Actions That Build Trust: On the Role of Culture in Polish-German Dialogue 10.06.2026
Dialogue, trust, responsibility, and attentiveness to others — these are the values that have defined the work of the Willa Decjusza Institute of Culture for nearly thirty years. During the conference “Culture as a Bridge between Poland and Germany: 50 Years of Cooperation (1976–2026): Assessment and Perspectives,” Professor Dominika Kasprowicz, Director of the Institute, spoke about culture as a space for building social resilience, mutual understanding, and shared European responsibility.
On 10 June 2026, Professor Dominika Kasprowicz, Director of the Willa Decjusza Institute of Culture, took part in the Polish-German conference “Culture as a Bridge between Poland and Germany: 50 Years of Cooperation (1976–2026): Assessment and Perspectives.” The meeting was devoted to the importance of culture in building relations between Poland and Germany - relations based not only on diplomacy, institutions, or political declarations, but above all on trust, the exchange of experiences, and lasting bonds between people.
For Willa Decjusza, this subject is of particular importance. Since the beginning of its contemporary activity, the Institute has developed programmes rooted in intercultural dialogue, artistic freedom, literature, translation, artistic residencies, and European cooperation. Here, the idea of encounter is an everyday practice: working with writers, translators, artists, researchers, institutional partners, and local communities.
Professor Dominika Kasprowicz’s speech showed that culture is an essential condition for public life. In times of polarisation, disinformation, and social crises, it becomes a space in which we can learn to listen, understand complexity, and engage in dialogue across differences.
Below, we publish the full text of Professor Dominika Kasprowicz’s speech.
For Willa Decjusza, this subject is of particular importance. Since the beginning of its contemporary activity, the Institute has developed programmes rooted in intercultural dialogue, artistic freedom, literature, translation, artistic residencies, and European cooperation. Here, the idea of encounter is an everyday practice: working with writers, translators, artists, researchers, institutional partners, and local communities.
Professor Dominika Kasprowicz’s speech showed that culture is an essential condition for public life. In times of polarisation, disinformation, and social crises, it becomes a space in which we can learn to listen, understand complexity, and engage in dialogue across differences.
Below, we publish the full text of Professor Dominika Kasprowicz’s speech.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to begin with a concept that has accompanied my thinking about culture and its role in contemporary Europe for some time now. It is the idea of the critical infrastructure of empathy.
When we speak of infrastructure, we usually think of roads, energy networks, communication technologies, or security systems.
Yet the functioning of democratic societies also requires another kind of infrastructure — one that enables people to understand one another despite differences in experience, language, views, or historical memories.
This function is fulfilled by culture.
Not because it resolves conflicts. Not because it eliminates differences. But because it creates a space in which differences can be named, understood, and worked through. It teaches us how to function in a world of complexity, multiple perspectives, and ambiguity. It creates conditions for dialogue where simplifications and emotional reactions increasingly dominate.
I believe this is precisely how we should speak today about Polish-German relations: about culture as a social infrastructure essential to security.
Over the past three decades, we have witnessed enormous change. The generation that built dialogue after 1989 focused above all on getting to know one another. The aim was to overcome stereotypes, rebuild trust, and create foundations for cooperation after decades of political divisions and a difficult history.
Today, we are in a completely different place.
We have developed networks of cooperation, long-standing institutional partnerships, and thousands of personal relationships. This does not mean, however, that the role of culture has diminished. On the contrary — its significance has changed.
Increasingly, cultural cooperation is no longer about presenting one’s own culture to the other side. It is about jointly confronting problems that affect us all: the crisis of democracy, disinformation, migration, ageing societies, war, and growing social polarisation.
This change is well reflected in contemporary strategic documents. In the European Compass for Culture, as in the cultural policies of many European countries and in urban strategies, culture is no longer perceived solely as an area of artistic creation. Increasingly, it is recognised as a tool for building social resilience, strengthening democracy, and developing civic competences.
