Presidency Cultural Programme in Kraków
4th “Divine Comedy” International Theatre Festival
December 2011
The Divine Comedy festival is not just a competition, but also an opportunity to see the top shows by young Polish directors and the chance to compare opinions of Polish theatre with critics from all over Europe. The selection of productions is made by the most prominent Polish critics, journalists, and reviewers, while the decision on who walks away with the figurine of the Divine Comedian is made by an independent international jury. The festival is divided into three blocks. In the Inferno section – the contest for the best Polish productions of the previous season – the maestros of Polish theatre and their students compete for the award. Paradiso is the section of the festival devoted to the work of young, but already acclaimed, directors. The Purgatorio block includes accompanying events. It should be emphasised that this year the festival has changed its formula – traditionally the competition section and culmination of accompanying events fall in December, while the international section takes place all year round – every month excluding the summer holidays.
Organiser: Krakow Festival Office
Opera Rara: A. Vivaldi – L’Oracolo in Messenia
8 December 2011
December’s performance in the Opera Rara cycle perfectly achieves the goals set by originator Filip Berkowicz when he began the project in 2009 – to present above all works which are rarely played or which have been restored to the repertoire after centuries of absence in concert halls. This will be the world première of the opera written by Antonio Vivaldi in the last years of his life, published just after his death and then lost for a very long time. Its reconstruction was conducted by Fabio Biondi, the artistic director and founder of Europa Galante, and he also will also lead his ensemble during the concert in Kraków. The soloists include Maria Grazia Schiavo, Ann Hallenberg, and Romina Basso.
Organiser: Krakow Festival Office
Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival
18-24 November 2011
Etiuda&Anima, the oldest and indubitably the most important Polish festival presenting the full spectrum of world animation, once again arrives in Kraków. Remember, this is where Saša Gedeon, the creator of Return of the Idiot, Florian Gallenberger, winner of an Oscar for Quiero Ser, Julia Loktev, creator of the harrowing personal documentary Moment of Impact, and Marcin Wrona, one of the most talented young artists, all took their first steps. It is here that the youngsters learn from the best and meet their first audience. The festival has contributed significantly to the growing popularity of animation in Poland; it has resulted in the emergence of many cultural events to promote this film art, with Łódź’s Reanimacja and Poznań’s Animator at the forefront. Since the festival’s inception, the competitions – the main purpose of the event – have been surrounded by a rich garland of accompanying events. These provide an opportunity to meet world-class animation artists and the most interesting occurrences in field.
Organiser: Rotunda Association
www.etiudaandanima.com
15th Kraków Book Fair
3-6 November 2011
The Fair is not only an opportunity to purchase new books, but also to meet well-known poets, writers and columnists. Poland’s largest book fair presents hundreds of exhibitors from across Poland, and there are also countless cultural events: lectures, presentations, talks, workshops, concerts and exhibitions. As usual, the attractions will also include many competitions and games for kids. Once again, the author of the best humanist title will be awarded the Jan Długosz Prize. This year, the Fair will be celebrating its 15th anniversary. An additional impetus for development is the third Conrad Festival – thanks to the collaboration between both events Kraków hosts thousands of book-lovers every year.
Organiser: Targi w Krakowie Sp. z o.o.
www.targi.krakow.pl
3rd Conrad Festival
2-6 November 2011
Early November is Kraków’s multi-day festival of literature: the Conrad Festival. The festival’s guests represent a variety of cultures, nations, professions and generations. Novelists, poets and journalists, literary scholars and directors from around the world will be discussing literature. It is a multicoloured artistic mosaic, illustrating the riches of world literature, exposing readers to little known areas of thought and sensitivity. And what’s happening this year? We already know that Kraków will be hosting Roberto Calasso, David Grossman, Eva Hoffman, Michel Houellebecq, Alberto Manguel, Janusz Rudnicki and Maciej Zaremba. During the festival, there will also be an exhibition of Robert Walser’s micrograms and a discussion of his work. Since the first festival, the schedule and many of its thematic threads have been related to the Kraków Book Fair. It’s worth reminding, why it is the author of Heart of Darkness, who lends his name to the festival. Remember that it was from Kraków that the young Józef Korzeniowski left in 1873 for his sea voyage; years later he returns to the city of his youth as a patron of world literature.
