Publication

Transcription

Publication

2011
2012
adam mickiewicz institute | report | season 2011/2012
It was an excellent season for the growth of the
Polska brand as well as for the development
of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute’s reputation
among our global partners.
Paweł Potoroczyn, director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute
The 2011/2012 season will be remembered as a period of great challenges and spectacular outcomes. With
whole-hearted accountability, we can say today that through the success of the International Cultural Programme
of the Polish EU Presidency we have gained a level of experience that prepares us to meet any challenge head
on. This experience is already paying dividends, as evidenced by projects like Polska Arts Edinburgh 2012, Polska
Music, the Asia Project and the latest concert tour of the I, CULTURE Orchestra.
The International Programme of the Polish Presidency surpassed even our boldest expectations – 20 million
spectators in 10 world capitals, more than 7,500 write-ups in the most influential media and hundreds of
valuable new contacts. At the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, we do not speak about the success of the Presidency;
we speak about its effects, thanks to which Poland now has a face and our national brand is ever more robust and
ever more reflective of the most desirable traits. Equally important to us is the fact that, due to the geographic
reach of the Presidency, we gained valuable and practical experience in the Far East, which we plan to capitalise
on in upcoming seasons. Though the Presidency is now behind us, two of its pillar projects will continue to shine
with a new lease on life and, thus, a new energy: the I, CULTURE Orchestra and the Karol Szymanowski project.
Initially established for the duration of the Presidency, the orchestra composed of young musicians from Poland
and countries of the Eastern Partnership met with such great enthusiasm from the public, critics and diplomatic
circles that we decided to make it the Partnership’s de facto flagship institution. Garnering praise as one of the
most interesting projects of the Presidency as well as of the entire music season, and being honoured with a
distinction from the European Commission, it has been renewed as a long-term project. In the summer of 2012,
a new edition of the ICO set out on a tour of Eastern Partnership nations, while the following season will see them
visit the Baltic states.
The Presidency also played a key role in the re-appearance of works by Karol Szymanowski in the repertoires
of the world’s leading orchestras and in the most prestigious concert halls. The composer’s music resounded at
the Royal Festival Hall and Cadogan Hall (London), La Monnaie and Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), Berliner
Philharmonie, Theatreo Real (Madrid), Theatre de Chatelet and Salle Pleyel (Paris), the Central Conservatory of
Music in Beijing and the Asahi Concert Hall (Tokyo), as well as the National Philharmonic of Belarus, the National
Philharmonic of Ukraine and the Ukrainian National Opera. The London Symphony Orchestra’s performance of
Szymanowski’s complete symphony cycle and both of his violin concertos, under the baton of Valery Gergiev,
turned out to be real sensation at the Edinburgh International Festival.
In the summer of 2012, as part of the Cultural Olympics, Poland had a strong presence at four Edinburgh festivals
simultaneously – from the extremely popular and attendance-record-setting Fringe, to the Edinburgh Jazz &
Blues Festival, the Edinburgh Art Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival (one of the world’s longestrunning festivals). The Edinburgh International Festival was opened by the play Macbeth directed by Grzegorz
Jarzyna. In all, Polish performances drew nearly 30,000 spectators at the massive international competition,
with the Song of the Goat Theatre and Theatre ZAR winning awards in all of the most noteworthy categories.
It was an excellent season for the growth of the Polska brand as well as for the development of the Adam
Mickiewicz Institute’s reputation among our global partners. The strength and credibility of our institution are
measured in the trust that other Polish and international institutions put in us, while our ISO certification is a
formal assurance of our rigorous commitment to quality.
In keeping with tradition and good practice, let us use this moment to thank the officials, colleagues and friends
at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the various Polish Institutes
and Polish diplomatic outposts throughout the world for their invaluable support, wise advice and gracious
cooperation.
season 2011/2012
Contents
Klopsztanga
KLOPSZTANGA10
COMING SOON
12
THE COAL RIVIERA
16
PART BIBLE, PART RECIPE BOOK
20
COMPOSERS AT WORK
24
Edinburgh
CULTURAL OLYMPICS
polish jazz storms sCOTLAND
28
30
Asia Project
POLISH MUSIC IN ASIA
GREAT MUSIC AND GREAT POLITICS
A COMPELLING EPITAPH
CHOPIN IN SEOUL
POLAND IN CLOSE-UP
36
38
40
44
48
Theatre
Hysterically about Love
Walpurgisnacht in New york
RUSSIA LOVES (A)POLLONIA
A TRIUMPH OF DIVERSITY
52
54
58
62
Music
MARIA RESURRECTED
SZYMANOWSKI LONDON-STYLE
CHOPIN REINVIGORATED
LIVERPOOL SOUNDS
POLISH WAVES ON THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
NEIghBOURS AT THE GATE
ORCHESTRA JOINS EAST AND WEST
66
68
70
74
76
80
84
Visual Arts
AND EUROPE WAS STUNNEd
AN INTENSELY POLISH PARIS
action above object
DESIGNERS ON THE OFFENSIVE
A CRUISE TOWARD A BETTER LIFE
THE DEVIL IN THE HOTHOUSE
90
94
96
100
104
106
Publications
PANUFNIK ON DISC AND ON PAPER
LUTOSŁAWSKI WITH THE BBC ORCHESTRA
POLAND FOR BEGINNERS
PRINTED MASTERPIECES
110
111
112
113
About us
ami culture award
THE HIGHEST QUALITY
XPERTIS FOR EXPERTS
staff Structure
2011/2012 Budget
116
118
120
120
122
k lo p s z ta n g a
AGathering by the
Carpet Beating Rack
An immense presentation
of contemporary Polish culture
in North Rhine-Westphalia
More than 70 cultural events were held in North Rhine-Westphalia as
part of a large-scale presentation organised by the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute. The programme aimed to expose German audiences to the
young, experimental and avant-garde face of Polish culture. The project
showcased Poland as a creative nation, full of artistic fervour, where
many unique and unusual things come to life.
Klopsztanga, as the project was named, is a Silesian word for carpet
beating rack. In the past, both in Poland and in Germany, the carpet
beating rack was the epicentre of community life. It was where childhood
friendships were forged, first loves blossomed and crazy ideas were born.
The carpet beating rack functioned like a network, like an early facebook.
Klopsztanga. Poland without Borders 2012/2013 hopes to create just such
opportunities for cultures to meet: without ceremony or proprieties.
The presence of Polish culture in North Rhine-Westphalia was felt most
intensely in April and June of 2012. Concerts, performances, exhibitions,
screenings and discussions abounded in more than 20 cities, including
Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bochum, Essen, Dortmund, Straelen, Unna
and Witten. The large-scale project was inaugurated on 15 April 2012
with the FEST MIT POLEN event at the Schauspiel theatre in Cologne.
The event featured concerts by Mitch & Mitch and Baaba, an exhibition
of photography by Piotr Wójcik, Andrzej Tobis and Arkadiusz Gola, and
a performance of the play “Sierakowski” by komuna//warszawa theatre.
The evening’s rich programme was rounded out by special multimedia
presentations and discussion panels.
For the Klopsztanga project, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute did more
than just organise presentations of Polish art in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Institute also made sure Polish artists and people of culture were
present at all of the most noteworthy cultural events in the region.
A series of discussions on Polish contemporary art was organised
to coincide with the Art Cologne Fair on 18 – 22 April, while June and
July saw Polish musicians take the stage at the c/o pop and Juicy Beats
festivals respectively.
Klopsztanga is just a prelude to long-lasting and regular cultural
cooperation between Poland and North Rhine-Westphalia that will
include coproductions in various fields of art (music, dance, theatre)
and creative workshops. The Klopsztanga project is also significant from
a political perspective – the events enable the German public to see
Poland as a creative and modern country that acts as a moderator in the
dialogue between Western and Eastern Europe.
Mitch&Mitch concert
at the inauguration
of the Klopsztanga project
photo: Marcin Oliva Soto
Coming Soon!
season 2011/2012 > klopsztanga
012
Coming Soon
(arrière-garde)
Temporary Gallery,
Cologne,
16 – 26 April 2012
(arrière-garde)
Uncertainty about the future,
the anticipation of the end of
the way things are, not knowing
what will come later – these
are common elements of the
works of art gathered at the
Coming Soon exhibition at the
Temporary Gallery in Cologne
The exhibition is steeped in a sense of impending disaster, but it is
also a manifestation of artistic freedom and individuality. Like all
of the projects organised by the Institute, it deals with vital social
questions. In Cologne, Radek Szlaga exhibited burned automobiles,
which brought to mind the recent riots in the UK. Konrad Smoleński
assembled an installation from microphones that emitted sound
instead of capturing it – the work is titled “The End of Radio” and
it uses simple imagery to show how, in the age of the Internet, the
traditional distinction between broadcaster and listener has been
irrevocably shattered. Jacek Malinowski’s film “Nosferatu – The
Fearful Dictator” tells the story of a vampire who comes to Warsaw
to buy real estate (watching the film, one immediately thinks of
investors and speculators, and the degree to which they dictate terms
for ordinary people). There was also a wanderer spewing beautiful
scenery as well as a man trying unsuccessfully to build an ark, and
the superhero The Incredible Hulk speaking with Abraham Lincoln in
phrases taken from the film “Planet of the Apes”.
Sometimes it’s difficult
to shake the disturbing
thought that Poland
took on the task of
assimilating into old
Europe too late, and thus,
in vain. The European
project is bursting at the
seams, and the West is
silent about its future.
There is the feeling that
we are learning a role
for a performance that is
nearing the end of its run
curator
Stach Szabłowski
“The artists taking part in Coming Soon,” explains curator Stach
Szabłowski, “belong to a generation that did not overthrow
communism and was not involved in Poland’s heroic transformation.
Waiting for a new paradigm, each one of them defines it in their own
way. This is reflected in the shape of the exhibition, which juxtaposes
differing artistic practices that cannot be pigeonholed into any
specific political or aesthetic avant-garde.”
Artists taking part in the
Coming Soon exhibition at the
Temporary Gallery, Cologne
014
Coming Soon
(arrière-garde)
Temporary Gallery,
Cologne,
16 – 26 April 2012
Works by Radek Szlaga at the
Comming Soon exhibition
at the Temporary Gallery, Cologne
In the works brought together at Coming Soon, the Western world
– rooted in democracy, liberty and human rights – appears to be
brittle and doomed, if not to annihilation then certainly to a defensive
stance. “Sometimes it’s difficult to shake the disturbing thought,”
relates Szabłowski, “that Poland took on the task of assimilating into
old Europe too late, and thus, in vain. The European project is bursting
at the seams, and the West is silent about its future. There is the
feeling that we are learning a role for a performance that is nearing
the end of its run.” According to the exhibition’s curator, in such a
situation, artists willingly shift from the avant-garde to the arrièregarde of society, where there is more room for freedom, individual
pursuits, experiments and slackened discipline.
Konrad Smoleński,
The End of Radio, 2012
016
Laboured Memory
Weltkulturerbe
Zollverein, Essen,
16 May – 30 June 2012
T
h
e
R
i
v
C
i
o
e
a
r
l
a
A dramatic installation offers a
glimpse into labour in the postindustrial Upper Silesia and
Ruhr regions
“You must descend into the depths of the earth to reach earth,” says
the subheading of the main part of the exhibition in Essen. Laboured
Memory is a multimedia project at the old Zollverein mine presented
as part of the Klopsztanga. Poland without Borders project. Visitors are
led into one of the mine’s halls where they are greeted by Wilhelm
Sasnal’s film depicting work in the mines and Arkadiusz Gola’s
photography series, which presents people of Silesia at rest amongst
slag heaps on the flooded grounds of the mine. There are also some
startling photos of the abandoned homes of miners in buildings that
have been slated for demolition in Bytom. The rooms have colourful
walls – the vibrant colours appear to be a reaction to having to work in
darkness and to the drab world outside the windows. Personal items
left behind seem to be crying out in the deserted living spaces; a sign
that the departing families wanted to leave their entire lives behind.
Another contrasting bright and lively splash of colour are the
paintings created by Silesian amateur artists, shown alongside works
by professional artists at the Essen exhibition. Upper Silesia has
the largest concentration of amateur artists in all of Poland. For the
inhabitants of this region, creativity is an antidote to the greyness of
everyday life and the darkness of their subterranean toil.
In all, the Essen exhibition consists of works by nearly fifty artists –
Polish and German. As a whole, it is rich and varied in content but also
very cohesive. The Ruhr region and Upper Silesia do not resemble
each other today but there is much linking them, especially their past
– as the title says, a laboured memory. The exhibition showing the
twilight of the culture of heavy industry enjoyed great success and
impressive attendance numbers.
A fragment of Laboured Memory
at Zollverein Essen
018
Laboured Memory
Weltkulturerbe
Zollverein, Essen,
16 May – 30 June 2012
Piotr Wójcik, Bytom Karb
– Homes with Memories
Wojciech Kucharczyk,
Erinnerung an morgen
Marek Schovanek,
Hunter-Gatherer
Andrzej Tobis,
German-Polish Dictionary
020
Chorus of Women
Dresden, Dusseldorf,
Muellheim,
Strasburg,
May – June 2012
Pa r t B i b l e , Pa r t
R e c i p e B o o k
28 women of various ages and
professions shout out in revolt
“Marta Górnicka’s Chorus of Women is a true revelation; surely
a breakthrough in Polish theatre,” wrote Thomas Irmer of the German
site nachtkritik.de. German audiences got a chance to experience
the chorus thanks to the Klopsztanga. Poland without Borders project.
Górnicka’s project is part play and part performance piece, with
a libretto (selected and edited by Górnicka and Agata Adamiecka of
the Warsaw Theatre Institute) composed of fragments from a wide
array of texts, from Greek tragedies, Biblical passages and newspaper
and television advertisements, to recipes and pop songs.
“We have to bring the chorus back to the stage, to find new forms
for its presence in theatre and we must bring women back to the
chorus,” Marta Górnicka remarked describing the aims of her artistic
undertaking.
The Chorus of Women is a project created with the Theatre Institute
in Warsaw and consists exclusively of amateurs of various ages and
occupations selected through auditions. The women sing, whisper,
shout, dance, threaten and lament to music composed by Aleksandra
Gryka. At times, the chorus speaks in unison while at others it
breaks up into separate parts, such as duets. Thanks to the use of
multiple forms of expression and an effective arrangement of the
voices available, the performance creates an irresistibly authentic
impression. The ensemble presented both of their performances –
“This is the Chorus Speaking” and “Magnificat” – at Klopsztanga.
Both pieces are centred on women’s refusal to accept the societal
position that patriarchal tradition forces upon them and are a revolt
against the way women are seen and how they are expected to see
themselves.
Marta Górnicka’s
Chorus of Women is
a true revelation; surely
a breakthrough in Polish
theatre
Thomas Irmer, nachtkritik.de
A scene from the play “This Is the
Chorus Speaking” by the Chorus of
Women, dir. Marta Górnicka
photo: Antonio Galdamez Muñoz,
Witold Meysztowicz
022
Chorus of Women
Dresden, Dusseldorf,
Muellheim,
Strasburg,
May – June 2012
The Chorus of Women in their
play “This Is the Chorus Speaking”,
dir. Marta Górnicka
photo: Antonio Galdamez Muñoz,
Witold Meysztowicz
024
Composer collider:
Poland workshops
Cologne,
7 – 10 June 2012
C o m p o s e r s
a t
w o r k
Thanks to the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute, a group of young
Polish composers were granted
a unique learning opportunity
Seven students of the art of composing – Mateusz Ryczek, Jarosław
Płonka, Michał Ossowski, Jacek Sotomski, Karol Nepelski, Emil
Bernard Wojtacki and Katarzyna Dziewiątkowska-Mleczko –
travelled to Cologne to take part in workshops with the renowned
musikFabrik group, one of the world’s leading contemporary music
ensembles. Above all, the focus of musikFabrik is artistic innovation,
with an emphasis on discovering new means of expression. The
musicians explore novel combinations of electronics, dance, theatre,
film and literature.
The four-day workshops saw the young Polish composers collaborate
with the group on their new compositions. The projects turned out
to be a great success – the world-class musicians and the knowledge
and collection of instruments they have at their disposal proved
a wonderful source of inspiration for the Polish artists.
One of the workshop participants will be awarded a stipend from
the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and musikFabrik to compose a piece
of music in 2013. The resulting composition will be performed by
musikFabrik live on air on WDR radio and issued as a record release.
The Composer collider: Poland workshops were organised as part of
the Klopsztanga season of Polish culture in Germany.
musikFabrik composers workshop
photo: Adam Grabolus
Edinburgh
C u l t u r a l
O l y m p i c s
Polish artists set to shine at
Edinburgh festivals
Each summer, Edinburgh becomes Europe’s culture capital. Countless
plays, exhibitions and concerts attract not only the city’s residents but
also crowds of art lovers from all over the world: more than four million
attendees in all! In 2012, an unprecedented number of Polish artists
brought their work to these cultural olympics. But what really made
the Polish contingent stand out was its quality. The Adam Mickiewicz
Institute teamed up with the leading festivals and stages to showcase
the most noteworthy achievements Polish art has to offer.
The Edinburgh International Festival was kicked off by TR Warszawa’s
play “2008: Macbeth” in a specially-prepared Lowland Hall. The
play was performed at the venue a total of seven times, each of them
a sell-out.
Performances of Polish music were a highlight of the music section of the
Edinburgh International Festival. The programme included the London
Symphony Orchestra’s performances of Karol Szymanowski’s four
symphonies and two of his violin concertos. Meanwhile, the Cleveland
Orchestra delighted audiences with two concerts of music by Witold
Lutosławski.
Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival featured an even more abundant bill of
Polish accents. The Old College Quad played host to a number of
outdoor performances including Teatr KTO’s “The Blind”, and Teatr
Biuro Podróży’s “Macbeth”, “Carmen Funebre” and “Planet Lem”. The
festival line-up also included a performance of Aleksandra Borys’s “Lost
in Details” at Dance Base, one of the world’s foremost dance centres.
Surely, the epicentre of Poland’s activity during the Fringe festival was
Summerhall – a former veterinary school converted into a culture centre.
This is where Paweł Passini’s “Puppet. The Book of Splendour” had
its premiere. The venue also hosted the latest offering from the Song
of the Goat Theatre Company, entitled “The Songs of Lear”; Robert
Kuśmirowski’s “Pain Thing” installation (specially prepared for the
venue), and Wojtek Ziemilski’s video installation “Relatives”. Visitors to
Summerhall also saw exciting presentations by the groups: komuna//
warszawa, Teatr ZAR, Teatr Usta Usta, and the National Film School
in Łódź, along with concerts of contemporary music, meetings, and
animated film screenings for children and adults.
