Description
Project includes revitalization and adaptation of the historic bus depot in Wrocław to cultural purposes. The Depot History Centre (DHC) is a place for innovative exhibitions on post-war history of Wrocław and Lower Silesia, as well as for educational activities focusing on an intercultural dialogue. The project responds to the lack of modern institution for historic expositions, a low number of cultural institutions and limited access to digital cultural heritage. Project included: - changing the depot into a museum and exhibition centre, - adapting the office building, - developing the land and technical infrastructure, - purchasing equipment for the exhibition and documentation centre. The project results in creating a modern place of meeting regional and supra-regional history. The project was carried out by: the Commune of Wrocław, The Remembrance and Future Center, The Regional State Archives in Trondheim and Opplandsarkivet in Lillehammer.
Summary of project results
Project was beeing implemented since 30.01.2014 till 30.04.2016. It's goal was to revitalize and adapt for cultural purposes a complex of historical industrial buildings of the bus depot at Grabiszyńska Street 184 in Wrocław. The project was supposed to resolved problems defined as follows: the lack of modern institution presenting, in an innovative and interactive way, the achivements of the history of Wrocław and Lower Silesia in the context of the recent history of Europe. The outcomes and outputs of the project were successfully acheived through: 1) reconstruction and extension of the bus depot hall for a venue for a permanent and temporary exibitions; 2) rebuilding of the office building and it's adjustment for conducting cultural activity (a documentary center and office facilities); 3) dismantling of other existing buildings, land developement and building technical infrasctructure; 4) buying equipement necessary for the functioning of the museum-exhibition object and documentary center (including equipement for digitization); 5) cooperation with two Norwegian partners, who created a part of the exhibition "Wrocław 1945-2016" devoted to the Norwegian help for "Solidarity" movement during the 80's. A successfully achieved long-term goal was creating a unique and modern place of meeting with regional and transregional history and with culture in many of it's aspects. The revitalized and reconstructed space is used for a permanent exhibition "Wrocław 1945-2016", approx. 10 events each month, both indoor and outdoor, but also as a friendly recreation area for residents of the industrial district in which the depot is located. Implementation of this project let the City of Wrocław and the main user of the Depot History Center (the "Remembrance and Future" Center) extend the cultural offer both for residents (in each age group) and for tourists (the exhibition content but also all the information inside the building are in Polish and in English). The revitalized object is also adapted for disabled and the special roots on the exhibition for blind and deaf are beining prepared. The Depot History Center also became an important point on the map of Wrocław as a plece of multicultural dialouge, where national, ethnical and cultural minorieties are very welcome (till now several projects addressed to such minorieties have been realized there). Also developing of technical infrastructure, especially profesional equipement fo digitization, has already let to save many very valuable and unique historical objects, photographs and documents from destruction.
Summary of bilateral results
The main achievement of the cooperation with Norwegian partners was the part of the exhibition in the Depot History Center ("Wrocław 1945-2016") devoted to Norwegian help for anticommunist opposition in Poland in the 80's. One of the partners (Opplandsarkivet avd. Maihaugen in Lillehammer) employed a person, who coordinated substantial work on the project on Norwegian side. Both Partners (Opplandsarkivet avd. Maihaugen in Lillehammer and the State Archive in Trondheim) created a substantial concept of this part of the exposotion, made a query in their own archives but also in other Norwegian collections, selecting photographs, documents and objects to be shown on the exhibition. They also consulted the general idea of the exhibition "Wrocław 1945-2016" and exchangd knowledge about constructing educational program in the institutions of culture in Poland and in Norway. The representatives of both Norwegian Partners also took part in the Partnership Seminar "ZajezdniaSTART" organized in Wrocław on 27.10.2015, where the presented their institutions and took part in the discussions on the general concept of the Depot History Center. Thanks to this cooperation the project could be implemented with higher substantial quality and all the Sides of the Partnership used the shared experience and know-how for the good of their institutions.