Rotunda - a Centre of Culture in Cracow

Rotunda is a non-profit organisation that has become one of the most popular student cultural centres in Poland. As an institution, it functions in the form of an association in co-operation with the Jagiellonian University. The official nature of co-operation can be defined as the continuity of traditional links established around 30 years ago. Rotunda - a Centre of Culture came into being in 1973 as the Rotunda Student Culture Centre of the Jagiellonian University; as an association it was registered in 1994. Current activity is financed by the income from ticket sales and at about 10% from funds offered by the main sponsor: the Okocim Brewery. The organisation does not get regular financial support from any public institution like the Culture and National Heritage Office or the local government. Success of the festivals, performances and other cultural enterprises organised by the Rotunda depends on obtained funds from sponsors and foundations as well as on the Centre's own ability of getting grants and earning money by itself.

Presentation

The history of Rotunda - a Centre of Culture dates back to 1936 when the building was built by the Jagiellonian University. At that time it served as a dancing place. At the beginning of 1960's a student club was inaugurated. In 1974, after renovation, the building became a seat of the Rotunda Student Culture Centre. From then on the biggest and most important students' festivals have been held there. Although festivals are still the highlight of Rotunda's programme, other events such as discos, concerts of jazz, blues or rock music are popular.

It is located in Oleander Street in Cracow in a one-floor, 2000 square metre building. It closely adjoins dormitories and a youth hostel, only a 3-minute walk from the National Museum or the Jagiellonian Library; the Main Market Square is within walking distance (less than 2 km). Several buildings surround the Centre where most of the university departments have their offices and classrooms.

The owner of the building is the Jagiellonian University. The building was given to Rotunda five years ago. The Centre can use it without any rent. In the ground floor of "Rotunda" there is a box office situated in a small entrance hall that leads you into a little dark hall with a cafe, cloakroom, toilets and a big performance hall that can seat 180 people. In the first floor there are offices, a huge performance hall (for 350 people) with a spacious foyer and a balcony with seats for 150 people. During festivals advertising and information stalls are located in the foyer. The logo of the Centre - a black letter "R" on the white background - is placed outside, on the wall of the building. Just beneath it there is a big banner with the name of the main sponsor and an information board to which various posters are pinned.

Rotunda's activities - aims, legal basis and forms

The main focus of Rotunda's activity is on the quality of services and contacts with associates. The programme of Rotunda offers: cinema, festivals, meetings and conferences, theatre and concerts. Rotunda's claim to fame lies in its co-operation with well-known artists and in the fact that it sets the trends in organisation and working of student culture. It is also open to the new suggestions and possibilities. It is an institution where creative people work whose major task is to promote various artistic enterprises. During the academic year a number of cultural enterprises, which are extremely popular not only in students' circle, are organised there. In its over 25 years of history Rotunda gained the renown and became a real Mecca of student culture.

For several years up to now Rotunda has been co-operating with the cultural attachés, consulates and embassies of foreign countries in Poland. The Centre developed a partnership with the Goethe Institute, the British Council, the French Institute, the Cervantes Institute, the Austrian General Consulate in Cracow and the Swedish Embassy in Warsaw. Thanks to these contacts Rotunda can prepare more and more enterprises on the national scale.

The Centre functions on the basis of a legal act called "Association Law" and on its own rules and regulations. It has a legal status. A member of the association may be the citizen of Poland who is of age. He/ she should accept constitution of Rotunda and its programme. Each member should pay annual membership fee and sign the membership declaration. He/ she should work voluntary for Rotunda. The person who especially is well earned may stay an honorary member of the association. The aim of Rotunda is to sustain the tradition of the former student club by means of:

• popularisation of students culture
• promoting tolerance and law-abiding
• exchanging experiences in the domain of culture

Rotunda pursues its ends by:

• organising cultural events such as festivals,
• co-operating with the student self-governing body of the university which prepares events and collects money for the association; students representatives (up to 10) are allowed to take part in management meetings and to express their own opinions and suggestions,
• co-operating with Jagiellonian University management (and with other universities located in Cracow) as far as accomplishing the tasks is concerned,
• co-operating with the local government,
• organising conferences, lectures, anniversaries and celebrations,
• running meetings and discussions about the student community and its influence on Polish culture,
• co-operating with other associations and organisations that deal with education and culture at home and abroad,
• publishing books, recording CDs and cassettes, producing TV shows and working as an impresario,
• running business activity.

Though the financial situation of Rotunda is unstable due to lack of regular income the Centre is always ready to invite artists and their fans. In the year 1998/99 over 120 000 visitors came to Rotunda, the majority of whom were students.

