WHAT IS SLOT ART FESTIVAL?
SLOT is a unique experiment at the intersection of art and social action, where the boundary between creator and audience becomes blurred. At the beginning of July, several thousand people come to the small town of Lubiąż in Lower Silesia to create, work, and live together in search of the “art of living.” Together, they transform an abandoned monastery complex into a “prototype town” that exists only for a few days each year.
More than 1,000 of them are volunteers – building both the infrastructure and the festival program. Among them are enthusiasts and experts leading over 100 workshops in various fields – from dance, through kayak building, to starting a business. In addition, 10 diverse music stages are playing, there is cinema, theatre, exhibitions, as well as lectures and discussions, and most importantly: spontaneous conversations and meetings in atmospheric cafés. All this takes place in the extraordinary scenery of a huge Baroque palace with the raw, Gothic ArtCathedral at its center and the wild bank of the Oder nearby.
The funding model is also remarkable – for 30 years, over 80% of the budget has come from ticket sales, making Slot perhaps the largest crowdfunding initiative for culture in Poland.
These are five days filled with workshops, concerts, performances, and lectures.
It is also something far more – five days removed from the general rules of competition, struggle, and haste; a space for building relationships, sharing passion, dreaming of a better world – and learning how to create it.
A short conversation with Krzysztof Czyżewski recorded during his visit captures the idea of Slot well: http://bit.ly/2o2YSyW.
WHO, FOR WHOM, WITH WHOM?
At Slot, the boundary between creator and audience becomes blurred – everyone can contribute something here, and everyone can find something for themselves.
You can come to Slot as a participant – by purchasing a ticket and thereby funding the whole undertaking; you can help organize it as a volunteer; or you can share your skills and experience as part of the program.
The residents of the festival town are mainly young people searching for their path, curious about the world and the possibility of making an impact. We treat these few days as a time for experience and reflection in the areas that are important and relevant to us.
Slot participants are grateful listeners, discoverers, and experimenters.
Among Slot’s special guests so far have been, among others, Dariusz Rosiak and Agata Kasprolewicz, Janina Ochojska, Fr. Adam Boniecki, Jacek Dukaj, Adam Wajrak, Prof. Ewa Łętowska, Józef Broda and Katarzyna Broda-Firla, Jarek Szulski, Darwin Film Group, Agata Dutkowska, Krzysztof Zanussi, Krzysztof Czyżewski, Edwin Bendyk, Natalia Niemen, Tomasz Budzyński, and Bogdan de Barbaro.
THE ART OF LIVING
Slot is a crack in routine and patterns, which we carve out together every year at the beginning of July, for over 30 years now – a small, ephemeral prototype of an ideal town. It has residential districts and a public bathhouse, cafés and restaurants, concert halls and clubs, a university, a theatre, and small cinemas.
Actually, two sentences would be enough to describe what an extraordinary monument the monastery in Lubiąż is. The first would say that it is the largest Cistercian abbey in the world. And the second, that this masterpiece of Silesian Baroque is a top-class heritage monument. As an aside, one could add that it is the second largest religious building in the world, with an area two and a half times larger than Wawel Castle
National Geographic
Where did the idea for such an event come from, what is its history?
The history of Slot goes back to the 1980s and the countercultural ferment of those years. At that time, at the invitation of a few people, the punk–new wave band No Longer Music came from Amsterdam to Poland. They were supposed to perform on the stage of the Jarocin festival, but because their concert was in fact a performance based on the Gospel story of Jesus’ passion, they were banned and the concert took place unofficially outside the festival grounds. Of course, the slogan “banned concert” was the best possible advertisement back then, so quite a crowd gathered.
Later, the team behind today’s Slot organized tours in Poland for No Longer Music several more times. These were unique, magical, spiritual gatherings – people stayed after the concerts – they wanted to talk, to pray. We convinced NLM to organize a rally instead of more concerts. About 60 people came to the village of Stacze. It was a punk event – the central place was a stage under plastic sheeting stretched between two military barrels, on which two bands with the same lineup played. One of them was, of course, called “Folia Band.”
Because this event quickly became legendary, it was necessary to find a bigger place for the following year. The choice fell on Boyen Fortress in Giżycko. The festival began to develop with the momentum of a snowball. Practically without any promotion, almost every year the number of participants, concerts, then workshops, performances, screenings and… the time that had to be devoted to organizing everything doubled.
In 2001, Slot Art Festival was moved to Lubiąż. Why here in particular?
There were several reasons. As the event developed, the need for a larger place arose, no longer for a few hundred, but for several thousand participants. Slot was becoming known outside Poland, and we were looking for a location more accessible to people from abroad. Our attention was drawn to Lubiąż by a friend of ours who lived there. After the first visits, we were both delighted and terrified. The place was absolutely extraordinary and magical, but also completely unprepared. Everything had to be built from scratch – stages, electrical and sanitary installations, fences. But since we like challenges, we made the decision fairly quickly. Also very important to us was the openness, support, and trust we received from the hosts of Lubiąż – the Lubiąż Foundation and local authorities – the Wołów Town Office and the District Authority in Wołów. Without their goodwill and practical help, we would not have been able to run Slot in Lubiąż.
Is SAF a Christian event? Do non-religious people have anything to look for there?
One might just as well ask whether non-religious people have anything to look for at U2 concerts, in Tolkien’s novels, or in Bach’s fugues.
