The evening ceremony in the Impart Culture Centre was dynamically started by Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny. Distinguished in the 2017 edition of the project, the conductor made the audience of a few hundred persons enjoy themselves to the sounds of music. The participants had a lot of fun and remained in a good mood until the end of the gala. The host Paweł Gołębski, accompanied by DJ Gambit, added great power to the event.
In her greeting speech, Ewa Kaucz, President of the Management Board of the Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency, admitted that the first edition of 30 Creative Citizens of Wroclaw in 2015 was followed by doubts to what extent this event would catch on. ‘Today, preparing the 5th edition of 30 Creative Citizens of Wroclaw, we know that this initiative is an important event in the Wroclaw calendar,’ said Ewa Kaucz, thanking the laureates of the project with words: ‘You do amazing things that change our reality.’
The award granted to the staff of Cafe Równik was a highlight of the evening. The hosts and employees of the café at Nadodrze are disabled persons. Work in Cafe Równik is a form of therapy for them. ‘We invite you to visit us. They wait for you. When the café is empty, we feel that they are losing something,’ appealed Professor Małgorzata Młynarska, the supervisor and founder of Cafe Równik. The audience reacted enthusiastically when the employees of the café invited them to visit their premises with stage fright and natural sincerity.
A few successive laureates commented upon their appearance on stage in their statements. Touched by what he had seen, one of the bosses of the Syntoil company said: ‘I have travelled a lot around the world and few things can surprise me, but what you do in Cafe Równik is incredible,’ he said, taking a deep bow to the staff of the café from the stage.
During the whole evening, funny moments mixed with soul-stirring or loud and jolly moments. Agata Kucińska, a director and actress associated with the Wroclaw Puppet Theatre, told the audience that she had recently returned from holiday in a ‘cool city’. ‘When I got off the plane, I felt that there was no force that would keep me away from Wroclaw for longer,’ said the artist.
The benefits of Wroclaw were praised by members of the Sofar Sounds Wroclaw team. They have organised a few dozen “secret” concerts in unobvious places, such as a tram or the office of the Mayor of Wroclaw. The leader of the international team consisting of several persons is a Portuguese. ‘We are the best proof of how the idea of Wroclaw as a city of meetings fulfils itself. Only in this place can such energies mingle with one another’, commented the representatives of Sofar Sounds Wrocław.
Some laureates admitted that participation in the project was both important and surprising to them. ‘Eight years ago, we started our work in a small garage in the outskirts of Wroclaw – today we have our workshop in Browar Mieszczański. Of course, we made requisites for Game of Thrones. But it is incredible that we will suddenly find ourselves in a group of persons that do such amazing things as other Creative Citizens do,’ said Tomasz Grabarczyk from Rextorn Metalwork in an emotional voice.
Team leaders, company bosses and scientists often stressed that their achievements are a result of the collaboration of many persons.
The last accent of the evening was the meeting in the foyer of Impart around the cake prepared on the occasion of the 5th edition of the 30 Creative Citizens of Wroclaw project.