From the perspective of a cultural institution, the link between culture and the problem of disinformation is particularly interesting.
One of the greatest challenges facing contemporary democracies is no longer merely access to information, but the ability to interpret it. We live in a world of information overload, competing narratives, and increasingly polarised spaces of public debate.
In this context, participation in culture takes on a new meaning. Literature, theatre, visual arts, and public debate develop the ability to think critically, recognise different perspectives, and function in a world of complexity. Culture does not provide simple answers. It allows us, however, to ask better questions.
That is why I increasingly see the activity of cultural institutions as part of building social resilience. Not in a political sense, but in a civic one. A society that participates in culture is more capable of assessing reality independently, less susceptible to manipulation, and more open to dialogue.
This is of particular importance in Polish-German relations. The history of our countries shows how easily stereotypes, simplified images, and political narratives can influence the way societies perceive one another. That is why investing in long-term cultural cooperation also means investing in the ability to conduct rational dialogue across differences.
In this process, cities have a particularly important role to play. It is cities that are becoming the most important spaces for building international relations today. This is where cultural institutions, universities, social organisations, and creative communities operate. This is where partnerships emerge that often prove more durable than political cycles and changing government priorities.
Kraków is a good example of this. As a UNESCO City of Literature and an important academic and cultural centre in Central Europe, it has for many years developed relations with German partners through a network of cultural institutions, non-governmental organisations, and universities.
Willa Decjusza is part of this urban ecosystem of cooperation.
For nearly thirty years, we have been carrying out projects that translate the idea of dialogue into concrete action.
It is no coincidence that Karl Dedecius’s vision became an inspiration for the contemporary activity of Willa Decjusza. Dedecius understood translation not only as the rendering of one language into another, but above all as an attempt to understand another person’s experience. It was thanks to him, and thanks to the support of Wisława Szymborska, that Willa Decjusza became a meeting place for people of culture and ideas from across Europe.
One of the most important programmes developing this legacy is the Karl Dedecius Award, which honours translators of Polish and German literature. It is an investment in people who enable the flow of ideas between cultures.
A similar function is fulfilled by the Litrix.de summer school for young translators of German-language literature, implemented jointly with the Goethe-Institut. It is not only about improving translation skills. It is about building a new generation of intermediaries between cultures.
Contemporary literature also remains an important element of this cooperation. The magazine “Radar”, published by Willa Decjusza, creates a space for dialogue among authors from Poland, Germany, and Ukraine. Its contributors have included Karl Schlögel, Dagmara Kraus, and Andreas Volk. The very fact that authors representing different historical and cultural experiences meet within a single publishing project has a significance today that goes beyond literature.
The same applies to the Forum for Dialogue of Cultures, which we organise. Its residency programmes have included, among others, Dana von Suffrin, Kai Grehn, Martin Heckmanns, and Lisa Sommerfeld.
The value of these programmes lies not only in the texts that are produced. It lies above all in the professional and personal relationships that remain long after the residency has ended.
Increasingly, Polish-German cooperation also involves a joint search for responses to social problems. One example is the EU4All project, implemented with partners from Hamburg, devoted to activating older people and strengthening their participation in social life.
A natural continuation of these experiences is also our involvement in the Alliance of European Academies — a European network of cultural institutions initiated by the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Together with partners from across Europe, we undertake activities in support of artistic freedom, the protection of cultural independence, and assistance for artists threatened by repression. This is an example of a shift from bilateral dialogue to shared responsibility for the European cultural space.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
after nearly three decades of Willa Decjusza’s activity, I am convinced that the most enduring result of cultural cooperation is not individual events, publications, or projects.
It is relationships.
Relationships between translators, authors, publishers, cultural animators, local government representatives, scholars, and city residents.
It is precisely these relationships that ensure that when political crises, tensions, or differences of interest arise, channels of communication and mutual trust already exist.
