European City of Culture

The city of Wroclaw in SW Poland is the base of several of our CEP Partner organisations, but outside of our circles is perhaps not such a well-known city to the general public of the UK. That could be about to change, as this beautiful place has been chosen as the new European City of Culture 2016. The opening ceremony and events take place this coming weekend, and it is exciting to report that there has been opportunity for much godly influence thanks to the high regard in which Slot Foundation is held, as Marzena (Programme Coordinatior of Slot Art Festival) explains :
“together with my friend Radek (who is Producer Director of Slot Art Festival) we were invited to coordinate the Opening Weekend of the European Capital of Culture 2016, which will take place 15-17 January 2016. There is a lot of work right now but it’s a great opportunity to meet many people, build relationships and have influence on them and this big event. We both feel that God put us into this position and we are in the right place doing His work.
Also a cooperation between European Capital of Culture and Slot Art Festival 2016 is planned and we are excited about that. So the National Conference for Cultural Animators will take place next to our festival and we expect minimum 500 people from the conference (cultural animators and activists, directors of cultural centers, workers of main Polish cultural institutions) to participate in Slot Art Festival 2016. It will be a great opportunity to show them that God is the source of all creativity and motivator to any artistic, cultural and social activity.”
Let’s pray for this weekend, and for the team as they continue the planning for this year’s Slot Art Festival in July.

 

True Commitment

It’s soon time for the SLOT Arts Festival – 9th-12th July. Last year it was touch and go whether there would be enough finances to cover all the costs, but praise God in the end money came in and they could balance the books. This year the same situation exists. The majority of finance of course comes from people buying tickets to go to the festival, so let’s pray that in these last few weeks the final tickets will be sold. BUT as a sign of their own belief in the effectiveness of Slot as a means of reaching thousands of people with the hope of the gospel, a group of 10 individuals most closely involved in the running of the event have pledged that if there is a shortfall this year, they will each personally take on 10% of that debt and will cover it by whatever means it takes.
Once again this year there will be a big team of Christians going out and about among the festival-goers, in the spirit of the “meeting place” atmosphere, engaging in conversations which can lead to a complete transformation in someone’s life. We pray that God will work in a mighty way.

Another small group of people whose commitment we have to admire are the half a dozen adults from US and UK, who have made a very long journey to help a few people they have never met before to run an inaugural children’s camp in a small town in Ukraine – not top of the list of holiday destinations this year! They are now in the middle of the one-week camp, and feeling pretty tired physically, but very uplifted by the sheer energy of 70 7-11 year-old kids! Let’s pray for everyone there, young and old, and especially Slava in overall charge – may this be a week of lasting significance in their lives.

 

SLOT over for this year, and thinking ahead…

Reflections at the end of another year’s festival –

We have just recovered after the festival and we try to gather information, feedback etc. It was good, fantastic indeed!!

We had a tough time before the festival, and in fact there was even a time when we met and seriously considered not doing it this year due to low pre-sales. We made conscious decision to continue but the risk was great. Thanks be to God we have finished without debts! There was a smaller but still reasonable crowd of about 4,700 people including over 1200 volunteers; about 700 events during 5 days and nights; and what is most important for us – countless individual meetings and conversations, many of them deep and life-changing. It’s not a festival of stars and celebrities. Slot looks more and more like a festival of modern tribe or a movement. It is deeply spiritually and socially rooted. People of different paths came to Lubiaz in Poland to chill-out, celebrate, create and explore. Slot is vibrant and beautiful because of people who gather here.

We believe that “the glory of God is man fully alive”. Not just in self-fulfillment but when one finds what Love and service to others mean, when one finds Faith and Hope again. And we could see this happen at Slot again and again. And for this we are thankful and we give glory to God.

We will meet together at the end of August to pray, plan and think. CHANGE is a word which is present often in our thoughts. Please remember us in your prayers, as we need wisdom in decision-making process and also in this special time of transition. We dream of change which will bring not only the continuation of what we have now, but multiplication of it.