The "Rotunda"- a Centre of Culture provides for a great variety of cultural events such as:

1. Cractheatrical Reminiscences International Festival of Alternative Theatres - held in March, the oldest festival of alternative theatres in Poland. First occasion was in 1975, it is not a competition, there are no awards, it aims to present the most interesting events in contemporary theatre, but also simultaneously there are meetings, discussions and film reviews connected with theatre.
2. International Competition of Young Jazz Groups Jazz Juniors - also held in March, one of the first festivals ever organised in Rotunda. The jury consists of the most popular musicians and jazz critics. The aim of this competition is to find and promote young jazz talents.
3. PAKA Cabaret Festival - initiated in 1985, held annually in April, it was initiated as a reaction to political situation in Poland in 1980s.
4. Festival of French Language University Theatres - held in May.
5. International Jazz Festival Solo-Duo-Trio - held in July, famous soloists working usually with various bands prepare special presentations and perform them in very small groups, concerts are held often at the Main Market Square and in various clubs.
6. Etude International Film Festival - first edition was in 1993, always held in November, one of a few festivals in Europe that presents the debuts of Film Academies students from all over the world. Many leading directors such as: Roman Polañski, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andriej Tarkowski, Emir Kusturica, Volker Schlondorff or Jan Jaques Arnaut, as students created great films.
7. Student Cultural Forum - first held in 1990, in December, festival of film, theatre, cabaret, song, painting, sculpture, graphic. Winners of many student festivals come to Cracow and present their achievements.
8. Galician Singing Night - popular stars of Polish song as well as young artists present cabaret songs and instrumental music, held every month, since October 1996 you can see programmes based on these events in local TV.
9. Everybody Can Sing - competition for amateurs, the jury consists of the best professionals.
10. Debating Film Society - 25 years of tradition, organises many film festivals, occasionally enlivened by meetings with well-known artists for example: Jean Jacques Beineix, Andrzej Wajda, and Werner Herzog.
11. Rockoteka - every Friday 500-700 people come to the big concert of rock music dating from 1960s to 1990s. In 1997/98 it was the most popular rock disco in Cracow.
12. Cabaret Review - the winners of cabaret festivals present shows.

Employment

Rotunda functions as an ordinary economic entity on the market. The manager as a result of information coming from the outside as well as from particular departments takes decisions. Though it is not a big organisation, the peculiar character and policy needs an expanded structure. Except eight people employed on permanent basis, many employees, mainly students, work on individual task contracts and on temporary contracts (see table 1). They are employed mainly during festivals or particular enterprises and activities that do not require professional service, e.g.: ticket sale and inspection, cleaning the halls, maintaining order during performances. The average salary in Rotunda is 1100 zloty gross (roughly 282 euro) - of course it varies and depends on a rank and on duties of an employee. Fees for artists also are very different; the lowest is 100 zloty (26 euro) and the highest till now was 15 000 zloty (3845 euro, for a famous music band).

The institution is organised in a functional way which makes it possible to develop employees' skills, to stimulate creativity and co-operation, to engage people and give them particular tasks, to motivate employees who identify themselves with the firm and to enable effective control by direct contacting with workers. Due to quickness and effectiveness many tasks are performed simultaneously. Employees who do not work on permanent basis are employed in order to perform a specified function in a given enterprise. Friendly co-operation between these workers and permanent employees contributes to the positive image of the whole organisation.

Financing

Rotunda as a non-profit organisation provides people important social needs. This institution does not aim to maximise its profit and may be financed by grants from the state or local government, foundations, private capital, donations, financial privileges (dispensation from duties, reduced rates etc.), charges from own cultural services, income from business activity and work done by volunteers.

Rotunda runs business activity by:

1. organising concerts;
2. organising ski exchanges: every year from the beginning of November to the end of March, on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am to 2 p.m., in both performance halls and in the corridors of Rotunda building there is organised a ski exchange. Everyone who wants to sell new or used ski equipment must pay an amount of money that is proportional to the value of this equipment and all people who want to come into the building must pay an entrance fee;
3. letting out a part of building situated on the ground floor to someone who runs a cafe;
4. letting performances' halls out.

These four items are in line 4 of Table 2. Books, T-shirts, mugs and other souvenirs aren't sold. They are mostly complimentary gifts.

Rotunda spends income from business activity for current expenses such as salary, investments, duties or charges. Money for statute activity (festivals, concerts, and other enterprises) comes from outer sources, because of sponsorship's development. (See Tables 1 and 2). The easiest way to receive some money is from foundations. They are often created to support cultural activity. Sponsors are eager to support culture more by providing ready-made products (they are included in line 1 of Table 2) than by giving money. Many firms are interested in presenting their products during concerts or exhibitions, because it is a kind of effective advertisement for them.

Table 1. Expenses in 1999 (% per year)

Salary (permanent basis)	11,71
Advertisement	17,50
Maintenance cost of building	18,24
Fees for artists	42,00
Others (temporary contracts)	10,55

Table 2. Sources of income in 1999

Source of income	zloty	In euro	%
Sponsors	120 000	30.8	38,30
Donations, subsidies	90 000	23.1	28.75
Advertising	45 000	11.5	14,40
Business activities	30 000	7.7	9,60
Bank credits & loans	18 000	4.6	5,75
Statute activities	10 000	2.6	3.20
TOTAL	313 000	80.2	100

In October 2000 - 1euro = 3,9 zloty

Usually 8-9% of global budget of a particular enterprise in Rotunda is financial support coming from sponsors who naturally have some benefits in return for their funds or products. Rotunda places sponsors' logo on posters (25 000 per year), tickets (150 000 per year), invitation cards (3500 per year), leaflets (170 000 per year), month's programmes (60 000 per year), various guides, festival publications (15 000 per year), in newspapers together with information about events and also on the inner and outer walls of the building (e.g. banners).

