Dr KAZIMIERZ MICHAŁ UJAZDOWSKI

Once again, you are back heading such an important ministry. One of your first moves was to restore the name given it by Jerzy Buzek’s government: the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Why was this so important to you?
The return to this name is a partially a result of constitutional commitments. One of the main tasks of the Republic of Poland, expressed in the constitution, is guarding the national heritage. The policies which I wish to follow will be those of fully-dimensional patronage. Nursing and widely promoting the national traditions are some of the most important tasks of the minister. Though, I must stress clearly that this does not mean conflicting heritage with modern culture. Equal treatment is essential here.

In assessing the inheritance from your predecessors, you mentioned in one interview that “one must differentiate between the ministerial policies of Celiński and Dąbrowski”. How did they differ?
Celiński concentrated rather on a certain ideological vision instead of considering the real problems of the sphere of culture. We witnessed, as a result, a disagreable tussle with various creative groups. Under Dąbrowski’s ministry, the situation decidedly improved: when he took on the post, he was already enjoying a reputation of an experienced manager in the field of cultural policy. Dąbrowski as minister, returned to the approach of strong patronage, although he should not be free of criticism. The grouping that I represent, Law and Justice, supported several of his initiatives in the previous Sejm, including the film act. However, a complete surprise for me was the fact that both the formation of the Polish Film Institute, as well as the decision confirming the plan for 2006 happened outside the control of the Sejm during the election period. Democratic principles should have been followed by respecting the verdict of the electorate and postponing these moves till after the formation of the new government.

On what issues will you be concentrating during your time in office? How do you relate to the National Cultural Development Strategy – the programme produced by your predecessor?
This is, above all, an information document. It shows the current state of Polish culture, as well as the needs and tasks to be done in this sphere. However, the implementation of the National Cultural Development Strategy depends in the first instance on the shape of the National Development Plan for 2007-13. But this plan has not been approved yet. This is all I can say about it at the moment. As to the priorities of my time in office, I place particular importance in initiatives associated with history policy, in the widest sense. I have in mind here the “Patriotism of tomorrow” operational programme, as well as the project of the Museum of Polish History – Freedom Museum project. Over and above this, my programme will mean a widening of the government’s responsibility over areas which in the last years remained outside the main stream of cultural policy. I mean here the preservation of monuments, cultural education, promoting of reading and the protection of Polish cultural heritage in the East. Being a proponent of patronage in all its dimensions, I intend to look after culture as a whole.

Why does your ministry set so much importance in nurturing national heritage in this globalising world?
I believe that this is in Poland’s national interest. Other countries of the European Union are doing the same. If we only consider France, she attaches great importance to promoting her culture abroad. The promotion of culture lifts up a country’s general level of cultural development, improves its attractiveness for tourism and its educational potential. Apart from this, the main factor bringing Poles together during the 120 years of partition and the 45 years of the People’s Republic was culture. Obviously, I don’t intend to compare the current state with the imprisonment under the partitions nor the communist dictatorship. However, it is worth noting that during this time of European integration and globalisation, the role of nation states is definitely declining, whereas the importance of supra-national political and economic structures is on the rise. In this situation, culture becomes a main guarantor of a nation’s entity. The national heritage in its turn is tied in with nurturing the memory of the past, which is one of the main sources of group identity. That is why the state must be active in this area.

The Law & Justice (PiS) party has proposed a National Culture Pact. Which of its parts will you be putting into practice in your ministry?
I am counting on a twenty percent increase in expenditure on culture to the end of the parliamentary term 2005-2009. Another important task is creating a stable legal environment which will support the development of culture, including amending the law on copyright. I would like to increase the level of investment in museums, an area particularly affected by budget cuts in the last years. Of course, I also wish to be active in developing the history policy, an important part of which is to be the creation of the Museum of Polish History – Freedom Museum.

At the beginning of last December you publicised, that in 2006 the government intends to spend 1.745 billion zł on culture, plus the funds from the Fund for promoting culture and creativity together with the funds from the European Economic Area and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. If they were to be used to the maximum, your ministry’s budget would reach 1.986 billion zł. You mentioned at the time, that the objective of the ministry will be to put into effect during the whole of your term, PiS’s manifesto commitment to increase expenditure on culture by 25%. Will you also be taking advantage of the 2003 amendment to the Act of 1994, which required the Totalizator Sportowy to transfer funds targeted at supporting national culture to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage? This is not an insignificant amount of 120 million zł annually.
Income from the Totalizator Sportowy forms one of the fundamental sources of culture funding.