Earlier this year, in July, Polish music resounded at brilliant concerts
during the Jazz & Blues Festival. All in all, Poland’s representation in
Edinburgh leaves no doubt as to the country’s position as a cultural
hotbed in Europe.
festival club
installation
Relatives
by Wojtek ZieMilski
3-12 Aug, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
If You See a Cat
& Other Animal Tales
(aniMations for children)
12 and 19 Aug at 10:30 am
Little Black Riding Hood &
Other Surreal Stories
(aniMation for adults)
9 and 16 Aug at 11:15 pm
Borowczyk Shorts/
Boro in the Box
16 Aug at 9:15 pm
Guide to the Poles
14-16 Aug at 7:30 pm
as a part of festival club at
tickets:
Summerhall (venue 26), Summerhall 1, EH9 1PL / box office 0845 874 3001
www.summerhall.co.uk
To explore, engage,
and enjoy all
that Polska Arts
has to offer
in Edinburgh this year
check out:
Wojtek Ziemilski
SmaLL NarraTioN
Performances: 3-4, 13-19, 21-23 Aug at 7:15 pm
Summerhall
neTTheatre
PuPPET. Book of SPLENdor
directed by PaWeł Passini
© krzysztof bieliński
Preview: 3 Aug at 9:00 pm
Performances: 4-13 Aug at 9:00 pm
Summerhall
as a part of edinburgh festival fringe
tickets:
The Hub, Castlehill (EH1 2NE) / 0131 473 2000
www.edinburghjazzfestival.com
To explore, engage,
and enjoy all
that Polska Arts
has to offer
check out:
as a part of edinburgh festival fringe
tickets:
Summerhall (venue 26), Summerhall 1, EH9 1PL / box office 0845 874 3001
www.summerhall.co.uk
To explore, engage,
and enjoy all
that Polska Arts
has to offer
check out:
season 2011/2012 > EDINBURGH
030
Edinburgh
Jazz & Blues Festival
Edinburgh,
25 – 28 June 2012
p o l i s h j a z z
storms scotland
Five Polish acts perform
at the largest jazz and blues
festival in Scotland
This year’s edition of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival saw
performances by Aga Zaryan, Marcin Masecki’s band Profesjonalizm,
the Marcin Wasilewski Trio, the Maciej Obara Quartet and Mitch &
Mitch with their Incredible Combo. The Edinburgh summit of jazz
and blues artists is among the largest events of its kind in Europe and
the biggest in the UK. The approximately one hundred concerts at
each year’s edition give audiences a chance to hear everything from
big band standards to skiffle, ragtime and free jazz.
While selecting the Polish line-up for the festival, the Adam
Mickiewicz Institute opted to showcase young musicians of the
highest artistic calibre. A shining example of this would be Aga
Zaryan, whose unique voice is already known to audiences the world
over (her 2010 album Looking Walking Being was released on the
world’s most famous jazz label – Blue Note Records).
Marcin Wasilewski, meanwhile, is a three-time winner of the
Fryderyk award in the Jazz Artist of the Year category. He is signed
to the Munich-based ECM Records and has already graced stages
throughout Europe as well as the USA, garnering the praise of critics
at every turn.
The saxophonist Maciej Obara is probably best known for his work
with Antoine Roney, a leading figure of New York’s jazz avant-garde.
The festival in Edinburgh was a perfect occasion for Obara to present
his new quartet, of which Dominik Wania is also a member.
Maciej Masecki’s Profesjonalizm sextet achieved notoriety with their
record Chopin, Chopin, Chopin..
Capping off the Polish series in Edinburgh was Mitch & Mitch.
Established in 2002, the group started out playing alternative
country but later embarked on a musical journey that would see
nearly every type of music imaginable appear in their repertoire.
Their Edinburgh performance featured an expanded roster of players
with the addition of a brass section, known as the Incredible Combo.
Mitch&Mitch in concert
photo: Douglas Robertson Photography
season 2011/2012 > EDINBURGH
032
Edinburgh
Jazz & Blues Festival
Edinburgh,
25 – 28 June 2012
Marcin Wasilewski Trio
on stage
Mitch&Mitch live
Profesjonalizm on stage
Aga Zaryan
photo: Mateusz Stankiewicz
Asia Project
season 2011/2012 > Asia Project
036
szymanowski
in the far east
China, Taiwan, Japan,
5 – 8 October 2011
P o l i s h
Music in Asia
The Szymanowski Quartet
tours the Far East
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute’s Asia Project took the Szymanowski
Quartet on a tour of Taiwan (Jhongli and Taipei), China (Hong Kong
and Beijing) and Japan (Tokyo). The Quartet presented works by
Szymanowski, Laks, Beethoven, Mozart, Ravel, Dvorak, Barber and
Chopin.
In Beijing, the Institute also organized a symposium in the Central
Conservatory of Music devoted to Szymanowski and to Polish music
in the 20th century, with the participation of both Polish and Chinese
musicologists. Poland was represented by Dr. Agnieszka Chwiłek
(University of Warsaw) and Dr. Marcin Gmys (Adam Mickiewicz
University). The event was accompanied by an exhibition devoted
to the composer organized by the Polish Embassy in Beijing and
a master workshop for young Chinese musicians conducted by the
artists of the Szymanowski Quartet.
Members of the Szymanowski
Quartet: Andrzej Bielow,
Grzegorz Kotów, Vladimir Mykytka
and Marcin Sieniawski
photo: Marco Boggreve
038
Poland – secret
garden of sounds
National Center for
the Performing Arts
(NCPA), Beijing, China,
19 December 2011
G r e at M u s i c a n d
G r e at P o l i t i c s
The China portion
of the Culture Programme of the
Polish EU Presidency concludes
with a festive concert
in Beijing
The end of the Polish Presidency programme also means the
beginning of new projects. The concert organised by the Adam
Mickiewicz Institute was in itself an important political event as one
of the spectators was the President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski.
The concert was staged under the banner “Poland – Secret Garden of
Sound” and featured the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
under the baton of Antoni Wit. The concert programme included four
compositions: Spring Festival Overture by the Chinese composer
Li Huanzhi; Violin Concerto No. 2 in D-minor , Op. 22 by Henryk
Wieniawski with solo by Jojo Wang; the symphonic poem Steppe,
Op. 66 by Zygmunt Noskowski; and the symphonic poem Krzesany
by Wojciech Kilar. Culminating the evening was a performance
of Fryderyk Chopin’s Etude Op. 10 No. 3 by one of China’s most
acclaimed pianists, Lang Lang. The concert hall, with its capacity of
over two thousand, was filled to the brim with Chinese politicians,
businessmen and people of culture. The audience’s response was
very enthusiastic and both the orchestra and the soloists were called
out for encores.
The Presidential Couple is
welcomed to the NCPA in Beijing
photo: Paweł Maciejewski,
Polish embassy in Beijing
Jojo Wang playing the solo in
Henryk Wieniawski’s Violon
Concerto No. 2 on stage with the
National Philharmonic Symphony
Orchestra
photo: Paweł Maciejewski,
Polish embassy in Beijing
040
TR Warszawa’s
4.48 Psychosis at
thw Hong Kong
Arts Festival
hong kong,
22 february 2012
A Compelling
Ep i t a p h
Grzegorz Jarzyna’s adaptation
of Sara Kane’s celebrated drama
staged in Asia for the first time
on 22 February 2012
TR Warszawa’s “4.48 Psychosis” was one of the main attractions
at the 40th edition of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. The play was
performed four times, playing to a full house on each occasion.
“We hope that, this way, Poland can become a fixture in the festival
programme; by offering Asian audiences that which is the very best
in Polish contemporary culture and art,” commented Marcin Jacoby,
the manager of the Asia Project at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
“4.48 Psychosis” is a startling portrayal of depression written by
Sara Kane, who herself suffered from this devastating illness. TR
Warszawa’s adaptation of the play directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna and
starring Magdalena Cielecka in the leading role has made waves all
over the world, with particular fanfare in the author’s homeland of
the UK:
We hope that, this way,
Poland can become
a fixture in the festival
programme; by offering
Asian audiences that
which is the very best
in Polish contemporary
culture and art
Marcin Jacoby, manager
of the Asia Project at the
Adam Mickiewicz Institute
“TR Warszawa’s phenomenal adaptation of Sarah Kane’s moving
and extremely powerful 4.48 Psychosis is a frank and all-too-true
insight into the desperation of a tragically tortured mind,” wrote
Scott Clair in The Herald. “In addition to the unparalleled acting of
Cielecka and the supporting cast, the director’s use of stage language
really does astound. It is indeed a rarity for a play to end leaving the
audience with no idea how to react, as the action seems too real to
applaud as a drama. (…) This performance really is an astounding
experience, and a tragic, yet compelling epitaph to its playwright,
the late Sarah Kane.”
Scenes from the play “4.48
Psychosis” by TR Warszawa
photo: Stefan Okołowicz
042
TR Warszawa’s
4.48 Psychosis at
thw Hong Kong
Arts Festival
hong kong,
22 february 2012
In addition to the
unparalleled acting
of Cielecka and the
supporting cast, the
director’s use of stage
language really does
astound. It is indeed
a rarity for a play to end
leaving the audience with
no idea how to react, as
the action seems too real
to applaud as a drama.
Scott Clair, The Herald
S
cenes from the play “4.48
Psychosis” by TR Warszawa
044
Royal String
Quartet at the
Sejong Center
seoul,
10 – 12 April 2012
C h o p i n
i n
S e o u l
Polish chamber musicians
make waves at South Korea’s
premiere concert hall
The Royal String Quartet, one of Poland’s leading chamber music
ensembles, gave three concerts in Seoul at the Sejong Center, the
country’s most prestigious culture centre. The repertoire consisted
mainly of pieces by Fryderyk Chopin but also included works by
Debussy, Liszt and Mozart. All three performances generated a very
warm and enthusiastic reaction from the audience.
The Polish string quartet was joined at the Seoul concerts by
the renowned bassist Tomasz Januchta as well as a couple of
international piano stars – Austria’s Ingolf Wunder and the Korean
William Youn. The concerts were organised as part of the Asia
Project, during which the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, in collaboration
with the Sejong Center and the Polish embassy in South Korea, has
been bringing cultural events featuring Polish artists to countries of
the Far East for the past three years.
The Royal String Quartet performs and garners critical acclaim all over
the world. They have won many awards in prestigious string quartet
competitions such as: 1st Prize and Grand Prix in Casale Monferrato
(2000); Special Jury Prize in Kuhmo, Finland (2004); and 3rd place
in Banff, Canada (2004). In 2004 – 2006 the quartet took part in the
BBC’s New Generation Artists programme, which promotes the most
talented young artists from around the globe. Their participation in
the programme included appearances at many festivals, recordings
and broadcasts of concerts, recording sessions and performances in
collaboration with other artists in the programme. A highlight in the
quartet’s career thus far came in 2004 when they played a special
concert for Queen Elizabeth II of England in London.
