in the astonishing decision of Madam Mayor. The Dialogue Centre team learnt about the surprising decision from the Mayor’s Facebook page, as Joanna Podolska did not have time to get to work and pass this news on personally.
Such treatment of a person who, for the last fourteen years, has consistently fulfilled the mission of creating a place of great importance for the identity of Łódź is unacceptable and shocking. It is not only disrespectful to Joanna Podolska’s accomplishments but also a threat to the continuity of the institution’s activities. We demand an explanation why the City authorities failed to organise the competition for the Director of the Dialogue Centre early enough, so that Joanna Podolska could hand over her duties to another person. Cultural institutions lacking sufficient municipal subsidies plan their activities well in advance by writing many grant applications. Joanna Podolska, together with her team, has planned activities for the coming year. They have written the applications. The Dialogue Centre team pointed this out in a letter to the Mayor dated 31.12.2024. How, then, will an outsider, to be selected in six months, continue the institution’s mission?
We also request public notification of the criteria used to end your cooperation with Director Joanna Podolska, who has enjoyed the esteem of her colleagues and associates. A person familiar with the institution’s often delicate and multi-tiered relations with different communities should direct the Dialogue Centre. To navigate among differing narratives and foster dialogue and broad cooperation with diverse environments is essential given many contemporary challenges. The current director of the Dialogue Centre is such a person. The most logical solution, pending the outcome of the competition, seems to be to entrust the duties of acting director to a person from the Dialogue Centre team. Other Łódź cultural institutions, such as the Museum of Art, recently used this practice.
We would also like an answer to the question of how the new director of the Dialogue Centre is to be selected? Who will sit on the Competition Committee? Will it be only representatives of the City of Łódź or also people from the artistic and scientific circles?
We are calling for transparency. Culture is an area of life that should be free of political influence. We demand a transparent competition procedure, considering the voices of the team of the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre, the cultural and scientific community, independent of the Łódź City Hall.
Optimism filled the end of 2024 in Łódź. The grass-roots and artistic communities appreciated the increase in the budget for Łódź culture, as well as the amendments to the regulations of grant competitions. The appointment of a new Director of the Culture Department of the Łódź City Hall was gratifying. However, the latest decision seems to contradict these positive developments. They took the latest decision against the ideas and principles underpinning the Dialogue Centre as a place of respect, understanding, and debate.
The Citizens of Łódź Contact the author of the petition