The EFAH conference "Inside Out 2007" ended on Saturday, 10th November. A week after, we would like to summarise the event.

"Inside Out 2007" was held in Fabryka Trzciny, a place that Warsaw is proud of due to its being a major example of an successful revitalisation of old industrial buildings. A great "entourage" for cultural meetings.

We met many intersting people, interviewed some of them and put their thoughts on this blog. Definitely, sociable purposes of the conference were fulfiled, as it usually happens...But what about the substantive issues? Well, there is a lot to analyse and think over. We're sure that the "minutes" from particular sessions will be published so that every EFAH member or associated person could make use of it. One can also glimpse our previous posts to get an overview. What we find essential are the progressive views expressed during the conference. We are glad that they are likely not to drown in the sea of repeated catchwords on intercultural dialogue, diversity etc. Because the dialogue between cultures can be nowadays hardly seen at most of the European conferences. The language of cultural diplomacy and cooperation is becoming more and more universal and adjusted to the institutional needs. Not to the cultural ones. However, we participated in an event full of dialogue opportunities. Prof. Robert Hewison ironically stated that "dialogue is dialectical". This is right, but referring to many influenntial and esteemed writings on dialectics, we can see that sometimes "dialectical dialogue" is packed with stereotypes. It seems to be characteristic for some cultural institutions. I really appreciate prof. Hewison's irony.

During the "Inside Out 2007" we experienced fruitful debates between Lebanese and Belarussian theatre-makers, Swedish an Polish cultural operators and many, many others. But also some rough comments were made on European Commission's proceedings. These November days Warsaw was in the centre of the European discussions.

Most of the third day's (Saturday, 10th November) events day should have taken place in Karolin, a village outside Warsaw where a famous folk dance group "Mazowsze" is based. Unfortunately, it had to be cancelled. But a day before participants had an opportunity to experience another exceptional performance - a wonderful concert of a well-known Polish modern pianist Leszek Możdżer. It was a fascinating sepctacle of a great virtuoso which crowned the first-ever presentation of Warsaw's candidature for the European Capital of Culture 2016. Right, the presentation. We have mixed feelings. It is a brave act to point out the city's weaknesses and try to turn them into a positive thing. The idea seems to be good but its execution is of a much lower quality.

EFAH consistently tends to deal with the changing cultural reality in Europe and changes could be observed within the organisation. We enjoyed the "Inside Out 2007". Many thanks to everyone who read our blog!

Iwona Wyżga, Ania Stępniewska & Jacek Drozda