66P Subjective Institution of Culture
Space
66P operates in a former garrison bakery on Kępa Mieszczańska island in Wrocław, which functions as PIEKARNIA Living Culture. PIEKARNIA is an interdisciplinary arts centre that brings together visual arts, theatre, performance and music.
The hosts of PIEKARNIA are Renata and Rafał Jarodzki. It was on their initiative that 66P was established in 2020. The digits in 66P come from the number of the building in which it is located, while the letter alludes to its original purpose – it was Renata’s artistic “studio” (pracownia), as well as “space” (przestrzeń) – open to artistic activities in the broadest sense.
History of PIEKARNIA Living Culture
The PIEKARNIA [Bakery] building was constructed in 1900–1901 on the premises of the Breslau garrison as a bakery of the Food Provision Office at Werderstrasse [werder means island in the river in German], on the island of Kępa Mieszczańska. For decades, the bakery supplied the local garrison with bread. It was gradually modernised and equipped with new technological advances, such as a hot water washing system.
After the Second World War, the garrison facilities were taken over by the Civic Militia, and the main street of Kępa was named Księcia WItolda – after Prince Vytautas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania. The bakery itself continued to perform its original function. It was supposed to be modernised and expanded in the late 1960s, but this never happened. Instead, the building was falling into disrepair.
Preparations for the revitalisation and adaptation of the former bakery began in 2013. According to Renata Jarodzka’s idea, the façade details were designed in keeping with the principles of industrial architecture, as were the greenery and street furniture. Another PIEKARNIA building is currently under construction in the same style, combining cultural, gastronomic and residential functions. Its construction will be completed in 2024.
The idea of creating an interdisciplinary place for art in a post-industrial space was inspired by Renata’s personal experiences – a few years’ stay in Canada, a residency in China, numerous travels. Already in the 1990s, she was fascinated by the Tacheles in Berlin – the former Wertheim department store, badly damaged during the Second World War and never rebuilt, transformed by artists into a community art centre. She was also inspired by the 798 Art District in Beijing, where former military factories have been transformed into art studios and galleries, and by the many industrial buildings used by artists in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto and Mexico City.
In 2019, the Jerzy Grotowski Institute opened its Centre for Performing Arts in a newly created theatre hall, where it stages its own productions and organises international and national theatre festivals. It was soon followed by the Camera Nera advertising and film studio and the studio where 66P has been operating since 2020. Other floors of the PIERKARNIA building house the Geppart Gallery of the E. Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław and the StudiaIArt art collection. As part of their cooperation with the Centre for Performing Arts, the Wrocław Pantomime Theatre and the Polski Theatre in the Underground also started their programmes in PIEKARNIA. In parallel with 66P’s activities, a permanent art collection consisting of murals, sculptures and other objects is being created both inside and outside the PIEKARNIA buildings.
Thanks to the involvement, openness and effective cooperation of many people and organisations, the original idea of combining visual and performing arts in one place has become a reality.
Click here for more information about PIEKARNIA Living Culture.