The Centre receives subsidies for concrete purposes from public institutions that may support culture within the limits of their tasks or just want to provide some money for cultural activity. Among these institutions are: the Student Government of Jagiellonian University, the Local Government of Cracow, the Provincial Office of Malopolska (Tourism and Culture Department), the Culture and National Heritage Office, the National Education Office and others. (See table 3)

Table 3. Sources of income in 1999 (in % per year)

Subsidy:	30,0
Cracow 2000	10,0
The Culture and National Heritage Office	1,2
The Local Government of Cracow	7,5
Goethe Institute	1,0
The Provincial Office of Malopolska	5,0
The Student Government of Jagiellonian University	1,0
Others	4,3
Tickets:	22,8
Sponsors:	35,7
Main sponsor - Okocim Brewery	10,0
Other sponsors	25,7
Economic activity:	11,5
The National Education Office :	0,0
Total:	100,0

The base of finance management in Rotunda is annual finance plan accepted by a main manager, elected by the Council of the association. This plan with regard to donations and salary includes incomes and expenses.

Non-profit organisations such as Rotunda put prices on their services according to the costs of particular event (the more events cost the more expensive tickets are). Sometimes they do not demand any payment for their services (free entrance). Usually the income from tickets covers only a small part of organisation costs of an event, so often there is no tickets. Free entrance events, e.g. Etude International Film Festival or Festival of French Language University Theatres are very popular.

Table 4. Tickets' prices in Rotunda (selected events) in 1999

Event	Students	In euro	Others	In euro
Rockoteka	8,00 zl	2.0	11,00 zl	2.8
Cinema	9,00 zl	2.3	10,00 zl	2.5
Everybody Can Sing	9,00 zl	2.3	12,00 zl	3.0
Concerts	12,00 zl	3.0	12,00 zl	3.0

The global budget of Rotunda is divided into smaller budgets of particular festivals. Every festival has its own manager who makes efforts to get donations and other funds. Donations or subsidies are usually closely connected with a concrete festival or event and cannot be allocated to another purpose, for example for current activity. They must be accounted very clearly, especially when it comes from public source - a ministry or a local government.

Promotion, advertising and public relations are very important instruments from the financial point of view. Thanks to them potential sponsors and institutions that can offer donations know what interesting event are held in Rotunda. Also due to these instruments Rotunda gains public attention and becomes more popular. The variety of promotion methods does not guarantee that the cultural offer of any institution, in this case of Rotunda, will be successful. It is very important to make time, place and the object of promotion properly work together. The most popular way of promotion used in the Centre is advertising. Advertisement on cultural events appear regularly in a local supplement to Gazeta Wyborcza (the biggest daily newspaper in Poland) and also in Kino and Film (well-known magazines in the field of film and cinema). Rotunda has no advertisements in TV because it is very expensive. However there is a contract between Rotunda and TV that allows for realising programmes based on PAKA Cabaret Festival and Cabaret Review. Rotunda advertises cultural events also in local radio. Posters with information about concerts and festivals are placed in central points of Cracow.

Table 5. Annual plan of advertisement of periodical entertainment in Rotunda

	Rockoteka	Galician Singing Night	Everybody Can Sing
Means of advertisement	Posters: 3000 copies - 3600zl. (923 euro) Leaflet: 5000 copies -500zl. (128 euro) Advertising in Radio RMF FM and Radio ALFA FM - 220 000 zl. (56 397 euro)	Posters: 3000 copies - 3600zl. (923 euro) Leaflet: 5000 copies -500zl. (128 euro) Advertising in Radio RMF FM and Radio ALFA FM - 220 000 zl. (56 397euro)	Posters: 3000 copies - 3600zl. (923 euro) Leaflet: 5000 copies -500zl. (128 euro)
Financial sources	Inside: ticket sales. Outside: Okocim, City Jeans, Music Corner, Levi's Jeans, Radio RMF FM & Alfa FM.	Inside: ticket sales. Outside: Okocim, Lajkonik, Kurant Music book-shop, Tym-bark S.A., Radio RMF FM & ALFA FM, Cracow TV.	Inside: ticket sales. Outside: Okocim, Radio Puls, Gazeta Wyborcza.

Rotunda produces T-shirts with its logo, mugs with logo of Festival Etude or Rockoteka. During some festivals one can receive CDs or cassettes. Rotunda places some information also in Internet: the www pages tell about the history of Rotunda, information about actual programme and prices.

(Case study was prepared by Magdalena Foryt, Magdalena Kluz, Magdalena Krol, who study Management of Culture at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland)