Founded in 2008, and its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the first institution in Poland built since 1939 which was planned specifically for promoting contemporary visual arts.
CoCA is located near the Old Town, which is listed on UNESCO list of World Heritage. Though not in Warsaw, the center of Poland, CoCA has succeed in becoming one of the leading national institutions dedicated to contemporary art.
CoCA’s team consists of around 40 people. As a public institution, CoCA is financed by Polish Ministry of Culture and Heritage, as well as the Municipality of Toruń and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun originated within the program “Sign of the Times” started by the Ministry of Culture / National Office of Cultural Assets and supported by national and EU funds. CoCA’s goal is to present and promote contemporary visual arts.
The artistic program is international, multidisciplinary, and “cutting edge”, and naturally very sensitive towards local issues, as it fosters a lifelong learning attitude based on the conviction that an art institution first of all has a socially active and educational role. CoCA’s mission is to educate diverse target groups, including young people.
Young people are active participants of the workshops where they can express their creativity. They develop skills to use different forms of expressions, such as filmmaking, photography or dance.
Our latest project that is interesting in the context of the Key to Connection was called “Boxing with art”. Young people – inspired by the exhibition of local artist – worked with professional actor that helped them to develop skills to express themselves by body language. The result of the workshop is a short video, a collage of videos made by young people with smartphones.
More info:
www.csw.torun.pl
https://www.facebook.com/csw.torun
https://www.youtube.com/user/ceeswu
PERSONALITIES at tKtC:
Marta Zawadzka – dancer, choreographer, theorist of dance, teacher and musician; a graduate of the Academy of Music in Poznań and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw where she did a Postgraduate Study in the Theory of Dance; a recipient of the Scholarship of the Mayor of the City of Toruń, the Scholarship of the Governor of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province and the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (for 2018). She cooperates with numerous dance groups and theatres – as a dancer and choreographer. Marta Zawadzka’s Group of Dance Theater is made up of adults who semi-professionally engage in contemporary dance, improvisation and performance activities. The group has performed at the Kaleidoscope festival in Białystok, KLAMRA Alternative Theatre Meetings in Toruń, the Kujawsko-Pomorski Music Theatre in Toruń, Street Culture Days in Tarnowskie Góry, The Circle of Time Performance Festival (CoCA Toruń), and the 3rd International Festival of Performance and Special Art Territories. Her educational activities include a variety of classes and workshops in contemporary dance, plastique animée and body awareness for all levels and age groups. She also cooperates with many cultural and educational institutions as well as non-governmental organisations. Within a project of the Institute of Music and Dance she has coordinated and conducted two editions of Thought in Movement dance education programme workshops for children and adolescents.
Kamila Neuman – international relations specialist and coordinator in CoCA, where she works since 2012. She graduated from law and international relations and finished postgraduate studies on EU Funds and Programmes. She graduated from MBA studies organised by The Dominican University (US) and The Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun (PL). Before she started her work in culture sector she worked in public administration and in consulting company. In CoCA she is responsible for gaining grants for cultural projects and project coordination. She has experience in coordination of cultural projects, including international projects financed from the EEA and Norway Grants (2009-2014) and Programme Culture (2007-2013). She has cooperated with many institutions, curators and artists in order to implement projects successfully. At the Key to Connection she will be responsible for project documentation and reporting.
the Key to Connection is implemeneted in the framework of Erasmus+: Youth in Action programme – key action 2, Strategic Partnership for Exchange Experiences.