Ingolf Wunder performing a sound
check before his concert in Seoul
046
Royal String
Quartet at the
Sejong Center
seoul,
10 – 12 April 2012
A concert by the Royal String
Quartet with Ingolf Wunder and
Tomasz Januchta at the Sejong
Center in Seoul
048
Poland in close-up
Hong Kong
International
Film Festival
Hong Kong,
24 March – 5 April
2012
P o l a n d
i n C l o s e - Up
A special presentation of Polish
films was the highlight of the
festival in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is one of the most
important film events in the Far East. In 2012, during the thirty-sixth
edition of the festival, 330 films from 50 countries were screened. The
programme featured a presentation of Polish movies, called Poland in
Close-Up, during which audiences saw eight Polish films from the last
two years. Among the films presented were Lech Majewski’s “The
Mill and the Cross”, Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness”, Wojciech
Smarzowski’s “Rose”, Bartosz Konopka’s “Fear of Heights”, Antoni
Krauze’s “Black Thursday and Greg Zgliński’s “Courage”. There was
also a screening of Tomasz Leśniak’s, Wojciech Wawszczyk’s and
Jakub Tarkowski’s animated film based on the cartoon “Jerz Jeży”
[“Jerzy the Hedgehog”].
Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness”
was among the films screened
during the project
photo: Robert Pałka / Fotos-Art,
prod. Studio Filmowe Zebraa
The British actress Charlotte Rampling, who starred in “The Mill and
the Cross”, was a special guest at the festival.
Hong Kong press devoted a lot of
space to Polish film
T h e at r e
season 2011/2012 > Theatre
052
In the Solitude
of Cotton Fields
at the Under
the Radar Festival
New York City,
January 2012
H ys t e r i c a l ly
a b o u t L o v e
The Stefan Żeromski Theatre
of Kielce takes its flagship
performance to the avant-garde
La MaMa theatre
in Manhattan
Director Radosław Rychcik’s adaptation of “In the Solitude of Cotton
Fields” by Bernard-Marie Koltès is a festival powerhouse. The Stefan
Żeromski Theatre has already performed the play in Krakow, Warsaw,
Toruń, Szczecin, Koszalin, Wałbrzych and Berlin.
In January 2012, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute organised
a presentation of the play at the Under the Radar Festival in New York
City. All of the eight performances took place in front of a full house.
The undertaking as a whole was an indisputably great success for
Polish art and for the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which once again
showed their ability to select works worthy of promoting and great
expertise in bringing them to new audiences.
As stated by the PAP Agency, “‘In the Solitude of Cotton Fields’ is
an intimate drama about love.” Yet, it is neither sentimental nor
pompously romantic. It tells the story of two people meeting,
referred to simply as “the dealer” and “the client,” and their
attempt to conduct a mysterious transaction. They try to come to
an understanding by various means: by speech, body language and
signs. It ultimately proves to be a nearly impossible task. “They utter
thousands of words, but to us it seems like only a pretext for getting
together,” comments the director, who labels this performance
“hysterical theatre.”
“In the Solitude of Cotton Fields”
directed by Radosław Rychcik
054
festen directed by
Grzegorz Jarzyna
New York City,
April 2012
Wa l p u rg i s n a c h t
i n n e w y o r k
Grzegorz Jarzyna triumphs
at one of the top stages in the
United States
Standing ovations and multiple curtain calls concluded nearly all of the
10 performances by TR Warszawa at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn.
Their play “Festen” was seen by more than 2400 spectators in all.
The day after the first performance, headlines in the culture sections
of leading New York newspapers hailed success – the reviews were
unanimously positive and some were even ecstatic.
It’s hard to imagine a
work that makes more
thorough and effective
use of that theater’s
cavernous space
Ben Brantley,
The New York Times
“…it’s hard to imagine a work that makes more thorough and effective
use of that theater’s cavernous space,” wrote critic Ben Brantley in
The New York Times. “As directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna, with a set by
Malgorzata Szczesniak, ‘Festen’ induces feelings of both claustrophobia
and agoraphobia. Through artful lighting (by Jacqueline Sobiszewski)
and strategic placement of furniture (including one very, very long
table), this production manages to conjure a mazelike building of
many rooms that finally offers no place to hide. Everything seems to be
happening both in public and private at the same time.”
Grzegorz Jarzyna’s “Festen” is an adaptation of the Danish film of the
same title, directed by Thomas Vinterberg. The story unfolds during a
gathering where members of an esteemed and wealthy family come
together to celebrate the 60th birthday of the head of the family. The
meeting quickly turns into a nightmare when the guest of honour’s son
reveals that the father molested both him and his late sister when they
were children.
“While retaining some of the poker-faced sobriety of Mr. Vinterberg’s
movie, in which scandalous revelations are greeted with repressive
stoicism, this ‘Festen’ is far more flamboyantly stylized, as a ritualized
celebration turns into a full-fledged Walpurgisnacht,” observes the
New York Times critic. “Poltergeists fling cutlery. Old men turn into
automatons. A bathtub glows with eerie luminescence. Thunder
rumbles. A piano tinkles like a funereal music box. And, in one truly
terrifying image, Helge is revealed fleetingly, as if by lightning, as the
monster he truly is.”
In addition to newspaper critics, Jarzyna’s play was attended by many
eminent figures from the world of theatre and culture, including the
directors of the Under the Radar festival Mark Russell and Meiyin
Wang, and the heads of theatre departments at such institutions as
Bard College, Yale University, Brown University, CUNY Graduate
Center and Tisch School of Fine Arts.
“Festen”
056
festen directed by
Grzegorz Jarzyna
New York City,
April 2012
“Festen”
058
(A)pollonia
Golden mask
festival, moscow,
april 2012
If you ask me, it is one of
the best plays of the last
decade
Jelena Kowalska, Afisz
Russia Loves
( A ) p o l lo n i a
Nowy Theatre’s play is honoured
with Russia’s most prestigious
theatre award
On 16 April 2012, the creators of the play “(A)pollonia” received the
Golden Mask award in Moscow for the best performance staged
in Russia in 2011. The award was accepted by director Krzysztof
Warlikowski, set designer Małgorzata Szczęśniak and co-writer Piotr
Gruszczyński. The honour is not only a wonderful recognition for
Warlikowski and Nowy Theatre but also a sign of the great renown
Polish theatre enjoys in Russia. In 2011, Poland was the special guest
of the Golden Mask festival, and the plays performed in Moscow
were met with great enthusiasm from audiences and critics alike.
One incident even called for police intervention as theatre lovers
became agitated when tickets ran out.
For young Russian directors who are rebelling against the
conservative Russian theatre establishment, Polish directors today,
and especially Warlikowski, are a leading inspiration. “(A)pollonia”
enjoys masterpiece status in Russia. “If you ask me, it is one of the
best plays of the last decade,” wrote Jelena Kowalska in the Russiawide bi-weekly Afisz. “Firstly, it’s a truly modern theatre language.
The dialogue is so tight and gripping that the five hours pass in a
single breath.”
The Golden Mask festival is the most prestigious theatre festival
in Russia. Each year, Russia’s best achievements in theatre take the
stage at the festival in Moscow, while the last 6 years have seen the
festival expand its international programme significantly. During the
2011 Golden Mask festival the spotlight was on Poland. The Polish
Theatre in Moscow project was organised by the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute specifically for this edition of the festival and was the first
Polish theatre presentation of such scope at the prestigious and
highly influential event. The presence of Polish theatre was felt
equally strongly at the subsequent edition of the festival in 2012
with performances of two plays directed by Krystian Lupa: “Persona.
Simone’s Body” and the highly anticipated return of “Persona.
Marilyn”, back by popular demand after its much-praised showing
in 2011. Meanwhile, the approaching presentation of Russian theatre
in Warsaw in 2013 has theatre insiders abuzz with anticipation at the
prospect of seeing many of this year’s Golden Mask winners take the
stage in Warsaw next year.
“(A)pollonia”
060
(A)pollonia
Golden mask
festival, moscow,
april 2012
“(A)pollonia” directed
by Krzysztof Warlikowski
Group scene, “(A)pollonia”
directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski
062
Focus Polska
programme
Sibiu,
25 May – 3 June 2012
Focus Polska was the best
national programme in
the history of the festival
Constantin Chiriac, director
of the Sibiu International
Theatre Festival
A t r i u m p h
of diversity
The Focus Polska programme
at the Sibiu festival praised
as the best ever
Poland was represented by four theatre companies at the Sibiu
International Theatre Festival: Theatre Strefa Ciszy (Poznań), Theatre
ZAR (Wrocław), TR Warszawa (Warsaw) and Theatre Provisorium
(Lublin). Such an assortment offered an effective cross-section of the
Polish theatre scene and its many faces.
Theatre ZAR’s intimate and picturesque “Triptych” employing
archaic vocal techniques is a story about longing for an impossible
resurrection. It is composed of fragments of writings by Dostoyevsky
and Simone Weil as well as Biblical and apocryphal texts. An entirely
different style characterises the mad outdoor play “Salto Mortale” by
Theatre Strefa Ciszy. This is a spectacle inspired by an unusual story
from the end of the Second World War, as Soviet troops plundered
the city of Stettin (today Szczecin) of its pianos to send back to the
USSR. The soldiers lined up hundreds of the instruments along the
railway tracks but never managed to transport them out. The pianos
languished for years and eventually crumbled to pieces. Behind
each one of them was a human tragedy and together they became
a symbol of a culture desecrated by the horrors of war.
TR Warszawa’s “No Matter How Hard We Tried” written by Dorota
Masłowska is a contemporary play through and through. It depicts
three generations living together under one roof: an old lady who lives
in her wartime memories, an adult woman absorbed in television
and tabloids, and a girl who leads a semi-virtual existence in the
digital world. Using multimedia projections as a backdrop, the play
is marked by an utterly mocking and sarcastic tone. In stark contrast
to TR Warszawa’s play is the fourth and final Polish presentation at
the festival – the serious, contemplative and deeply philosophical
adaptation of “The Brothers Karamazov” by Theatre Provisorium.
To round out the presentation of Polish theatre, the WRO Art Centre
prepared a special display of some of its remarkable works of visual
and conceptual art.
The Polish programme turned out to be a bull’s-eye. “Focus Polska
was the best national programme in the history of the festival,”
assessed the festival’s director Prof. Constantin Chiriac. Thanks to
the efforts of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, these remarkable Polish
plays were seen by throngs of theatre lovers. The Sibiu festival is the
world’s third largest event of its kind with respect to attendance
(about 60,000 spectators daily) and every year, plays from about 70
countries are presented at the festival.