From the perspective of a cultural institution, this is today the most important contribution of culture to Polish-German relations: not so much the building of symbolic bridges, but the creation of lasting networks of cooperation between people.
And this is precisely what Willa Decjusza has served as a meeting place for nearly thirty years.
Thank you for your attention.”
I would like to begin with a concept that has accompanied my thinking about culture and its role in contemporary Europe for some time now. It is the idea of the critical infrastructure of empathy.
When we speak of infrastructure, we usually think of roads, energy networks, communication technologies, or security systems.
Yet the functioning of democratic societies also requires another kind of infrastructure — one that enables people to understand one another despite differences in experience, language, views, or historical memories.
This function is fulfilled by culture.
Not because it resolves conflicts. Not because it eliminates differences. But because it creates a space in which differences can be named, understood, and worked through. It teaches us how to function in a world of complexity, multiple perspectives, and ambiguity. It creates conditions for dialogue where simplifications and emotional reactions increasingly dominate.
I believe this is precisely how we should speak today about Polish-German relations: about culture as a social infrastructure essential to security.
Over the past three decades, we have witnessed enormous change. The generation that built dialogue after 1989 focused above all on getting to know one another. The aim was to overcome stereotypes, rebuild trust, and create foundations for cooperation after decades of political divisions and a difficult history.
Today, we are in a completely different place.
We have developed networks of cooperation, long-standing institutional partnerships, and thousands of personal relationships. This does not mean, however, that the role of culture has diminished. On the contrary — its significance has changed.
Increasingly, cultural cooperation is no longer about presenting one’s own culture to the other side. It is about jointly confronting problems that affect us all: the crisis of democracy, disinformation, migration, ageing societies, war, and growing social polarisation.
This change is well reflected in contemporary strategic documents. In the European Compass for Culture, as in the cultural policies of many European countries and in urban strategies, culture is no longer perceived solely as an area of artistic creation. Increasingly, it is recognised as a tool for building social resilience, strengthening democracy, and developing civic competences.
From the perspective of a cultural institution, the link between culture and the problem of disinformation is particularly interesting.
One of the greatest challenges facing contemporary democracies is no longer merely access to information, but the ability to interpret it. We live in a world of information overload, competing narratives, and increasingly polarised spaces of public debate.
In this context, participation in culture takes on a new meaning. Literature, theatre, visual arts, and public debate develop the ability to think critically, recognise different perspectives, and function in a world of complexity. Culture does not provide simple answers. It allows us, however, to ask better questions.
That is why I increasingly see the activity of cultural institutions as part of building social resilience. Not in a political sense, but in a civic one. A society that participates in culture is more capable of assessing reality independently, less susceptible to manipulation, and more open to dialogue.
This is of particular importance in Polish-German relations. The history of our countries shows how easily stereotypes, simplified images, and political narratives can influence the way societies perceive one another. That is why investing in long-term cultural cooperation also means investing in the ability to conduct rational dialogue across differences.
In this process, cities have a particularly important role to play. It is cities that are becoming the most important spaces for building international relations today. This is where cultural institutions, universities, social organisations, and creative communities operate. This is where partnerships emerge that often prove more durable than political cycles and changing government priorities.
Kraków is a good example of this. As a UNESCO City of Literature and an important academic and cultural centre in Central Europe, it has for many years developed relations with German partners through a network of cultural institutions, non-governmental organisations, and universities.
Willa Decjusza is part of this urban ecosystem of cooperation.
For nearly thirty years, we have been carrying out projects that translate the idea of dialogue into concrete action.
It is no coincidence that Karl Dedecius’s vision became an inspiration for the contemporary activity of Willa Decjusza. Dedecius understood translation not only as the rendering of one language into another, but above all as an attempt to understand another person’s experience. It was thanks to him, and thanks to the support of Wisława Szymborska, that Willa Decjusza became a meeting place for people of culture and ideas from across Europe.
