Wroclaw: Dwarves and burning islands

Jonas Dzibua's fingers are numb. He doesn't mind, though – he keeps on playing. Dzibua is a student who's volunteering in one of the many small culture tents. With the help of a little glühwein, he plays until late into the night to promote the European Capital of Culture.

The biggest stage is the historic square in the center of Wroclaw. Even in subzero temperatures, lights are dancing around the Town Hall and the reconstructed baroque townhouses

The River Oder flows through Wroclaw. The city was founded on 12 islands in the Middle Ages. Young fire artists celebrate the city's development into a dynamic Polish metropolis in a theatrical promenade performance, moving from one island to the next.

"Until 1945, Breslau was a German city," explains curator Chris Baldwin. After the Second World War, there was an enforced population exchange. Wroclaw became Polish and had to be rebuilt, as it had been destroyed completely. Communist dictatorship followed, then the democratic revolution. This complex history is Baldwin's main theme.

Jewish life flourished in Wroclaw until it was destroyed by the Nazis. In 1941, they murdered the historian and teacher Willy Cohn. The City of Culture has put up memorials, commemorating his story and those of many others.

More than 300 bronze dwarves recall a movement, which began in Wroclaw, to resist 40 years of Communist dictatorship. People ridiculed the Party by dressing up as dwarves and wearing the color orange. This dwarf bears a heart with the message "Wroc Love!"

The Old Town has been rebuilt. The city is growing: department stores, industry, cultural venues. New histories need new buildings, which is why Wroclaw is interested in architecture. Prizewinning designs from all over Europe can be seen in some of Poland's architectural museums. This design is for a tower in Copenhagen, which was never actually built.

The light on the floor is art, the mother tells her child. The girl can't grasp this yet; instead, she tries to touch the light. Some stories are hard to understand.

This is art. Do grown-ups understand it? The people of Wroclaw try to make sense of red dots on a white wall in the exhibition "Hikikomori". According to the museum guide you have to concentrate them in your mind; then a new story will be created.

Perhaps when they are concentrated, they produce the logo of the Capital of Culture: A white W(roclaw) radiating red and white stripes. It's a splash of modern color alongside the facades of the Old Town, some of which are still rather gray.

Wroclaw's former high-rise bunker is now a venue for contemporary exhibitions. In front of it, an old steam locomotive heads for the sky. New created out of old. According to the people of Wroclaw, their city is a dynamic center of the Polish cultural scene.

The old, juddering trams from the Communist days still run in the concrete pre-fab housing estates on the outskirts of town. But at least, they're colorful, and sport the logo of the City of Culture. People all over Wroclaw are being encouraged to enjoy and create culture, not just in museums or the opera. The city is looking for new stories.

The Bar "Bar a" is the new center of the Capital of Culture. This is where its histories come together. This artists' bar, formerly known as "Barbara," is on the spot where the opposition used to meet in Communist times. Wroclaw wants to be free to tell itsvstory – after 2016, too. The new national-conservative government in Warsaw is a long way from here, say the people of Wroclaw.