Piotr Krajewski (exhibition curator),
Joanna Kiliszek, Marek Szczygieł
(Polish Ambassador to Romania),
Constantin Chiriac (director of
the Sibiu International Theatre
Festival)
“Alternative Now On Tour”
exhibition organised
by the WRO Art Centre.
photo: Bartosz Konieczny
Music
season 2011/2012 > Music
066
roman statkowski’s
maria in ireland
Wexford, Ireland,
22, 28 & 31 October
and 4 November 2011
M
a
r
i
a
R e s u rr e c t e d
Forgotten century-old Polish
opera triumphs in Ireland
Thanks to the initiative of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and its
involvement in the production, Roman Statkowski’s 1904 opera
“Maria” was brought to audiences in Wexford. The Wexford Festival
Opera is a venerable review that focuses on unjustly forgotten works
of opera, giving them a new life and a chance at contemporary
recognition. That was exactly the case with “Maria”, whose four
performances at the festival garnered rave reviews. “The moody
piece seemed to fit this Irish band like a glove and the shifting moods
and modulations of the (estranged) love duet were evocative and
romantic,” wrote James Sohre in Opera Today.
The moody piece seemed
to fit this Irish band like
a glove and the shifting
moods and modulations
of the (estranged) love
duet were evocative and
romantic.
James Sohre, Opera Today
Today, Roman Statkowski is considered Poland’s foremost composer
of the 20th century next to Karol Szymanowski. His 1904 entry to
a competition for an opera based on Antoni Malczewski’s “Maria”
took first place and the opera was staged in 1906 in Warsaw. Sadly,
however, it would be performed only another five times in the 20th
century. “Maria” was rediscovered in 2008 and lauded as one of
Poland’s most important operas after those written by Moniuszko.
The opera bears clear influences of Statkowski’s favourite composer,
Pyotr Tchaikovsky, but retains a strong Polish air and, at times, even
Ukrainian colours. The libretto is set in the Polish borderlands of the
17th century and tells a story of crime and ill-fated love.
The performances of “Maria” at the Wexford festival saw the
orchestra conducted by Tomasz Tokarczyk, the Music Manager of
the Krakow Opera. “Under Tomasz Tokarczyk’s baton, the awesome
collection of musicians outdid themselves, playing with brio, depth,
and attention to detail,” praised James Sohre.
“Maria” by Roman Statkowski
at the Wexford Festival Opera
photo: CLIVE BARDA/ArenaPAL
068
London Symphony
Orchestra plays
szymanowski
London, Paris,
Brussels,
29 April – 8 May 2012
Post-Wagnerian
chromatic harmonies
convey man’s desire for
union with God, while its
kaleidoscopic, Straussian
orchestration suggests
the whirling world of
phenomena beyond
which the mystic vision
might be glimpsed
Tim Ashley, The Guardian
Szymanowski
London-Style
The London Symphony
Orchestra plays music
by Karol Szymanowski
in European capitals
In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Karol Szymanowski’s
death, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute invited the renowned London
Symphony Orchestra to play concerts of music by the brilliant Polish
composer. The orchestra played five wonderful concerts between
29 April and 8 May: two at Barbican Hall in London, two at the Salle
Pleyel in Paris and one at the Bozar in Brussels. Each of the evenings
featured a piece by Karol Szymanowski: Symphony No. 3 Song of the
Night or Violin Concerto No. 1.
The Concerto by Szymanowski is considered to be a milestone in
modern music – it is the first fully original violin concerto of the 20th
century to depart from the great romantic tradition in violin music.
The starting point in the inception of this fascinating and sensual
piece of music was the imagery of a spring night in Tadeusz Miciński’s
poem May Night.
Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 3 also arose thanks to a literary
inspiration – a poem by Jalal’ad-Din Rumi, the 13th-century Persian
mystic. Rumi was the spiritual leader of the dervishes and he extolled
an almost erotic relationship between man and God. His was a sort
of religion of love in which the deity is like Dionysus, Christ and Eros
all in one.
The concerts saw the orchestra led by Peter Eötvös, a Hungarian
conductor and renowned composer in his own right. Under his baton,
the London Symphony Orchestra rose to the challenge with grace,
with the last of the five concerts getting a write-up in The Guardian.
Critic Tim Ashley had this to say about Symphony No. 3: “PostWagnerian chromatic harmonies convey man’s desire for union with
God, while its kaleidoscopic, Straussian orchestration suggests the
whirling world of phenomena beyond which the mystic vision might
be glimpsed.”
Earlier, on 22 February, Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 3 was
performed by another British ensemble, namely the London
Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra was directed by Vladimir
Jurowski during the concert at the Royal Festival Hall and BBC Radio
3 was on hand to broadcast the event.
Leonidas Kavakos plays
the violin solo in a composition
by Karol Szymanowski
070
Nederlands Blazers
Ensemble plays
chopin
Holland,
18 – 23 April 2012
C HO P IN
R EINVI G O R ATED
Renowned Dutch wind
instrument ensemble plays
Chopin’s preludes
The Nederlands Blazers Ensemble is one of the world’s best
wind instrument orchestras. It is composed of soloists from the
Concertgebouw Royal Orchestra, the philharmonic orchestras
of Rotterdam and the Hague and Holland Symfonia. The Adam
Mickiewicz Institute inspired the Dutch outfit to play a series of
unique concerts of Fryderyk Chopin’s 24 Preludes Op. 28. To join
them for this special presentation of the Preludes, the Nederlands
Blazers Ensemble invited the young Dutch virtuoso Hannes Minnaar,
winner of the prestigious competitions in Geneva and Brussels.
Half of the preludes were performed by the young pianist and the
other half by the Ensemble. The preludes were arranged for wind
instruments by the Polish composer Zygmunt Krauze. As a special
touch, Krauze composed a 25th prelude that was played by all of
the musicians to conclude each concert. The Nederlands Blazers
Ensemble performed their unique Chopin concert a total of five
times: in Zutphen, Helmond, The Hague and twice in Amsterdam.
One of Holland’s leading dailies, Handelsblat, wrote: “Krauze’s
arrangements revealed unexpected aspects of Chopin’s music.
Through the grand resounding tones of the wind instruments, the
Prelude in C-minor gained an expressive force that is difficult to
achieve on the piano. The Prelude in D-flat major supported by a bass
pizzicato exuded a grace that often gets lost in the background in
piano versions of the piece.”
Krauze’s arrangements
revealed unexpected
aspects of Chopin’s
music. Through the
grand resounding tones
of the wind instruments,
the Prelude in C-minor
gained an expressive
force that is difficult to
achieve on the piano. The
Prelude in D-flat major
supported by a bass
pizzicato exuded a grace
that often gets lost in the
background in piano
versions of the piece.
Handelsblat
Before the concert in Helmond
072
Nederlands Blazers
Ensemble plays
chopin
Holland,
18 – 23 April 2012
The Nederlands Blazers Ensemble
on stage at the ‘t Speelhuis
in Helmond, 19 April 2012
074
polish bands
play Liverpool
Sound City
Mello Mello club,
Liverpool,
19 May 2012
L i v e rp o o l
S o u n d s
Polish bands play
Liverpool Sound City
for a second time
Liverpool Sound City is one of the most important music festivals in
Europe – not only on account of the attendance numbers (40,000
spectators) but mainly because so many music industry people
are involved. Each year, roughly 3,000 music industry movers and
shakers – producers, managers, critics – come to Liverpool to attend
the conferences and concerts. So, it would be a difficult task to find
a better way to promote Polish music than showcasing it at Liverpool
Sound City.
The Polish evening organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute at
one of the festival venues (Mello Mello) featured the avant-garde
folk act Paula & Karol, the electro-pop group Kamp!, the world-class
noise-rock trio Plum, and Natalia Fiedorczuk’s solo project Nathalie
& The Loners.
The Polish contingent played Mello Mello under the banner
“Don’t Panic! We’re from Poland”. This is a heading that the Adam
Mickiewicz Institute attaches to concerts promoting Polish music in
the world’s leading music centres. It is also the name of a Warsaw
mini-festival organised for foreign guests as part of the CoJestGrane
European Music Fair.
The “Don’t Panic! We’re from Poland” brand is becoming more
and more recognisable throughout Europe and the world, and the
appearance of Polish bands at Europe’s premier festivals is finally the
norm instead of an anomaly.
Liverpool Sound City, Tomasz
Szpanerski from the band Kamp!
photo: Honorata Mikołajew
076
the Great Escape
Brighton, United
Kingdom,
10 – 12 May 2012
P o l i s h wav e s o n
the English Channel
Polish pop and folk music centre
stage at Brighton’s renowned
festival
The Great Escape festival features artists that are on the verge of
making it big and it is often this very festival that gives them that
extra push towards international stardom. The festival attracts
music industry people from all over the continent as well as the
most discerning audiences. That’s why a good showing at The Great
Escape can be a springboard to the international circuit for up and
coming musicians.
The 2012 edition of The Great Escape saw two Polish acts take
the stage. One of them was Paula & Karol, with their ambitious
alternative folk music (i.e. anti-folk). The band was founded by Karol
Strzemieczny and the Canadian-born Paula Bialski. Today, Paula &
Karol are no longer a duo but a large ensemble with a vast assortment
of instruments. The festival in Brighton was just one stop on their
international tour in support of their latest record “Whole Again”.
The other Polish act at The Great Escape was the vocalist Novika
with her band The Lovefinders. The polish songstress is already
known to fans of electro-pop music all over the world. A track from
her first album was praised by Gilles Peterson, the host of BBC
Radio’s “Worldwide” programme, and appeared on internationallyreleased compilations by Tom Middleton (The Trip 2) and Towa Tei
(Motivation Five). Novika’s latest hit “Lovefinder” is an energetic
cocktail of club rhythms and pop appeal.