One of the most important programmes developing this legacy is the Karl Dedecius Award, which honours translators of Polish and German literature. It is an investment in people who enable the flow of ideas between cultures.
A similar function is fulfilled by the Litrix.de summer school for young translators of German-language literature, implemented jointly with the Goethe-Institut. It is not only about improving translation skills. It is about building a new generation of intermediaries between cultures.
Contemporary literature also remains an important element of this cooperation. The magazine “Radar”, published by Willa Decjusza, creates a space for dialogue among authors from Poland, Germany, and Ukraine. Its contributors have included Karl Schlögel, Dagmara Kraus, and Andreas Volk. The very fact that authors representing different historical and cultural experiences meet within a single publishing project has a significance today that goes beyond literature.
The same applies to the Forum for Dialogue of Cultures, which we organise. Its residency programmes have included, among others, Dana von Suffrin, Kai Grehn, Martin Heckmanns, and Lisa Sommerfeld.
The value of these programmes lies not only in the texts that are produced. It lies above all in the professional and personal relationships that remain long after the residency has ended.
Increasingly, Polish-German cooperation also involves a joint search for responses to social problems. One example is the EU4All project, implemented with partners from Hamburg, devoted to activating older people and strengthening their participation in social life.
A natural continuation of these experiences is also our involvement in the Alliance of European Academies — a European network of cultural institutions initiated by the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Together with partners from across Europe, we undertake activities in support of artistic freedom, the protection of cultural independence, and assistance for artists threatened by repression. This is an example of a shift from bilateral dialogue to shared responsibility for the European cultural space.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
after nearly three decades of Willa Decjusza’s activity, I am convinced that the most enduring result of cultural cooperation is not individual events, publications, or projects.
It is relationships.
Relationships between translators, authors, publishers, cultural animators, local government representatives, scholars, and city residents.
It is precisely these relationships that ensure that when political crises, tensions, or differences of interest arise, channels of communication and mutual trust already exist.
From the perspective of a cultural institution, this is today the most important contribution of culture to Polish-German relations: not so much the building of symbolic bridges, but the creation of lasting networks of cooperation between people.
And this is precisely what Willa Decjusza has served as a meeting place for nearly thirty years.
Thank you for your attention.”
Professor Dominika Kasprowicz’s speech resonates particularly strongly in the context of the mission of the Willa Decjusza Institute of Culture. For years, our literary, translation, residency, educational, and international programmes have demonstrated that culture is a practice of responsibility: for words, for memory, for artistic freedom, and for the possibility of conversation at a time when the world too often chooses shortcuts, simplification, or shouting.
Willa Decjusza remains a place where encounter becomes the beginning of action. It is here that relationships between artists, translators, institutions, and communities become real social capital — less spectacular than grand declarations, but far more enduring. This is precisely why culture can today be understood as a critical infrastructure of empathy: not a luxury, not an ornament, and not an add-on, but one of the foundations of a democratic, resilient, and open society.
In Polish-German relations, this infrastructure is of particular importance. It allows us not only to remember history, but also to respond together to the challenges of the future. And it is precisely in this work — patient, everyday work, built on trust — that Willa Decjusza sees its role: as a cultural institution, a place of dialogue, and a partner in building a European community of values.
Willa Decjusza remains a place where encounter becomes the beginning of action. It is here that relationships between artists, translators, institutions, and communities become real social capital — less spectacular than grand declarations, but far more enduring. This is precisely why culture can today be understood as a critical infrastructure of empathy: not a luxury, not an ornament, and not an add-on, but one of the foundations of a democratic, resilient, and open society.
In Polish-German relations, this infrastructure is of particular importance. It allows us not only to remember history, but also to respond together to the challenges of the future. And it is precisely in this work — patient, everyday work, built on trust — that Willa Decjusza sees its role: as a cultural institution, a place of dialogue, and a partner in building a European community of values.