About Dialogue Center

The Dialogue Center is a modern institution that deals with the memory, history and identity of the city. Working with Polish and foreign artists, experts and scientists, using modern educational methods, auteur programmes and creative solutions, the Dialogue Center provides a dynamic and diverse cultural and educational programme addressed to both the Polish and foreign community, who are increasingly often visiting the institution and Łódź

From the very beginning, most of the projects we have implemented have had a very current context, bringing out the contemporary and multicultural character of Łódź, in accordance with the adopted principle: REMEMBER, UNDERSTAND, CREATE.

Pamiętać przeszłość // Remember the Past
Rozumieć współczesność // Understand the Present
Budować lepszą przyszłość // Create the Future

The decision to establish the Dialogue Center was made by the Lodz City Council in August, 2010. Two months later, it was named after Marek Edelman. The institution began operating at the beginning of 2011. For three years, the Dialogue Center functioned without a permanent seat. Only since 2014 has it been located in a new, specially designed building, located in the Survivors' Park, in the vicinity of the place where there is the Monument to Poles Saving Jews during World War II, the obelisk of Żegota and the Memorial Mound with Jan Karski's bench.

In accordance with its statutory assumptions, the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Łódź is an open, secular cultural institution, operating above political divisions, and its primary goal is to conduct educational and cultural activities, primarily concerning the popularization of the achievements of various cultures, promoting the multicultural and multi-ethnic heritage of Łódź, with particular emphasis on Jewish culture - which was emphasized in the statute - and to promote the idea of tolerance and counteract the manifestations of racism, xenophobia and disrespect for people of different worldviews, origins and cultures.

The Statute of the Dialogue Center also states that the institution is to implement projects commemorating the Łódź Jewish community and activities to commemorate the Survivors and the Righteous and their families, which has actually been taking place since 2011. On behalf of the authorities of Łódź, the Dialogue Center organizes - in cooperation with other partners - an annual municipal celebration dedicated to commemorating the history of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto (in 2014 and 2019, these were huge events with the participation of several hundred guests from abroad, representatives of embassies, consulates and international organizations) as well as the so-called gypsy camp created by the Germans in the ghetto in November 1941 and liquidated three months later. Since 2011, the Dialogue Center, on behalf of the Lodz Mayor has been organizing the award of the so-called Memorial Trees in the Survivors' Park for the Holocaust survivors from Lodz and organizing ceremonies for awarding Memorial Trees certificates. It also maintains contact with the survivors’ families from Łódź and the world (since 2011, over 200 new certificates have been granted to people who got their tree in the Survivors' Park). The Center also collects information about the families and prepares exhibitions, publications and meetings.

From the very beginning, the Dialogue Center has been closely cooperating with minorities, e.g., the Roma in Łódź, the Muslim community. We maintain very close contacts and run regular activities (among others within the scope of  Colourful Tolerance, religious holidays, meetings regarding ecumenical dialogue, and for two years as part of the Night of Temples ) in cooperation with the Evangelical-Augsburg parish, the Orthodox parish, the Baptist church, the Evangelical-Reformed parish, not forgetting the Catholic church.  In the last two years, we have organized several events in cooperation with the Lodz Metropolitan Curia. In 2015, a lecture by Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski began the "Translation of the World" series held at the Dialogue Center, in which the most current world events have been discussed and analyzed. Every year, we suggest different and most up-to-date topics for discussion.


The Dialogue Center is one of the few cultural institutions located in the area of former Bałuty, which among the inhabitants of Łódź, as well as in the collective memory of Poles, has the reputation of being a difficult, dangerous district that has been ill-known for at least a century, which is why it requires multilateral social revitalization. In 2015, the Dialogue Center initiated many events throughout the city around the centenary of the connection of Bałuty to Łódź under the slogan "The City of Bałuty ", including a series of lectures, walks and workshops, which resulted in two editions of the "Bałuty Dictionary", a city game, a memory game, a cycle of films about Bałuty and an exhibition created together with the Academy of Fine Arts in old tenement houses in Bałuty, as well as two important and echoing events in the city: "Meeting point on Żytnia Street" (attended by over 2,000 people) and “Meeting point on Młynarska Street".  This area requires multi-faceted and long-term revitalization projects. In order to create a different perception of  Bałuty and the Old Town a series of family picnics in Helenów were organized by the Center with a great success, which attracted hundreds of residents of Łódź. We started with literary Helenów with Tuwim in the background, but there were also theatre, film, swing and avant-garde Helenów.

We believe that in a relatively short time the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center has already earned its place on the cultural map of Łódź and has become a recognizable institution in Poland. What is more, as a memory institution it also functions on the map of Europe.

We invite you to pay us a visit and cooperate with us!

mkidn  Narodowe Centrum Kultury Narodowe Centrum Kultury

© 2020 Dialogue Center. Co-financed by the National Center for Culture as part of the Culture on the Web program.

Opening hours

BUILDING OPENING HOURS 

Monday - Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM
Saturday - Sunday from 12.00 PM to 6 PM

Admission to the building and all exhibitions
is free.

During the opening hours you can visit current exhibitions.
The last entrance to the exhibitions takes place half an hour before the closing of the building.


 

OFFICE OPENING HOURS

Monday - Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM
Saturday - Sunday CLOSED

Calendar

Contact us!

Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi
ul. Wojska Polskiego 83, 91-755 Łódź
biuro@centrumdialogu.com

tel. +48 42 636 38 21
      +48 506 155 911

VAT ID PL7262636381

RIK 1/2010

REGON 101022466

BANK ACCOUNT
Bank Pekao S.A. 91 1240 3028 1111 0010 3752 7380