“Gazeta Wyborcza” of 7-8 January published an interview with Dr Robert Trauba (of the Institute of Policy Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences) by Jarosław Kurski titled “Patriotic kitsch”, and concerning your announcement of the building of the Museum of Polish History – Freedom Museum. Replying to Jarosław Kurski’s question: “History policy was the basis of the ideology of the IV Republic. How do you understand this concept?” Dr Robert Trauba replied: “Paradoxically, the policy on history which has entered political debate with some fanfare, is a bit of an enigma. Nobody knows what it is and what it might relate to.” Would you like to explain to Dr Robert Trauba, a historian and a political scientist, what the policy on history might depend on and give him the means to solve this puzzle?
The policy on history is a field strictly related to creating Poland’s image in the world. This image should be of interest to each politician in our country irrespective of his or hers affiliation with either the right or the left. This is understood by the political leadership of such countries as the USA, Russia and, more recently Germany. Israel has been carrying on a very active policy on history for many decades, a very good manifestation of which is the activity of the Yad Vashem Institute. I don’t understand why Poland should not have a similar level of concern for its own image. The last 16 years have been a time for Poland’s version of “overcoming the past”. Beating one’s breast for sins committed as well as those not, has become something of a political ritual. Many moral authorities indicated that nationalism is the most important threat to our national consciousness. Meanwhile, very few noted other threats associated with a false and, in fact, ideologically-inspired understanding of modernity, manifesting itself as a cutting-off from ones own history which is treated as an unnecessary ballast of the past. It is worth recalling the words of Poland’s great Primate of the Millennium: “A nation without events, without history, without a past, will soon become a nation without territory, a homeless nation without a future. A nation which does not believe in greatness and which does not wish to have great people, ceases to be.”. Meanwhile, our past is rich with events, which form an important part of European history. This is where the idea of the Museum of Polish History – Freedom Museum comes from. I am convinced that the concept of freedom holds a key place in the annals of Polish political life and forms our major contribution to the heritage of the Old Continent. If we present our past in a modern, attractive way from the time of the Republic of Two Nations, right up to the 20^th Century struggles with totalitarianism, we will form an image of Poles as pioneers of a practical implementation of an idea which today lies at the foundation of Europe which is uniting.

Minister, some circles in the creative community look askance at PiS’s activities in the cultural area. What do you intend to do to change this situation?
I think that these critical views of part of the creative community arise from a lack of information and from basing their knowledge of my political grouping’s programme on press reports. I believe that after 1989, culture was treated as an orphan, as a sphere of marginal importance, being a cause of unnecessary burdens on the budget. However, authors and artists don’t take alms from the state. We owe them great respect because, Poland owes these people its existence. A second axiom indicates the need for culture to be supported by the state. For, not everything that is of value can fend for itself. During my time at the ministry, I intend to create a strong base for financing the development of culture. Thanks to a proper policy of information at the ministry, I am counting on being able to break down some of the prejudices of some parts of the creative community.

In one of your interviews you mentioned that you would like to systematically keep reminding public television of its duty of realising its mission in the areas of culture and national heritage. How will you do this?
I intend to resume and continue my activities in this area, from 2000-2001, when I last held the ministerial post. Then at the request of the Ministry of Culture, the Media Monitoring Institute prepared a report on the presence of culture and national heritage in public broadcasting. The report showed glaring inadequacies. Instead of putting its mission into effect, public television during Robert Kwiatkowski’s tenure as director, decided to compete with commercial stations, resigning to a large degree from an ambitious repertoire in favour of cheap entertainment. I would like this to change. That is why there must be a radical improvement in collecting radio and television licence fees. Putting the mission into effect must go hand in hand with paying for operations, which by definition, are not commercially orientated.

What policies will you have with respect to the heritage of the Polish communities abroad and the emigration?
I attach great importance to the Polish national heritage in our former Eastern Borderlands. Polish culture flourished there over many decades. Unfortunately, the Soviet presence has left its mark on those lands. Putting right the wrongs which have amassed in the last half century is also a task of the Polish state. The former Eastern Borderlands are also still the home of many of our fellow kin: descendents of the II Republic. To this day, many families speak Polish and nurture an awareness of Polish history. The Polish state should cooperate in this area with societies and Polish parishes, giving them all possible assistance. It is a question of our national interest and our raison d’etat.

Will national patronage be extended to include that literature which is arising amongst the émigré communities?
Two specially created institutions exist to promote Polish culture abroad: the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Book Institute. Émigré creativity forms an important part of Polish cultural heritage, as many times over the decades it manifested our aspirations to freedom, but also often demonstrated our intellectual independence. We must consider seriously a multifaceted state policy towards both the legacy of the emigrations as well as the outstanding contemporary artists who are active abroad.

What do you expect from the activities of the newly created Polish Film Institute?
After 1989, the Polish film industry has faced many difficulties. They were caused by the changes in the economy and by problems of funding the arts as a whole. I am very hopeful that the Institute’s activities will be a positive breakthrough. I am particularly counting on support granted to young talented film makers. We already have a foretaste of this, in the announcement by the Institute together with the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising of a competition for screenplays of fiction and documentary films about the Warsaw Uprising.