Thank you, Krzysiek

 

SLOT through the year

Although the main Slot Art Festival happens just once a year, the Slot organisation is busy through the whole year. They are excited to have received a grant, and thus official recognition, for the first time recently. This and other news is brought to us in this SLOT NEWS-Feb-2013 report.

 

Slot in Krakow

Next weekend, 31st March-1st April, there will be a SLOT event in Krakow :

We expect 600 – 700 people there. There will be 50 workshops, seminars, concerts, movies, exhibitions. The most important thing, as always, is to create a platform for people to meet, exchange and inspire one another.

• This local festival in Krakow is one of the fruits of Slot Art Festival and we treat is as first-fruits of the vision we would like to see in coming years all over Poland – groups of people who love God and are active and involved in shaping the culture and climate of their cities through community-building, events and festivals, all creating “slot spots – local creative centres” .

 

 

SLOT

This was the 18^th year of the SLOT Festival in Poland, and there were 6000 participants.

The festival creates a meeting point for young people who come for the atmosphere and to meet others. The ages are mainly 16-22 and each year approx 40% are “first-timers”. But the numbers have peaked, they didn’t get enough money in this year, and they feel it is time for a re-evaluation. The new title for next year will be “SLOT – Art of Life”.  They are moving towards becoming a hub or platform where other organisations can run eg NGOs. They want to break the barrier between the “consumers” and those who help; about 1000 volunteers are involved. 

There are some on-going projects through the year run locally in Gliwice and Krakow, and a group in Krakow teaching about other cultures. Some other events happen, based around specific themes like Fair-Trade.  There is a finance project group working on grant proposals; most of them failed last year, just one was successful, after months of lobbying.  There are partnerships with some Wroclaw city agencies.

 

Lots going on for Polish Youth

Our three Partners in Poland concerned with young people are all in the midst of their busiest time of year at present.

ARKA – the second week of children’s evangelistic English/Sports camps is underway, with 80 kids on two camps this week. Pray for a fun and safe time for all, and for stamina for the leaders and helpers.  Thanks to sponsorship from some donors in the UK, quite a number of children from poor or dysfunctional families (some in the YFC  “1 to 1” scheme) are enabled to enjoy a “once in a lifetime” holiday.

Youth for Christ – some camps are also taking place, one in partnership with a team from Rugby, England, and a manifest camp, for which so far very few have registered; pray that nevertheless it will be a very significant time for those who do go.

SLOT Arts Festival takes place this week. This is the culmination of a year’s hard work and organisation. Amongst all the excellent music, arts and crafts sessions and workshops will be lots of opportunities to think about and discuss spiritual issues.  Several of the leaders from some of our other Partners in the region will be there; one giving five talks on gospel issues; one hosting an “Eastern Tent” with opportunities to experience the culture of several countries of the East (for example Iran, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan) and engage in seminars and discussions about religious ideas; and others simply available to meet with individuals.

Please pray for God to work in a mighty way through all these initiatives.

 

What is “SLOT”?

SLOT is a grass-roots movement  unifying  people for whom Christianity is the inspiration for involvement in culture, education and society. This group of people formed an association in 2003 in order to help them fulfill these goals.

 Since 1993 Slot has been organizing the SLOT ART FESTIVAL which is a constantly growing meeting place for over 6 000 young people from Poland and 30 other countries, young people who are seeking answers to the big questions of life. The festival brings together 1000 volunteers as well as a few hundred artists, speakers and instructors. The festival has 140 workshops and seminars, 7 stages (music and performance),  lots of little cafes and clubs, a social initiatives fair, sporting events, cinema, theatre, art galleries and its own festival TV.

 The  Festival “city” is built every year in one of the largest palace/monastery complexes in Europe. It lasts for 5 days and nights. But, for thousands of people in hundreds of places, its influence can be felt during whole year.

 

What do Partners do?

This video will give you an idea of the ministries our Partners are engaged in – “Christian mission: relevant proactive involvement in contemporary societies”. Art festivals, charity work with disadvantaged people, education, sharing work ethics and engaging with people’s felt needs in their own culture.