Organisers: Krakow Festival Office, the Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation
www.conradfestival.pl
Exhibition: Hunting Down the Modernism. Persecuted Arts in the Third Reich
19 October 2011 – 29 January 2012
The fate of artists in Hitler’s 3rd Reich is the subject of an exhibition to be presented by the International Cultural Centre in Kraków in October.
One of the Nazi Party’s first decisions upon taking power in Germany in 1933 was the creation of the Reich Ministry for Popular Education and Propaganda under the direction of Joseph Goebbels. He soon established a Reich Chamber of Culture, which took control over all areas of cultural life. All manifestations of the avant-garde were regarded as degenerate – be it Dadaism, Cubism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Impressionism or Surrealism. Supported by Nazi ideologues, he enjoyed simple realism and a brutalised classicism. Formally improper works of art were removed from art galleries and destroyed. Many eminent artists chose exile.
The exhibition will include artists, writers, composers persecuted by the Nazi persecution, such as Emil Nolde, Max Ernst, George Grosz, Otto Freundlich, Hans Arp, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Else Laser-Schüler, Georg Meistermann, and Ewald Mataré. The organisers also recall the Polish artists, who in 1939 found themselves under the thumb of the Nazi’s “cultural policy”.
International Cultural Centre Gallery
Co-organiser: Der Landschaftsverband Rheinland
www.mck.krakow.pl
Unsound Festival
8-16 October 2011
The Unsound Festival has earned its reputation as one of the most challenging and iconoclastic musical events in Europe. In addition to leading artists on the European electronics scene, there are also musicians operating on the boundaries of different genres. The result is to go beyond the norms of modern electronics; a blend of surprising connections and innovative musical sounds. The musical events are accompanied by presentations and video installations. The leitmotif of this year’s Unsound is Future Shock – the title of Alvin Toffler’s book of 1970. Concerts, film screenings, discussions and installations refer to Toffler’s main ideas on living in a postindustrial society, and suffering from stress and confusion owing to information overload. After organising festivals in Prague, Warsaw, Bratislava, Kiev and Minsk, the organisers directed their activities towards New York – since 2010 the autumn event in Kraków has been preceded by the American version of the festival.It’s worth noting that Unsound doesn’t just include strictly musical events – the concerts are accompanied by discussion panels, meetings, lectures and presentations with the participation of artists, representatives of the media, curators and patrons of culture. It is especially important this year because of the festival’s connections with Kraków’s first IETM convention. The conference will feature meetings and presentations by the ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound) network, gathering organisations connected with the progressive music circles and related visual arts (Unsound is one of the founder members).
Organiser: TONE Foundation – Music and New Art Forms
www.unsound.pl
Opera Rara: G.F. Handel – Alcina
7 October 2011
The libretto’s author, now forgotten, based it on storylines from Ariosto’s poem, Orlando furioso. Spells, battle scenes, group scenes with choir and ballet, complicated stage effects, unexpected scenery changes, and multi-levelled love intrigues – the entire repertoire of baroque opera tricks is used to attract the audience’s attention. Kraków’s performance of Alcina will be directed by the outstanding conductor and founder of the famous orchestra Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, Marc Minkowski. The Opera Rara cycle itself, launched in 2009, is a bold project to present ambitious productions of shining triumphs from the stages of major opera houses and festivals in Italy, France, Britain or Germany in Kraków. In its first year Opera Rara was named “delight and festival debut of the year” by the daily “Rzeczpospolita” and “most interesting musical event” (with the Misteria Paschalia and Sacrum Profanum festivals) in the “Polityka” current affairs weekly ranking.
Organiser: Krakow Festival Office
www.operarara.pl
36th Kraków Theatrical Reminiscences
6-12 October 2011
The festival, which traditionally takes place in April, has been moved to the autumn – this year’s Kraków Theatrical Reminiscences (KRT) is accompanying the meeting of the international IETM network. Aside from presenting the most interesting events in Polish theatre, the festival will also feature artists from the countries in the Eastern Partnership (Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) and Russia, and theatres from Germany – North Rhine-Westphalia – will be appearing, too. During the festival there will be workshops for “Festival Lab” participants – an informal network of eight European Theatre Festivals in Transition of which KRT is a member. It is aimed at young curators and theatrical producers from all over Europe – tomorrow’s directors of international festivals. KRT, aside from its reputation as one of the oldest stage reviews in Poland, also deserves to be called the most innovative journey through the theatrical world. The review remains a springboard for productions presented in Polish theatres – it reflects current trends in youth culture, is open to all forms of creative expression, and festival activities attempt to measure up to new texts, themes, and conventions.