The band Paula & Karol, from left:
Krzysztof Pożarowski,
Szymon Najder, Paula Bialski,
Karol Strzemieczny,
Christoph Von Thun
078
the Great Escape
Brighton, United
Kingdom,
10 – 12 May 2012
Bueno Bros
080
Music weekends at
the Golden Gate
Kiev, Ukraine,
1 – 23 June 2012
N e i g h b o u r s
a t t h e G a t e
Polish and Ukrainian music
– from traditional and folk to
avant-garde jazz and electronic –
bellowed from the famous Kiev
landmark
While the Euro 2012 European football championships were under
way, the Golden Gate in Kiev hosted a series of concerts by Polish
and Ukrainian musicians. The choice of venue was not random: the
Golden Gate (constructed in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 20th
century) is a structure that embodies the rich history of Eastern
Europe. The Summit at the Golden Gate series exposed tourists to
ambitious music from both host countries.
The concerts took place on June weekends, each a showcase of
a different genre of music, both Polish and Ukrainian. With the stage
being in the Gate, which looks out onto the street, the music could be
enjoyed by anyone who was interested.
Electric guitar music was the focus of the first weekend concerts.
Poland was represented by the HooDoo Band from Wrocław, with
their cocktail of funk, soul and R&B, as well as The Poise Rite from
Rzeszów, who presented songs from their latest project “Milosz
Hated Rock and Roll”.
From the Ukrainian side, the weekend featured the group Los
Colorados (playing mainly ironic covers of pop songs) and rockers
Gapochka, who took first place at the Ukrainian finals of the Global
Battle of the Bands competition.
The second weekend was dedicated to electronic music.
Poland’s offering came courtesy of An On Bast & Maciej Fortuna
(a collaboration between producer and performer An On Bast with
Maciej Fortuna, who is one of the most highly-regarded and dynamic
jazz musicians of the new generation in Poland). The Ukrainian
performer was Zavoloka, a Kiev-based composer of experimental
electronic music greatly inspired by old Ukrainian culture. The set
design was created by Cinemanual, an artist from Krakow specialising
in analogue visuals for concerts.
VJ CUBE
photo: Sergii Anishchenko
082
Music weekends at
the Golden Gate
Kiev, Ukraine,
1 – 23 June 2012
That same weekend also saw Wrocław’s Karbibo group present their
sound installation which transformed the Golden Gate into a sonic
sculpture.
The third weekend at the Golden Gate featured an assembly of
jazz players. Performing were the Polish fusion outfit Saku Family
alongside Ukrainians Natalia Lebedewa Trio and the Hrychorij
Parszyn Quintet. The jazz weekend also featured the band Mariia
Guraievska Ethno Jazz Synthesis, in which Polish instrumentalists
back the Ukrainian vocalist Mariia Guraievska.
The final instalment of the music series brought classical music
to the Golden Gate. The band Hortus Atrium from Poland and
A cappella Leopolis from Lviv recreated Kiev music from the days of
the Polish Republic and the Hetmanate. Sunday saw a collaborative
performance titled Faktura Rytmu by Krakow’s Amadrums Trio and
Kiev’s Nostri Temporis.
VJ CUBE live
photo: Sergii Anishchenko
Mariia Guraievska
and Ethno Jazz Synthesis in concert
photo: Olena Zoc
Concerts at the Golden Gate
attracted throngs of music lovers
photo: Olena Zoc
A concert by Music4Buildings
photo: Olena Zoc
084
I, CULTURE Orchestra
Orc h e s t r a J o i n s
East and West
The greatest concert halls
of Europe open their doors to
young musicians from Poland
and Eastern Partnership nations
Berliner Philharmonie, Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, Royal
Festival Hall in London, Theatreo Real in Madrid – these premier
venues on Europe’s music map all hosted the I, CULTURE Orchestra
in 2011. The remarkable ensemble was called into being by the Adam
Mickiewicz Institute and is composed of young instrumentalists from
Poland and countries of the Eastern Partnership: Ukraine, Belarus,
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The orchestra also performed for audiences in Gdańsk, Krakow,
Warsaw, Lublin, Kiev and Stockholm. Their repertoire varied
somewhat with each performance yet the programme always
included pieces by Karol Szymanowski.
Outside of its diplomatic, social and educational significance, the I,
CULTURE Orchestra is above all an accomplished musical outfit. The
104 musicians were selected from among hundreds of candidates
and given a unique chance to learn from the best and to perform in
front of the most discerning audiences in Europe.
The artistic
director during the orchestra’s inaugural tour was Paweł Kotla, who
is known for his work with the London Symphony Orchestra. The
first guest conductor was Sir Neville Marriner, with solos performed
by Peter Jablonski (piano) and Arabella Steinbacher (violin). For its
young members, the I, CULTURE Orchestra was a crucible for intense
professional development. The musicians honed their skills and
gained valuable experience on their way to becoming full-fledged
members of the European artistic community.
In 2012, the I, CULTURE Orchestra recruited musicians for a new
season and set off on tour. After a two-week period of workshops
where the musicians were guided by leading members of the world’s
foremost orchestras, the ensemble took the stage in Warsaw, Minsk,
Kiev, Chișinău and Tbilisi.
Ilyich Rivas, conductor of the
I, CULTURE Orchestra 2012
photo: Mark McNulty
086
I,CULTURE Orchestra 2012 in Tbilisi
photo: Konrad Ćwikk
Visual Arts
season 2011/2012 > Visual Arts
090
poland at the
venice biennale
Venice,
2 June – 27 November
2012
A n d E u r o p e
Wa s S t u n n e d…
Polish presentation astounds at
the Venice Biennale
Influential European newspapers such as The Guardian, The
Economist and Frankfurter Algemanie Zeitung considered the Polish
pavilion to be among the most important ones at the 2012 Venice
Biennale. Western European press recognized the Polish presentation
not only for artistic merit but also for its political significance. And
no wonder: Poland worked in collaboration with the Israeli artist Yael
Bartana, who came to Venice with her film trilogy about the fictional
Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland. The trilogy, titled “…And
Europe Will Be Stunned”, left no one cold and visitors had to stand in
line to get into the Polish pavilion.
At first it may seem
surprising that it was
Poland, which bears the
image of a nationalist,
Catholic, and
conservative country,
that nominated an Israeli
artist, but the effect was
stunning
Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Nightmares” is the first film in the series. Sławomir Sierakowski, a
young Polish intellectual playing the role of the JRMiP’s leader, makes
a speech at the almost empty “Dziesięciolecie” Stadium in Warsaw,
calling for Jews to return to Poland. Using the structure and tools
of propaganda movies, Yael Bartana takes up, on the one hand, the
problem of modern anti-Semitism and xenophobia and, on the other,
the nostalgia of Polish intellectuals for the past in which Jews are still
present. She also alludes to the Zionist dream of the return to Israel.
The plot of the second film, “Wall and Tower”, takes place at the site
of the former Warsaw Ghetto. Members of the Movement come to
Warsaw to build a kibbutz, cut off and isolated from the world. They
construct it in one night, as it used to be the case in the 1930s in
Palestine.
The last film, titled “Assassination”, shows the funeral ceremony of
the Movement’s leader killed by an unknown assassin. The viewer
is left in a state of uncertainty regarding the status of the Jewish
Renaissance Movement in Poland: has it been an illusion, an art
project, or a token of a potential future of Poland, Europe, or some
other place on Earth?
“At first it may seem surprising that it was Poland, which bears
the image of a nationalist, Catholic, and conservative country, that
nominated an Israeli artist, but the effect was stunning,” writes
Süddeutsche Zeitung. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung considers the
Polish pavilion to be among the ten most important presentations
at the Biennale. The British press is even more enthusiastic: “An
unexpected political statement is another way to make your mark
in Venice. Nowhere has this been done more effectively than in the
Polish pavilion which has been given over to Yael Bartana,” says The
Economist.
Polish Pavilion at the 54th
International Biennale in Venice
Photo: Ilya Rabinovich courtesy of the
Zachęta National Gallery of Art
092
poland at the
venice biennale
Venice,
2 June – 27 November
2012
The Guardian also focuses on the political impact. Clearly moved,
the reviewer observes that “[t]he whole thing is both real and unreal,
heartfelt and parodic. Perhaps such a movement may now become a
reality. Bartana’s final film ends with the funeral of the assassinated
leader of the movement; there is an implicit critique of Israeli politics,
and of xenophobia and nationalism everywhere.”
The Polish presentation in Venice, organized by the Adam
Mickiewicz Institute and Zachęta Gallery, kick-started Yael Bartana’s
international career. In 2012, her films were shown at the Van
Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in
Humlebaek, the Icon Gallery in Birmingham, and in Berlin, during the
7th Biennale of Modern Art.
An unexpected political
statement is another
way to make your mark
in Venice. Nowhere has
this been done more
effectively than in the
Polish pavilion which has
been given over to Yael
Bartana
The Economist
Yael Bartana’s installation “… And
Europe Will Be Stunned”. Polish
Pavilion at the 54th International
Biennale in Venice. Photo: Ilya
Rabinovich courtesy of the Zachęta
National Gallery of Art
“Making the walls quake...”
A project by Katarzyna Krakowiak
at the Polish Pavilion in Venice
photo: K. Pijarski. The Polish Pavilion
exhibition was organised by the
Zachęta National Gallery of Art
ael Bartana’s installation “… And
Y
Europe Will Be Stunned”.
Polish Pavilion at the 54th
International Biennale in Venice.
Photo: Ilya Rabinovich courtesy of
the Zachęta National Gallery of Art.
More info: www.labiennale.art.pl
094
poland at the paris
triennale
Palais de Tokyo,
20 April – 26 August
2012
A n I n t e n s e ly
Polish Paris
Four Polish artists invited
to the Triennale
at the French capital
Konrad Smoleński’s performance opened the third edition of the
prestigious Paris exhibition. One of the most promising Polish artists
of the young generation, he presented his performance titled “BNNT
Sound Bombing”. Smoleński and his four colleagues shocked Paris by
driving around the city in a truck on which a loud concert was being
staged. At the Triennale, the artist also exhibited his film “Energy
Hunters” (2011).