For many of us, Christianity is a source of inspiration for creating and for engagement in the environment in which we live. From it comes our way of perceiving the world and human development. This source is very important for SAF.
The festival can be attractive to every person, regardless of worldview and religiosity or lack thereof. For us, the meeting of people with different beliefs and ideas for life, and what results from that, is a value in itself.
You promote something you describe as “alternative culture.” What exactly is alternative culture?
In culture, we are intrigued by fresh, emerging, searching phenomena, and for this reason often absent from popular media. We value independent, authentic artists, that is, those who create out of an inner need for expression and communication rather than at the command of specialists in increasing circulation and sales.
For many, this will mean pursuing their ideas according to the DIY (Do it yourself) principle. We look for performers who treat the audience and the message responsibly and are not too absorbed in themselves. We also focus on an audience that is not interested in one-sided, individual consumption, but in interaction, entering into dialogue, co-creating, experiencing something together with others,
What is the greatest success of the SLOT idea?
Probably Slot Art Festival itself and how this event has developed since the beginning of its existence. The fact that it was possible to create something new, unique, and valuable from scratch. That we are implementing our vision consistently, yet with openness to change. We are glad that we manage to organize an increasingly larger event more and more efficiently, while at the same time it remains an event created by an expanding group of friends and enthusiasts. We have always wanted not only to provide entertainment for ourselves and others, but also to grow, awaken something in people, and inspire. There are many events in Poland, but also in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Germany, whose organizers say that Slot was a great inspiration for them. When we see development and positive changes in the lives of specific people, new initiatives, and valuable projects, we feel a sense of success.
Summer is a time for events aimed at young people. What makes SAF stand out among them?
First of all, it is a festival of people and meeting. Only afterward of music, parties, and workshops. That is why, apart from many music stages, we organize clubs and cafés with good coffee and tea in various nooks and corners. It is a space where people talk to one another, discuss, experience something together, learn from one another, and help one another.
We try to continue the traditions of free festivals without drifting toward bacchanalia. Therefore, in addition to partying, we place emphasis on deepening reflection on important topics such as development, Christian spirituality, and social and ecological responsibility.
It is, in a sense, an event made by people for themselves, because Slot is created by enthusiasts and volunteers – altogether more than a thousand people. The line between organizers and participants becomes quite blurred. SLOT is constructed in a way that enables anyone who joins it to get involved and influence its shape. If someone has an idea, something interesting and valuable to offer others, they will find space here to make it happen.
Slot is also an engaged festival. We organize the Social Initiatives Zone, where we present interesting organizations and projects. We are involved in the Fair Trade Movement, which is an interesting model for supporting development in poor communities of southern countries.
Slot is an international event – not only bands from abroad come here, but also organized groups of participants and volunteers.
What rules apply at the Festival?
The rules in force at the festival are simple and can be summed up in the slogan 4 days without chemicals and violence. Bringing in and consuming drugs and alcohol is prohibited on the festival grounds. Intoxicated persons are not allowed in. For some, such rules at a festival are somewhat surprising, but as it turns out they have a decidedly positive impact on the atmosphere during the event.
Are all workshop leaders, concert participants, and people working around SAF volunteers? What does the whole event look like from the organizational side?
SAF functions solely thanks to the work of volunteers. Well over a thousand people are involved in running workshops and lectures, as well as technical and administrative teams. Most performers play at Slot for reimbursement of travel costs, and sometimes even come at their own expense. Several dozen people are involved in preparing the festival throughout the year, also as volunteers. Of course, there are a few roles that require much greater commitment, and a few people receive remuneration for their work. This concerns coordination of the production of the entire event, administration, program, workshops, and promotion. Interestingly, most of these people come from Slot volunteers.
Basing such a large event on people cooperating only out of their own good will is a great challenge, but an even greater privilege.
SLOT is not only a several-day festival, although that is the most spectacular manifestation of the Association’s activity. What happens during the year?
SLOT is more of a movement than an organization. Local Creative Centers are groups of people cooperating with SLOT, scattered all over Poland, more or less organized. Usually these are people who implement ideas locally that relate to Slot Art Festival – Slot Fests, exhibitions, film discussion clubs, discussion groups, concerts, events.
Our name – Association of Local Creative Centers – reflects the vision that guides us: creating a network of autonomous collectives, initiatives, and organizations based on relationships and shared values, actively engaged in their surroundings.
We try to bring the idea of SLOT into the local dimension, among other things by organizing or supporting the organization of SLOT DAYS. These are urban mini-festivals, similarly to SAF carried out by volunteers. Their program consists of concerts, events, workshops, performances, screenings, and lectures. Some gather several hundred people, others several dozen. Each of these events has its own character. Over the last several years, well over several dozen such events have taken place throughout Poland.
A good example of a local initiative is the Slot group in Kraków. Because many of them travel, they began organizing events entitled SLOT Fest “To the East”, whose main axis is not concerts, but slide shows and travel stories. The debut “Slot to the East” ended in great success; several hundred people appeared in a small pub by Kraków’s market square, and many were unable to get inside. The event is continued and has already become part of the urban landscape. And it all started because a few people organized something flowing from their authentic passion, together with and for their friends who share that passion.
How to find your way around the festival program?
You can check the festival program in the Slot App: Slot360