Organiser: Rotunda Association
www.krt-festival.pl
IETM Plenary Meeting
6-9 October 2011
Formed in 1981, IETM (Informal European Theatre Meetings) is an international network of theatre organisations. IETM works in a number of areas of contemporary art – theatre, dance, music, and inter-disciplinary forms, such as performance, installation, and film. Its members meet twice a year to exchange information and set up collaborations. The plenary meeting of the IETM consists of discussions, conferences, and performances from a given country. Poland is hosting the event for the first time. October’s meeting of the IETM is not only the organisation’s first congress in Poland, but also its 30th anniversary, and is a great opportunity to set its goals for the near future.
This year’s meeting takes place under the slogan “party”, in a variety of senses – as celebration (of its 30th anniversary), the party (referring to political and economic life), as well as participation (an attempt to create a single voice in social dialogue). The IETM anniversary meeting is accompanied by the 36th meeting of Kraków Theatrical Reminiscences.
Organiser: Krakow Festival Office
www.ietm.org
Turner and the Elements
2 October 2011 – 8 January 2012
The works of William Turner (1775-1851) from the Tate Britain’s collection rarely leave the United Kingdom. From October, a selection of works by this “Paganini of the palette” will be on view in Kraków.
One of the greatest British landscapers is known as the “Painter of the Elements”. For centuries, people have delighted in the grand spectacle of Nature – sunrises and sunsets, the colours of the sea in different weathers, atmospheric and lighting phenomena, but none before Turner attempted to show them in painting and none after him has been able to give it such suggestive artistic expression. The paintings of this artist and visionary were created in the studio, it’s true, but were the result of very careful observations of nature.
The exhibition, presented earlier in the Bucerius Kunst Forum in Hamburg, shows how Turner’s painting technique, which blurred the boundaries between the elements, had a close relationship with the scientific discoveries of his time. Around 70 watercolours and a number of oil paintings from the Tate Gallery and the British and American collections have been divided into groups – “Fire”, “Water”, “Air”, “Earth” and “Fusion of the Elements”. In January 2012, the exhibition will travel to the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate.
Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow
9th Sacrum Profanum Festival
11-17 September 2011
This festival presents music of the twentieth century and has gained the status of one of the most interesting musical events in Europe. Its rank brings the participation of the greatest contemporary music ensembles including Theatre of Voices, Asko|Schönberg, London Sinfonietta, and musikFabrik. Sacrum Profanum also combines classical music with other genres, hence the presence at the festival of top Polish jazz artists (Tomasz Stańko, Leszek Możdżer), or stars like Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk and Jónsi. This year the festival will run under the banner of American minimalism. It is also the year of Steve Reich’s 75th birthday, and this composer will be appearing in Kraków with guitarist Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), Adrian Utley (Portishead), Aphex Twin, Leszek Możdżer, Tom Verlaine (Television), Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) and Envee. The programme consists of four projects: Modern Classic, presenting the music of Steve Reich and his friends (John Adams, Terry Riley, David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon); Made in Poland – Miłosz Sounds, presenting new works by six young Polish composers inspired by the work of the great poet and performed by leading contemporary music ensembles (incl. Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Alarm Will Sound, and the Bang On a Can All-Stars); Debuts, dedicated to new groups; and Freak.
Organiser: Krakow Festival Office
www.sacrumprofanum.com
The Crossroads Festival of Traditional Music
24-31 July 2011
The end of July marks the time for truly ethnic sounds in Kraków! The Crossroads Festival of Traditional Music is one of the most important world music festivals in Poland and Eastern Europe. The event recalls the old territorial and cultural unity of Galicia, a true melting pot – many peoples and nationalities lived here and continue to live here, including Poles, Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Lemkos, Boykos, Roma, and Jews. At the Crossroads – at outdoor and chamber concerts and music workshops – we’ve seen artists from the Polish and world music, ethno jazz and ethno scenes, like the Dhafer Youssef Quartet, the Twinkle Brothers, Gheorghe Zamfir with Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Gypsy Queens & Kings, Esma Redžepova, The Cracow Klezmer Band, Bester Quartet, Jan Karpiel, Jorgos Skolias, Kroke, and Warsaw Village Band.