This year’s edition of La Triennale was dubbed “Intense Proximity”,
and it focused on the problem of movement and on the relation
of human beings to social and private spaces. The shows and
performances were staged mostly in the renovated Palais de Tokyo,
today one of the most important centres for contemporary art in the
world.
Art director Okwui Enwezor invited four Polish artists to La Triennale:
apart from Konrad Smoleński, there were Ewa Partum, Teresa
Tyszkiewicz and Aneta Grzeszczykowska. Ewa Partum, one of the
pioneers of feminist art, showed her “Self-identification” series of
photo-montages from 1980. The artist had pasted her own nude
portraits into Warsaw cityscapes. She creates an illusion that she is
wandering around naked in the crowd of grey, tired people. Her figure
walks down the main city streets, crosses them, and stands in a line
in front of a grocery store. In the most famous of the collages, the
artist is standing next to a policewoman directing traffic.
Teresa Tyszkiewicz, who has been working in Paris since the 1980’s,
showed two 1980 films at the Triennale, both working with the
atmosphere of intimacy and privacy: “Day after Day”, filmed at the
artist’s Warsaw apartment with her husband-filmmaker Zdzisław
Sosnowski, and “Grain”, showing Tyszkiewicz’s family home in
Ciechanów.
Aneta Grzeszczykowska also works with film. At the Palais de Tokyo,
she exhibited, among other pieces, “Headache”, in which the artist’s
body seems to be fragmented, with each of the fragments—the arms,
the legs, the head, the corpus—wandering chaotically on a black
background.
The Polish presentation was well received by both critics and the
audience.
BNNT is an audio-performative
project by Konrad Smoleński,
with Daniel Szwed on drums.
In the project, the artists place
equal importance on the sound and
the visual form of the performance.
The project was presented
at La Triennale in Paris.
Photo: Konrad Smoleński promotional
material
096
2012 Berlin Biennale
Berlin,
27 April – 1 July 2012
a c t i o n
o v e r o b j e c t
With his revolutionary approach,
Artur Żmijewski changed the
character of the Berlin Biennale
Berlin will never be the same after the 2012 Biennale of Contemporary
Art. Not only because the city witnessed a heated discussion on the
social role of art but also literally, because of the 320 birch seedlings
brought to the German capital from the forest neighbouring the
Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Some of the trees were planted in front
of the Kunst Werke gallery, others were offered to the visitors with
a certificate of origin and instructions on how to grow them. These
birches from the site of the Shoah will take root in the fabric of the
city, making it more beautiful, but also reminding it of the Holocaust.
The transplanting of the birches, or the Berlin-Birkenau project by
the Polish artist Łukasz Surowiec, is an excellent example of the
approach to art which dominated the 7th Berlin Biennale in 2012.
Artur Żmijewski, chosen as the curator of the Biennale, decided
to depart from the model which focuses on artwork as an object
and decoration. Instead, he showed art based on discussion, on the
struggle with current problems, art which does not safely reside in
protected museum spaces but reaches out into the public sphere and
comments on matters of social importance.
According to Żmijewski, all art has a social and political context. The
Polish curator took it as his goal to uncover that context, to unearth
it from beneath the artworks. Together with co-curator Joanna
Warsza and the Russian group Voina, Żmijewski invited artists
who work along the same lines. Here are several examples. Paweł
Althamer’s “Draftsmen’s Congress” is a project open to the audience.
International figures from the world of art (artists, professors and
students of fine arts) and of other professions in which drawing
is a central element (architects, engineers, designers), as well as
amateurs and other interested persons, communicated in complete
silence with drawing as the sole form of expression. A society was
created in real time, whose main cementing element was art.
Yael Bartana, whose film trilogy “...And Europe Will Be Stunned”
created a fictional Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland, decided
on a radical move: during the Berlin Biennale she organized a JRMiP
convention which made it into a real movement. Its first congress took
place at HAU1, one of the stages of the Hebbel am Ufer theatre in
Berlin. Three questions were posed during the session: “How should
Europe change to revitalize the Jewish community?”, “How should
Poland change?” and “How should Israel change?”
“Draftsmen’s Congress” initiated
by Paweł Althamer. St. Elizabeth
Church, 7th Berlin Biennale for
Contemporary Art
098
2012 Berlin Biennale
Berlin,
27 April – 1 July 2012
The sculptor Mirosław Kazimierz Patecki created a replica of the
head of the Christ sculpture from Świebodzin. This work of art has
changed the life of Świebodzin’s inhabitants: every year around
60,000 visitors and pilgrims are drawn to the town, bolstering the
poor region’s economic development. The Świebodzin figure of Christ
is the source of a small economic miracle. The Biennale installation
consisted of a 1:1 replica of the head (Mirosław Kazimierz Patecki
created it on the spot, during the Biennale), a model of the original
figure, a photograph of the Świebodzin sculpture, and a documentary
about its construction.
“Draftsmen’s Congress” initiated
by Paweł Althamer. St. Elizabeth
Church, 7th Berlin Biennale for
Contemporary Art
“ Berlin-Birkenau” by Łukasz
Surowiec. KW Institute for
Contemporary Art,
7th Berlin Biennale for
Contemporary Art,
27 April – 1 July, 2012
100
Must Have from
Poland exhibition
at the Milan Design
Fair
Milan,
17 – 22 April 2012
Designers on
the Offensive
25 Polish projects were a success
in Italy
The show featured Polish design products selected in the “must
have” competition by a group of experts. From among 150 nominated
objects the group selected the most interesting and most innovative
ones. They were products of both large companies and small family
businesses. They ranged from cardboard playhouses for children to
home appliances, from organic cosmetics to books. The selection
was determined by such qualities as: functionality, ergonomics,
quality and aesthetics.
The collection had been shown first at the Łódź Design Festival,
where it garnered enthusiastic reviews. The Adam Mickiewicz
Institute supported its presentation at the Design Fair in Milan, the
largest and most prestigious show of this type in Europe. 25 out of the
42 products shown in Łódź made the trip to Italy.
The collection “Must Have from Poland” was shown at the part of
the Milan Fair known as “Ventura Lambrate”, whose curator is the
Dutch Organisation in Design. The Polish products met with great
interest and led to commercial contracts. Viewing the exhibition was
facilitated by a special guide published for the occasion, which may
also serve as an excellent introduction to the best of Polish design.
“Must Have from Poland”,
Milan 2012
photo: Łukasz Piernikowski
102
Must Have from
Poland exhibition
at the Milan Design
Fair
Milan,
17 – 22 April 2012
104
Frieze Art Fair
New York City,
4 – 7 May 2012
A C r u i s e Towa r d
a B e t t e rL i f e
Polish artists travelled across
the Atlantic on a container ship,
making a film which brought
them immediate success
in New York
Already in the first hour of the Frieze Art Fair in New York, the famous
art collector Joseph M. Cohen bought the work by the two young
artists Radek Szlaga and Honza Zamojski. The piece, exhibited at
the fair by the Polish Leto Gallery, resembles a cabin, with a bunk
bed surrounded by a mass of drawings, maps and the ship’s logbook.
The character of the whole work is somewhat chaotic, unstable, and
thus effectively conveys the spirit of travel across the ocean. The key
element of this work of art is the film the artists made while travelling
to New York.
In “Transatlantyk”, the young artists allude to the experiences of old
immigrants who crossed the ocean in search of a better life. Radek
Szlaga and Honza Zamojski are aware of the associations such
travel by ship must call up in the age of cheap flights. Therefore they
describe their journey with a good deal of irony: “MV Commander
consumed 80,000 litres of oil daily. We travelled 5,500 kilometres,
3,000 nautical miles, 3,500 miles. I saw 4 dolphins, 1 whale, 1 orca,
1 moth, and a dozen or so birds of all kinds: seagulls, frigate birds,
and pigeons. I haven’t spotted a single fish, nor a single cephalopod,”
notes Honza Zamojski in his logbook.
Radek Szlaga, Honza Zamojski –
“Transatlantyk”, Frieze Art Fair,
New York 2012
photo: Honza Zamojskii
An invitation to “Transatlantyk” by
Radek Szlaga and Honza Zamojski,
Frieze Art Fair, New York 2012
photo: Honza Zamojski
106
Anna Molska’s
exhibition at
tate modern
London,
25 May – 14 October
2012
T h e D e v i l i n
the Hothouse
The Polish artist shows her works
at the famous Tate Modern
Gallery
The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw was invited to collaborate with
the Tate Modern Gallery in London. The effect was the London exhibition
of Anna Molska under the title Stage and Twist. The Adam Mickiewicz
Institute was the co-organizer of the exhibition. Molska, an artist who is
under thirty, exhibited her video play which alludes to the Russian and
Soviet avant-garde from the beginning of the 20th century. In the film
“Tanagram”, she shows a pair of young, muscular men, who assemble
Kazimir Malevich’s “Black Square” on a white floor. Russian folk music
and a song performed by the Alexandrov Ensemble accompany the
actions of the protagonists.
Two parallel-screened films, “W=F*s (Work)” and “P=W:t (Power)”,
show images apparently disconnected from each other. “Power” shows
an invasion of hundreds of tennis balls. Painted white, they are propelled
by an invisible force and smashed against the walls of the court. The
other film, “Work”, shows workers constructing a scaffolding in order
to stand on its three tiers in the final sequence. The film alludes to
human sculptures known from the bombastic, totalitarian ceremonies
photographed, among others, by Alexander Rodchenko (“The Male
Pyramid”).
Molska’s newest film, “The Hecatomb”, also shown at Tate Modern,
alludes to folk tradition. A young, smartly dressed young man, locked
in a hothouse, performs nervous acrobatics on a concrete floor and an
inflatable mattress. He is the devil the village women are talking about
among themselves.
Apart from Molska, the Romanian artist Ciprian Mureşan exhibited his
work at the Stage and Twist exhibition. Among his works was the video
“4’33”, a tribute to the American composer John Cage. Mureşan filmed
a deserted Romanian tractor factory shut down after 1989 as a result of
failed privatization. For 4 minutes and 33 seconds the eye of the camera
wanders around the abandoned industrial wasteland.
