Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Europe is getting old. In just a few years, the eldest members of societies will play a major role in the fields of economics, demography, labour market, and many more. But what about culture? One cannot deny that there is one thing that characterises elder people best. Time they have. No need to hurry, the possibility of self-creating one’s life span. Freedom of spending time how they want. Many younger dream of it when working full-time in front of the computer. But the facts are undeniable. Despite available time, only minority of elderly benefit from the opportunities local authorities prepare for them. Why is that? Maybe there is not enough as an offer for them? Or is the offer incorrectly corresponding their needs? Are there any practises that are more appreciated than others? Or maybe it’s just a question of the community that make an offer for senior citizens; it’s location and financial position? I will try to analyse this complicated question with example from Polish cities.