On 23 September we had an honour and pleasure to engage with the most creative residents of Wroclaw at the gala held at the Nowe Horyzonty Cinema. It is the second time the residents of Wroclaw and the readers of www.wroclaw.pl helped us find those who can use their talent, passion and education to achieve both financial success and fame as well as charity. Many people can now benefit from the their creative ideas and perseverance in making the world a more modern, more beautiful and better place. The residents of Wroclaw are proud of their creative neighbours.
"I am truly amazed at your creativity," said Wroclaw Deputy Mayor Maciej Bluj, who attended the Creative Wroclaw 2016 Gala on behalf of the city authorities. This is the second edition of the projects carried out by the Wroclaw Metropolitan Area Development Agency and www.wroclaw.pl. "There no doubt that all residents of Wroclaw are creative, -but our goal it showcase those who are absolutely the best and can set the example for the others to encourage them and boost their self-confidence," said Deputy Mayor.
We have selected the thirty best candidates out of more than a hundred different applications submitted both by individuals as well as social or professional organisations. We have nominated our "golden" thirty in the following categories: Society/city; Culture/art/design; Science; Business.
Find out more about the winners of the Creative Wroclaw 2016 Awards
Those of you who are more discerning will notice that we have made a few miscalculations, as there were 31 winners at the Creative Wroclaw 2016 Gala. Admittedly, Magda Pawicka is the dark horse of this year's ranking. Her application just could not pass unnoticed, as she is the only minor resident of Wroclaw to be accepted in this adult company. Hence special honours in the Society/city category, which she was awarded together with nine other adult individual candidates and teams.
At the same time we have received a signal that there are many more minor creative candidates who also deserve the award. And so we know what to do...
Actions, not words
Without further ado, the certificates and statuettes were presented to the winners by Deputy Mayor Maciej Bluj and www.wroclaw.pl's Editor-in-Chief Ewa Waplak. The credit for the smooth and quick ceremony goes to the winners themselves, who were clever enough not to prepare any lengthy speeches and impressed the crowd with their humility. We are all of the opinion that their actions speak louder than words. Roman Szafran, one of the winners in the Science category, has put it thus: "You can talk the talk. Now it's time to walk the walk, too."
Those who work in larger teams tend to remember about their colleagues. They all agree that the names in the Creative Wroclaw 2016 ranking are not that important. What really counts n each winner's success is their entire team of colleagues and collaborators and their tremendous creativity. This was nicely reflected in the words of Karolina Dukiel, or the “volunteer queen”, as some people call her, who said that her success story was written by many committed individuals who are bringing selfless aid to other people. The audience at the Nowe Horyzonty Cinema also gave a round of applause to Bartłomiej Lozia's (Better Software Group SA) recipe for success: "All you need is a little creativity, a large and motivated team and a hell lot of luck to make it happen!
Marcin Świerkot and Adrian Komarski (Business), whose ideas, as they themselves tend to admit, are more in demand and better paid outside of Poland (Awaken Realms produces figurines for gamers), also express a lot of gratitude to Polish public offices they have met throughout their career, including, surprisingly, the Tax Office. "I have never come across any negative reactions to what we do. On the contrary, many people really want to help. The award is a really nice surprise. A special word of thanks goes to the city of Wroclaw, its entrepreneurial spirit and atmosphere."
The usual-unusual residents of Wroclaw also deserve a mention. One such person in Mariusz Mikołajek and his team. The Wroclaw-based painter received the award on behalf of the OKAP (Backyard Cultural Activity Centre), as his creative mind could develop his ideas through the commitment of the residents of the historic quarter of Nadodrze, who themselves decided to transform their drab surroundings into something more colourful and intriguing.
Creativity is a serious business...
and not something ephemeral. Many cities in the world treat it as an important branch of their economy," said Szymon Sikorski, the originator of the Creative Wroclaw idea in the opening remarks to the panel that summarised last Thursday's gala. The discussion on what Wroclaw needs for its creativity business to develop and thrive was attended by: Dorota Jarodzka-Śródka, CEO at Archicom; Patrycja Wizińska-Socha, CEO at Nestmedic sp. z o.o. and one of this year's winners of the Creative Wroclaw Awards; Krzysztof Maj, General Director at ECC Wroclaw 2016; and Marian Drymluch, Regional Director at PEKAO SA.
Polish authorities are yet to begin monitoring the income generated by the creative industry. This is in contrast to the UK, where the data of this kind are carefully scrutinised. Over the last six years or so, the income generated by the creative industry has grown significantly. The number of jobs growing in the industry, the creative business is now beginning to counterbalance other branches of the economy.
The speakers tried to define which activities of theirs can be called creative, and how this creativity can be harnessed for the benefit of Wroclaw and its residents. They also talked about how these creative ideas can inspire professionals. According to the speakers, the most creative area in Wroclaw can be found in: start-up locations, cycling lanes, Nadodrze, EIT+ and Park of Technology and the Oder waterfront, which is now "encroached" by the citizens.
Małgorzata Wieliczko
The photos from the Creative Wroclaw 2016 Gala were taken by Janusz Krzeszowski and Tomasz Walków.
Word of thanks
The Creative Wroclaw project was carried out by the Editorial, Project Management and IT Teams at wroclaw.pl. We would like to extend a word of thanks for their collaborative spirit as well as assistance and funding to: Archicom, Profit Development, Bank PEKAO SA, the Wroclaw City Office and the Wroclaw Metropolitan Area Development Agency.
The word of thanks and congratulations for the job well done also go to the winners of the Creative Wroclaw Awards 2016. You the readers are more than welcome to collaborate at the upcoming editions of the project.
Credentials
- Photographs: Tomasz Walków, Janusz Krzeszowski, Maciej Kulczyński, newwarsaw.com and the private archive: Patrycja Wizinska-Socha with her team of photographers, including Wojciech Sienkiewicz
- Features: Magdalena Talik, Agnieszka Kołodyńska (host at the Gala), Tomasz Wysocki, Jarosław Ratajczak, Beata Jackowska, Eliza Głowicka
- Graphic design: Leszek Więckowski
- Front-end: Piotr Grześlak