As curator Magda Lipska observes, “The language of these works is
inspiring. It is a conscious language of contestation, which alludes to
the tradition of avant-garde art, but also to specific historical events,
especially from the period of transformation. The artists address these
events with a good deal of distance and a sense of humour.”
The event inaugurated a new space at the Tate Modern Gallery called
the Project Space, which will be used to exhibit the work of artists from
around the world. The Warsaw Museum of Modern Art was the first
institution invited to participate in the project.
The exhibition Stage and Twist,
2012 Tate Modern
photo: Tate Photography © the artistss
P u b l i c at i o n s
season 2011/2012 > Publications
110
Andrzej Panufnik
Between emotions
and intellect
Panufnik on Disc
and on Paper
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute
and Boosey & Hawkes
launch a new series on Polish
composers
The publication on Andrzej Panufnik contains an essay titled
“Between Emotions And Intellect”, a documentary film on DVD, “Dad
from behind the Iron Curtain”, and a CD with the composer’s work
and a recording of the essay. Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska is the
author of the text and Krzysztof Rzączyński directed the film.
The publication was issued in collaboration with the British music
publisher Boosey & Hawkes and is distributed by that company. The
Institute and Boosey & Hawkes plan to release other publications
presenting the most important composers of Polish contemporary
music.
111
Witold lutosławski
Lutosławski with
the BBC Orchestra
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute
and Chandos Records are
releasing a series of recordings of
works by Witold Lutosławski
This is the second part of the “Polish Music” series produced
by Chandos Records in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute. The record will make the best works by the Polish composer
available to the international audience, especially the compositions
created after 1960, such as Paroles tissées, Les Espaces du sommeil
and Chantefleurs et Chantefables. The BBC Symphony Orchestra
was led by Edward Gardner, the music director of the English National
Opera.
Chandos Records has been active on the British and international
music market since 1979. The company is a pioneer in producing
music series and is highly valued within the field, receiving several
awards from the prestigious Gramophone magazine
112
Speak the Culture:
Poland
P o l a n d f o r
B e g i n n e r s
From Mikołaj Rej to Inka coffee,
from Zakopane design to the
Solidarity logo
Speak the Culture: Poland is the fifth book from the well-known and
liked Thorogood series, which presents in a synthetic, clear and
accessible manner the culture, both high- and low-brow, of various
countries. Thus far, there were volumes on Italy, Great Britain, Spain
and France. The Polish volume is 240 pages long and presents figures,
events, masterpieces and symbols key to our culture. The book was
edited by the well-known author of guides Andrew Whitaker.
113
Print Control No. 1,
Bożena
Kowalkowska
and Magdalena
Heliasz
P r i n t e d
M a s t e rp i e c e s
This book demonstrates the
world-class quality of Polish
design today
Since 2010 the web page www.printcontrol.pl presents the most
interesting Polish printed design. Print Control No. 1 is an album
based on that page. The book presents the best projects of 2011 (the
publication is planned as a series and is to appear annually). The
first part of the album is the presentation of one hundred projects:
posters, books, gadgets, and so-called visual identification materials.
The second part consists of interviews with Polish designers and
specialists in the field of printed forms. Four publications copublished by the Institute received special mention in the book:
“Welcome Home”, “Out of the Ordinary”, “Bałka/Fragment” and
“Fossils and Gardens”.
The book was published in Polish and in English and is available in art
bookstores around the world.
About us
season 2011/2012 > About us
116
Culture.pl
Superbrands
Warsaw,
25 may 2012
a m i c u lt u r e
a
w
a
r
d
Culture.pl Superbrands for the
Strongest Brands in the Field of
Culture
The Culture.pl Superbrands award granted by the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute in collaboration with Superbrands for active dissemination
of Polish culture abroad was presented for the first time this year. The
winners were Krzysztof Warlikowski and Grzegorz Jarzyna.
The awards gala of the 6th edition of Superbrands Poland took place
in the Sheraton hotel on 25 May 2012. The statuettes were presented
to the representatives of the strongest Polish business brands and
distinguished persons who contribute to nation branding in Poland
and abroad.
The awards committee justified its selections in the following
manner:
Grzegorz Jarzyna, Executive and Art Director of TR Warszawa theatre
is awarded for his excellent theatre productions, for exceptional talent
and courage in balancing transgressive subjects with formal beauty
and harmony, and for the strongest intuition among Polish artists in
interpreting the reality of our times and the nature of contemporary
human beings.
Krzysztof Warlikowski, Art Director of the Nowy Theatre in Warsaw,
for courage in explorations and introducing new subjects and new
aesthetic solutions in theatre, for breaking taboos in Polish reality
and for taking theatre discourse to the level of universal discussion
about the human condition in the 21st century.
The Culture.pl Superbrands was established by the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute in collaboration with The Superbrands Ltd., for persons and
institutions of culture which most effectively support the presence
of Polish culture abroad. The nominations were made by experts
at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and directors of the Institutes of
Polish Culture, and the winner was selected by the members of the
awards committee: Piotr Bratkowski (Newsweek), Piotr Mucharski
(Tygodnik Powszechny), Zdzisław Pietrasik (Polityka), Marta
Strzelecka (Wprost), Jacek Tomczuk (Przekrój), and the director of
the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Paweł Potoroczyn.
The Superbrands Ltd. is an international organization rewarding the
success of brands which achieve the strongest position in their line
of business. This year’s laureates were selected with the votes of
the members of the Brand Council: 38 leading Polish experts in the
field of branding, marketing and advertising, and a group of 2700
individuals who participated in a consumer study.
Culture.pl Superbrands awards
ceremony, from left:
Paweł Potoroczyn, Grzegorz
Jarzyna and Krzysztof Warlikowski
118
ISO 9001:2008
certification
T h e H i g h e s t
Q u a l i t y
As of 27 February 2012, we
can verify the quality of our
activity with the ISO 9001:2008
certification
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is continuously increasing its efficacy,
standards and creativity. As of 27 February 2012, we can verify the
quality of our activity with the ISO 9001:2008 certification. The
Institute employs a Quality Policy, which states that “The cardinal
goal of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute is to authenticate Poland as
an irreplaceable link in the international exchange of ideas, values
and products of culture of the highest calibre as well as to provide
high quality service by ensuring professional and friendly assistance
to our Partners while continuously improving this process according
to the needs and modifications signalled by our Partners.” All of the
processes taking place within the organisation have been codified
in the Institute’s ledger of quality and catalogue of values, which we
regularly consult in our day to day operations.
119
xpertis
X p e r t i s
f o r e xp e r t s
The introduction of the system
occurred to be a key element to
the success of an undertaking
as immense as the International
Cultural Programme of the Polish
E.U. Presidency
In our effort to make use of advances taking place in management
tools, since 2009 the Adam Mickiewicz Institute has been utilising the
XPERTIS information technology system developed by Macrologic.
The introduction of the system occurred to be a key element to the
success of an undertaking as immense as the International Cultural
Programme of the Polish E.U. Presidency, which comprised 400
events. The project management module allows complete control
of the entire process from the idea stage to the project’s final
evaluation. It supports teams with compound goals by creating
schedules and delegating tasks according to the needs of the project.
Other functions track document circulation, manage fund disbursal
over time and assign documents to their corresponding projects,
enabling rational planning and saving valuable time for the staff
and managers. XPERTIS also enables the Institute to keep detailed
and thorough knowledge bases. The ability to utilise text templates
and to source various types of documents easily means significantly
improved access to information. Another important element of the
system is the integrated and continuously updated base of contact
information.
120
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SERVICES
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DATA
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STEERING
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R
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MANAGEMENT
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pr o j e c t
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AND RESIDENCY
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122
2 0 1 1 / 2 0 1 2
b u d g e t
49 493 325.03 zł
The 2011/2012 season
included
the following
projects:
Fossils and Gardens
My Father Is Not A Bird – stage production
Republic – Young Polish design
Stanisław Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor at the Chişinău National Opera
The Power of Fantasy. Modern and Contemporary Polish Art
Festival of Polish Film in Spain
Czesław Miłosz audio book
Series of Polish symphony concerts at the BOZAR in Brussels
Polish Film Days in Ukraine
Chinese Culture Days 2011
Polish days during ISOLA DEL CINEMA in Rome
Polish day at the 2011 Tokyo Jazz Festival
European concert tour by the bands Times From Cebula and Riverside
Venezia di Miłosz literature festival
Musica Electronica Nova festival
Polish Music Festival in Moscow
filmPOLSKA in Berlin
Fokus Polonia at the International Theater Festival in Santiago de Chile
Guide to the Poles
Józef Robakowski solo exhibition at the Ludlow 38 gallery in New York City
Concert performances of King Roger at the Kiev Opera
Szymanowski Quartet concerts in China and Tokyo
Concerts by Polish bands at the Culture Collide Festival
39 921 442.34 zł
Polish stall at the WOMEX World Music Expo
Polish design at Matadero Madrid
Baroque nights in Varaždin– concerts by the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra
Exhibition of Polish painting at the Polish Library in Paris
Poster exhibition in Moscow
I, CULTURE Puzzle
Side by Side exhibition in Berlin
Wilhelm Sasnal exhibition in London
Exhibition of photos from 3 pillars of the I, CULTURE programme on the fences of Łazienki Park and the
Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw
Exploratory Music from Poland
East European Performing Arts Platform
Concerts by the Royal String Quartet
Music Weekends at the Golden Gate in Kiev
Must have exhibition at Milan Design Week
Transatlantyk at Frieze NY
Anna Molska and Cyprian Muresan exhibition at Tate Modern
Art Cologne
Coming soon
Laboured Memory
Chorus of Women
I, Culture
Promotion of Polish culture abroad
published by
Adam Mickiewicz Institute
ul. Mokotowska 25
00-560 Warsaw, Poland
www.iam.pl; www.culture.pl
edited by
Łukasz Kaniewski
design by
Mateusz Kaniewski
translated by
Simon Włoch
english text proofread by
Alan Lockwood
produced by
Agata Wolska
ISBN 978-83-60263-18-3

Publication

Transcription

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