Cooperation enriches us

“Współpraca nas wzbogaca” (Cooperation enriches us) is the exhibition organised in May 2022 by artists from Toruń to promote the Hanseatic heritage of this city. Toruń belongs to the international network of cooperation of the New Hanseatic League. In May 2022, in Neuss (Germany), Toruń was given the transitional flag of the Hanseatic League, a symbolic baton that will initiate the official preparations for the 43rd Convention of the New Hanseatic League held in 2023 in our city. For this occasion, the artists Joanna Górska and Rafał Góralski prepared works referring to the Hanseatic heritage of Toruń and contemporary times. The artists reminded the inhabitants of Toruń that we, contemporary people, are a part of history and we are here and now thanks to a joint effort of our ancestors. We should remember about it and appreciate it. It is also worth reaching back to it and taking inspiration from it in order to carry the baton taken over from our predecessors to initiate and promote cooperation, as it gives our city a chance for further growth and better future.

Toruń developed its splendour thanks to cooperation, trade and exchange. Our city belonged to the group of cities that took part in the creation of the Hanse as early as in the thirteenth century. Toruń participated in organisational and political activities for the first time in 1280. The inhabitants of Toruń engaged actively in the League, holding the positions of power, as well as taking part in legations and diplomatic activities. The affiliation to the association and cooperation with Hanseatic cities largely influenced Toruń’s cultural development and shaped its heritage that we can admire to date.

Today, cooperation and affiliation to international organisations also guarantee growth and security, e.g. cooperation in EU gives Poland support and peace. This is of great value, as opposed to what dictators offer, destroying supranational cooperation and focusing on egoism and national megalomania. The history of Toruń teaches us that the key is agreement and supranational and supracultural cooperation that guarantee success, prosperity and growth.

The works of the artists from Galeria Rusz were displayed from 1 to 31 May on 2 billboards at Szosa Chełmińska and Wały gen. Sikorskiego, as well as on the city bus.

The project was made possible thanks to the support of the City of Toruń

We are now and here thanks to joint efforts of millions of people that lived before us

Me or us? To act or cooperate; to exist or coexist: to feel or sympathise

Separately or co? Coparticipate, cooperate, cocreate the contemporary world