Between Poland and China

The article reviews the dynamics of the spheres of the society, as well as the role of culture as a whole and of arts in building the image of the city. It introduces the notion of “peripherity” (with the reference to G. Stanishev) as a peculiar situation in the modern world, which occurs in opposition to globalization and unification of social flows. The article addresses the question of the resources of the peripheral situation required for development of social systems. The author analyses the role of art in intellectual culture and studies it as a system of world view and practice,which encourages comprehension of the uniqueness of the peripheral places.