‘Everything has its beginning in Łódź. There must be something special about this place since so many great, legendary people were born here and gained international recognition,’ Krzysztof Candrowicz wonders.

The Atlas company asked 15 citizens of Łódź to choose 10 women and 10 men each. These selected people will receive EC1 jeans in order to ‘wear culture down’ together. EC1 Arttraction Railway Journal talks with nominees about jeans and the ambassadors of Łódź who will wear them.

Marek Lewoc: What did you think when you were asked to join the ‘EC1 Jeans build culture’ campaign?

Krzysztof Candrowicz, the director of Łódź Art Center: The first thing I felt was a kind of astonishment. In order to understand this project you have to spend some time on it and think it over. The idea is phenomenal, but it requires emotional involvement. I had it easy and grasped what it is all about in no time. What is more, I wanted to share this idea with people whom I’ve chosen.

Let’s focus on your list, then. What factors were decisive in choosing who was to be given a pair of the EC1 jeans?

90 percent of these people are local patriots, inhabitants of Łódź. I will start with the ladies: Agnieszka Obszańska – even though she was born in Kutno, she started to work in Radio Łódź. Currently, she is a journalist in Trójka (channel 3 of the Polish Radio). Patriotism is always present in her broadcasts – she comes to Łódź for all significant festivals and gives account of them to entire Poland. Agata Stachura-Ścieszko of our local TV station is yet another journalist to be mentioned. She is an active and positive person, present on both grand festivals and small exhibitions. Following the ‘journalist’ path, I will name one more person – Marzena Bomanowska, the head of the culture division of the Łódź ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’ newspaper. The most meticulous person; she finds all interesting things going on in Łódź. She makes it clear that ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’ is culture-oriented and promotes large Łódź events in the entire country. On my part, big thanks for image support of our entire activity. The next person is Agnieszka Kuzańska, a restaurant owner and an entrepreneur who, together with Paweł Kuzański, created Bagdad Cafe, then the Sofa restaurant, and presently they are involved with Portiernia Design Cafe. These are culture-oriented club&catering facilities. Bagdad Cafe is a cult club, the first in Łódź – it was created in 1991 and remains unchanged until now. Agata Wojtkiewicz is a fashion designer who has chosen Łódź over Warsaw. She opened Prêt-à-café – the first cafe focused on promotion of fashion. The second one was created in Warsaw, but Agata came back to Łódź. She opened her atelier here. She is happy here, and clients from Warsaw have to come to her to Łódź. I also chose ladies from Łódź Art Center. Katarzyna Dubik, the ŁAC executive director, quit work in a large PR and advertisement agency in Warsaw, resigned from good money and came to work in Łódź, mainly on festivals and culture. Maja Kudlińska is not only a culture animator, but also a Łódź guide and a coordinator of projects connected to the Łódź – European Capital of Culture initiative. We can say that Łódź runs in her veins. Dorota Stępniak, a Łódź Design project manager, consistently promotes Łódź as a city of design. It was her idea that started Łódź Design festival three years ago, which positively influences the image of Łódź. There is also, of course, Aleksandra Kietla, a person who helps us promote many things. She is our spokesperson, the head of the Łódź Art Center promotion office, and a local patriot who links many institutions and people together, thanks to which new cooperation grounds can be established in Łódź. The only person on my list who is not from Łódź is Agata Etmanowicz, a culture manager, who works in Adam Mickiewicz institute. She is involved in international promotion of Polish culture. She has done a lot for Łódź and she strongly supports our projects. She worked in Fabryka Trzciny before – we owe to her the ‘I Love Łódź’ project which was carried out there.

Ladies are related almost exclusively to culture. What about the men you’ve chosen?

Quite the same, yet, there is a broader spectrum of professions. All of them come from Łódź. The first one on the list is Hubert Barański, one of the greatest local patriots that I know. He is a co-founder of Grupa Pewnych Osób; he carries out interesting socio-cultural and ecological projects. What is more, he is an animator of bicycle traffic. He is also a co-founder of the Fenomen foundation. Another person who has Łódź deep in his heart is Tomasz Bęben, a manager of culture and the director of the Kolory Polski music festival. He devotes a lot of time, energy and effort to put into motion the event which crosses city boundaries and is present in the entire voivodship. A group of very active people, present at almost all culture events in Łódź includes Jacek Grudzień, a TV and radio journalist and Andrzej Chętko, an academic of the Academy of Fine Arts who has taught many generations of artists. Another important pedagogue is Tomasz Ferenc, a sociologist, the University of Łódź academic, liked and respected by the students of the Erasmus programme. He is co-initiator of many events related to photography and sociology, very strongly promoting Łódź on the academic level. One more person related to the University of Łódź is Michał Kędzierski, the head of the University promotion division. He gave a lot of very positive energy to this huge academy, which opened itself to young people, culture and art. The next person that I have chosen is Michał Piernikowski, a co-creator of everything which takes place in Łódź Art Center. We graduated and established the Foundation of Visual Education together, and Łódź Art Center later on. Maciej Trzebeński, the director of the Factory of Art, is another animator of culture who deserves to be mentioned here. In the 1990s he co-created the ‘Ziemia Obiecana’ (The Promised Land) project, which was a prelude to the Festival of Dialogue of Four Cultures. Later on, he was a director of Teatr 77. At the moment, he is into music activity as the director of the Factory of Art. The person who does not need introduction, to my mind, is surely Adam Radoń, the creator of Parada Techno, director of the International Festival of Comics and Games and organiser of many various events. It was his idea to make the outdoor screening of 2001: Space Odyssey with live music, which took place during this year’s Łódź Day. The last person to be mentioned is a very special one – Mr Andrzej Szkudlarek, the legend of Księży Młyn who has been working there for many years. Factory owners change, the character of Księży Młyn changes, and he is always there. He knows everything about every building, installation, history and event. He is a walking encyclopaedia regarding this fragment of Łódź.

All mentioned people will receive EC1 jeans. You wear them already. How do they feel?

I have been wearing the EC1 jeans without break for two months now, trying to get the first marks of extensive use to show – the marks of ‘worn down culture’. I tell everyone about this story since many people ask me to explain the numbers of the trousers. By spreading this idea, we build it and we show that everything has a beginning in Łódź. There must be something special about this place since a great many legendary people were born here and gained international fame, especially in the field which is closest to my heart – culture, design and architecture. Two of the best known architects in the world – Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind – have their roots in Łódź, as well as other celebrities, like Bernard Lichtenstein, for example. It is a reason to be proud and wear these trousers proudly.

How do you understand saying that ‘jeans build culture?’

It is a donation which everyone can make to build a new heart of Łódź around the EC1. Once, people used to issue shares, capital funds and bonds on such occasions. Now, they are replaced by trousers which allow us to influence life and architectonic quality of our city.