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MADAME MONSIEUR – Cracow European City
of the Culture 2000
The Villa Decius
ul. 28 Lipca 17A
PL - 30 233 Kraków
www.villa.onet.pl
13th - 27th July
The Villa Decius is a Renaissance building situated in a large park a little outside the city centre. This building is once again open to the public following a long period of restoration and is considered an architectural jewel in Cracow. The Villa, traditionally a meeting point for the elite, has now become an international cultural centre devoting particular attention to cultural encounter and exchange between east and west.
The Villa Decius Palace-Park Complex encompasses Villa Decius, Laski House and its surrounding park. Villa Decius has undergone many changes in the course of its long history. Built in the 1530s according to the requirements of Justus Decius, this suburban Renaissance residence has been rebuilt many times. When ownership passed into the hands of Marcelina Czartoryska at the end of the 19th century it experienced its second heyday, playing host to the most famous salon of the city. In the 20th century the Villa fell into disrepair to the point where it became a ruin. Only after renovation work carried out in the 1990s did it regain its former grandeur.
The current process of European integration has revived those Renaissance ideals that originally gave birth to the Villa Decius. It is a centre for scholarship programmes, courses, conferences, symposia and cultural events. It is managed by the Villa Decius Association, established in 1995, whose members include a number of well-known personalities from the world of learning, economy and culture.
At the heart of Villa Decius's programmes lies the idea of people representing various fields, nationalities and interests meeting together to exchange and explore ways of stimulating creative work in a communal setting. The Villa devotes particular attention to issues of intercultural management in a modern society, international cultural co-operation, and the role of writers and translators in social dialogue and European integration.
Its architecture is reminiscent of the Villa Maraini in Rome, starting point of the work in progress MADAME MONSIEUR. Besides the park, the following spaces have been used for the performances: the terrace, the hall, the wooden staircase, a salon on the first floor and a conference room on the second floor.
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