The name itself, Culture Shock, was supposed to provoke, stir people, and break them out of their habits and routines. And so it happened: the foundation changed people's relationships with art and urban space, stepped forward with creative activities, surprised, and experimented: in the Culture Shock Gallery and Space on the Warsaw Escarpment.
Fifteen years ago, we believed that culture could be a space for social change – a place for meetings, conversations, and sharing tools. We began at a time when a mandate contract was a luxury in cultural projects and concepts such as Creative Commons and open resources were only taking baby steps. Today, these solutions are already established and commonly used. What once appeared crazy and shocking now seems obvious.
Between magic and the system
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” we repeated after Arthur C. Clarke and tamed this magic together with our audience. We explored how it works, what we could use it for, and also how to handle it so that it would not be a threat to us. Finally, we created new, wonderful things with its help.
We gave people the courage to face the unknown, for instance, the technology that aroused fear and the emotions associated with activism and working with people. Together, we sought our own voice and language to navigate an accelerating world.
On failure and survival
It hasn't always been easy. Several times the foundation was on the verge of closure. We observed, on the one hand, how difficult it is to survive in the world of grants and projects while maintaining consistency between values and funding, and on the other hand, how easy it is to burn out.
We began to speak more openly about the need for rest, structural violence in NGOs, the lack of safeguards for female leaders, freelancers, and cultural teams, burnout... The COVID-19 pandemic has shown even more clearly how important it is to build organizational resilience at various levels: financial stability and a coherent vision, alliances and friendly workplaces, digital hygiene, and care for the team and people.
We learned not only how to act, but also when to take a break. Gradually, we moved from artistic and urban activities to educational and developmental ones, combining culture with technology, and social and activist efforts with care for well-being and mental health.
Our survival is not a matter of economic success, but of perseverance – the ability to adapt, regenerate, and hold on to meaning even when the system fails.
We are changing
We began as a small initiative operating thanks to grants, from one project to another. Today, we are an organization that integrates educational, artistic, and social activities into a coherent whole.
Instead of chasing after the next competitions, we're creating our own models (e.g. Relational Burnout Model, more information coming soon) and tools (e.g. the Burnout Aid test). We are expanding our offer of paid workshops to be able to protect our mission from the pressure of projects. This allows us to support those who support others without the pressure of grant schedules.
Not only are our areas of activity changing, but so is the way we work within the organization itself. The foundation began to build a sustainable team and structure with employment contracts, regularity, and strategy. It has become a space where personal and professional development intertwine with care for the body, relationships, and community. We have introduced procedures that help protect people, care for work rhythm, and account fairly for energy, not just budgets. We see ourselves as an ecosystem – alive, responsive, and sensitive to change. It is not about perfect stability, but about the ability to regenerate.
Projects that say the most about us
Over the years, we have carried out dozens of initiatives, and each of them reveals a different aspect of our DNA. Each project is part of a larger whole. These are not answers to competition requirements, but to actual needs. It is a system of interconnected vessels that strengthens the immunity and self-awareness of people and institutions. Here are some examples of our activities:
- Burnout Aid – a platform supporting employees and teams in the burnout crisis. We developed it based on qualitative and quantitative research, international consultations, and several years of practice in strengthening NGOs and cultural institutions.
- Mokuteki – a model of cascading support for civil society. It is a pilot and its main component is our own training program for people who will support leaders of non-governmental organizations in Ukraine operating in extreme crisis.
- Culture Compass – group coaching for freelancers working in culture to help them understand the institutional perspective and better plan joint activities.
Each of these projects is a separate language, but they all serve the same purpose: building resilience, awareness, and relationships.
What comes next?
After fifteen years, we do not have ready answers. However, we are aware of the direction we want to follow. We want to combine technology with care, education with health, and regeneration with innovation.
We are developing the Burnout Aid 2.0 platform and new tools for the sector (such as the Burnout Aid test mentioned above). We build networks and partnerships, including international ones, e.g. as part of the Oxygen Consortium or the Lead N'GO group. We learn from others, and others learn from us. This allows us to explore diverse perspectives and combine experiences from different areas and cultures. We make sure that each new project is a natural stage of our development, not a leap into the unknown.
We constantly see how many cultural organizations and NGOs are drowning in overload, rituals of grant-making, and excessive responsibilities. The words participants of our workshops use to describe their condition include: fatigue, monotony, low self-esteem, poor well-being, fatigue, overwhelm, and irritation. However, words such as pleasure, satisfaction, and hope are also present, and we all can draw on it.
We still believe that it is possible to act differently, without fear and with mindfulness. We talk about regeneration as a real practice: taking a break, learning to let go, and working without haste. We discuss creating policies and procedures that protect people. We want to explore further how culture can support mental and community resilience. How technology can bring us closer, not drive us apart. How to cooperate so that no one has to protect themselves from another person. Today, after fifteen years, we still speak openly about things that others might consider taboo and shocking. We reveal the unspoken dependencies that arise from the law, the system, and unwritten organizational norms. We are in a place where there is a balance between social mission and care for the team. Where personal and professional development intertwine with care for the body, psyche, relationships, and community. Kindness and openness have become our strategy.