Organiser: At the Confluence of Cultures and Traditions Rozstaje Association
www.rozstaje.pl
7th Festival of Polish Music
15-24 July 2011
An exceptional event, and the only one to promote works created in Poland on such a wide scale – it presents not only the most famous compositions, but also forgotten pieces (frequently in the form of historical premieres) and new works commissioned especially for the festival. However, the performers – including renowned ensembles, soloists and conductors – come from all over the world. Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki could be found here many times in the past. The programme includes solo, chamber, choral, symphonic, and ballet concerts, as well as opera and multimedia shows presenting Polish music from mediaeval to modern times.
It’s worth stressing that until now the festival has taken place in late autumn – but from 2011 Polish music will be sounding in the summer, in July. During this year’s festival, extraordinary performers (including the Kronos Quartet and the finalists of the most recent Chopin competition, François Dumont, Paweł Wakarecy and Nikolay Khozyainov) will play Chopin’s preludes, nocturnes, mazurkas and waltzes; you’ll also be able to hear splendid performances of works by Ignacy Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, Juliusz Zarębski and Cezary Duchnowski. One important festival event will certainly be the Polish premiere of Missa in F for 4 soloists, choir and piano by Józef Poniatowski (his opera, Pierre de Medicis, is also being performed).
Organiser: The Association of Polish Music
www.fmp.org.pl
International Street Theatre Festival – Ulica/24 Street Art
7-10 July 2011
Organised by KTO Theatre since 1988, the International Street Theatre Festival in Kraków is a meeting place for different traditions, trends and currents in contemporary theatre. The event strives to penetrate the urban space, enter the daily lives of the locals, and draw the attention of not only enthusiasts of Melpomene, but ordinary passers-by – to interest, captivate, and entice them.
Nowhere else will you find such an original cultural and stylistic blend, such range from the avant-garde art to the circus, such strong interaction with the audience. This is one of the few opportunities to see groups who are famous for their improvisation, and who intrigue and provoke with their original forms of communication. The theatre presentations take place in the Main Market Square, the Small Market Square and Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Square. Dozens of outdoor performances from all over the world will be presented over just a few days.
The theme of this year’s festival is Eastern Wind – theatres have been invited from Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Russia) and from Israel; viewers will also be able to see presentations by theatres from other parts of the world, including Spain, the Netherlands and France.
Organiser: KTO Theatre
www.teatrkto.pl
Happening Against Communism by the Orange Alternative
19 June – 2 October 2011
According to the founders of the Orange Alternative, which poked fun at the absurdities of the People’s Republic in the 1980s, it was the dwarves who defeated Communism. How much truth there is in this view can be seen at an exhibition at the International Cultural Centre in Kraków.
The movement, whose symbol became the dwarf, was launched in Wrocław during the student strikes in 1981, by the charismatic “Major” Waldemar Fydrych. Because of him, after the imposition of martial law (13 December 1981), dwarves emerged on walls all over Poland on the patches where the authorities had painted over political graffiti. The Orange Alternative mainly owes its fame to the happenings organised on the streets of Polish cities in the second half of the 80s. The organisers used the conventions of Surrealism and Dada – the events laid bare the absurdities of Communism and poked fun at those with power. In the grim reality, they brought freshness, were therapeutic, and taught people to distance themselves from the system.
The orange colour of hope returned in 2004 in Ukraine. The Orange Alternative organised a series of happenings Kiev-Warsaw – A Common Battle to back the supporters of Viktor Yushchenko. In 2005, in the European Parliament, there was an exhibition devoted to the movement.
International Cultural Centre Gallery
The Treasures of the Spanish Crown
13 July – 9 October 2011
Europe’s open borders are about more than migrating in search of better living conditions; they are also an opportunity for inspiring cultural exchanges.
The best Polish works of art from the late Middle Ages to the late eighteenth century have been on display at an exhibition from 1 June at the Royal Palace in Madrid. It was prepared by the National Museum in Krakow. In return, the treasures of the Spanish Crown are coming to Kraków in July. One hundred masterpieces from the years 1470-1870 have been lent by the Patrimonio Nacional de España – the institution charged with managing the possessions of the Spanish Royal Court. These are top-class artistic antiques which provide a brief guide to the history of the royal collection. There’ll be paintings by El Greco, Veronese, Titian, Tintoretto, Zurbarán, Ribera, Morales, Velázquez, and Goya, among others. For Poles, of particular interest are the portraits of the future Polish King Vladislaus IV Vasa and his sister Anna Maria Vasa, painted by Marcin Kober, court painter of Polish monarchs in the second half of the 16th century. The paintings are complemented by arts and crafts, silver, armour, porcelain, glass and furniture.
Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow