12th Festival - BONDS OF CULTURE
7th - 9th JULY, 2011
EVENTS
TEATRO DI CAPUA (RUSSIA)
Surprising, avant-garde theatrical interpretation of the famous "tango-opera" by Astor Piazzola, made by one of the most important groups of contemporary Russian alternative stage. Their production "Maria de Buenos Aires", featuring Argentine singer Gabriela Bergallo, described as "engineering tango-mystery play", won in 2010 the Total Theater Awards: Best Physical and Visual Production and Theater Matters Awards: Best Production of the International Festival of Arts in Edinburgh.
DO THEATER (RUSSIA/GERMANY)
DO is one of the most important experimental Russian theatres of innovative style combining extreme physical theatre and dance theatre. Their production titled "Hangman" is a kind of perverse game played both with the audience and with one another, by three symbolic stage figures of the reprobate: Blind, Deaf and Mute. What is at stake is to be a victim, or an executioner. The puzzle leads us through variety of situations: from murder, through trial, to judgment and public execution - the perspective is being reversed many times. The production combines naivety of farce with brilliant black Oberiu humor. The First Fringe Award in Edinburgh in 2007.
KATHAKALI THEATRE (INDIA)
Traditional Indian Kathakali theatre is characterized by richness of colors, intensity, musicality and a codified form. The characters are defined by their costumes, masks and makeup, and the expression is found in very dynamic scenes of fight as well as in extremely precise movements of face muscles, eyes and hands - the hands' positions build meanings, dialogues, and features of characters. The group will present their production titled "Lavanasuravadha" (Sons of Sita) based on fragments of Hindu epic "Ramayana".
Kathakali Theatre will be presented in Szczecin thanks to collaboration with the Brave Festival in Wrocław.
TRI PUSAKA SAKTI (INDONESIA)
The program "Masters of Bali" includes "A Performance of Ten Incarnations" by I Made Djimat, a master of Topeng (a monodrama in which a solo performer is able to tell a complicated and engrossing story single-handedly by using a few masks), a presentation of classical Balinese female dance Lengong, and "Gong Kebyar", a dynamic and energetic musical tale about powers of elements performed by the gamelan orchestra (a team of numerous and unique instruments, treated as a single entity).
The Tri Pusaka Sakti group will be presented in Szczecin thanks to collaboration with the Brave Festival in Wrocław.
KAZUYA NAGAYA AND HIROKO KOMIYA (JAPAN)
Kazuya Nagaya creates unique "music of silence" related to Buddhist philosophy, by mixing sounds of instruments used in Buddhist and Hindu rituals in Tibet, Japan and Bali with modern electronic music. He will play together with Hiroko Komiya, an artist known for her musical improvisations for Butoh dance performances. Their concert will be accompanied by collecting alms for victims of the earthquake that struck their native Japan in March 2011.
http://www.ame-ambient.com/
http://www.myspace.com/kazuyanagaya
MAISTERNIA PISNI (UKRAINE)
The artistic activity of Maisternia pisni ('A workshop/atelier of song') from Lviv, Ukraine lies at the intersection of theatre and traditional music. Their program "IRMOS" (Ukrainian tradition of Christian sacred songs) is an artistic anthropological project implying research of sacred songs from ancient manuscripts and old printings. The artists ask not only about possibility to renew the tradition but also about its significance for contemporary music and theatre.
MONKS FROM THE HARDHONG KHANGTSEN DREPUNG GOMANG MONASTERY (TIBET)
Drepung Monastery, established in 1416 in Tibet was known for the highest standards of academic studies. Under its auspices seven other monasteries were established, among them Gomang. The monastery accepts annually one hundred new monks, many of them are fugitives from Tibet. In result of current situation in Tibet, the monastery is located in the South of India. The Drepung monks will present in Szczecin their program of sacred chants and music (among others, ritual gyuto chants). They will also perform together with Polish folk band Wołosi i Lasoniowie. Their concert will be accompanied by collecting alms for the monastery.
The monks have been invited to Poland by the Tibet House Acala and SAM DŻUB LING Foundation in Warsaw, and their staying in Szczecin is organized in collaboration with the Buddhist Mission "Three Refuges in Poland" and the Sanboin Temple in Szczecin.
WOŁOSI I LASONIOWIE (POLAND)
The essence of their music is a meeting - of people from the "world of notes" with the world of music "by ear". The first of the two worlds is represented by Lasoń brothers, Krzysztof and Stanisław, classical instrumentalists associated with Musical Academy in Katowice; the second - by three Carpathian highlanders: Zbigniew Michałek, Jan Kaczmarzyk and Robert Waszut. In the unique sound of the band one can trance multitude of musical expressions which came to Central Europe from India and Persia, through Palestine and the Balkans, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia. In Szczecin the band will play together with the monks of the Drepung Gomang monastery.
The concert is accomplished thanks to collaboration with the Tibet House Acala and SAM DŻUB LING Foundation in Warsaw - the concert will be accompanied by collecting alms for the monastery.
http://www.wolosi-lasoniowie.com/
http://www.myspace.com/245091099
ROBERTO DELIRA & KOMPANY (POLAND)
Musical project initiated by Robert Jaworski, who has been associated with several bands, such as: Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa, Ich TroLe, and Żywiołak. The music by Roberto DELIRA & Kompany is a surprising blend of medieval tunes, heavyfolk and folkrock. The band's unusual sound results from using hybrid and stringed instruments: such as modern hurdy-gurdy, renaissance vielle, octave violin, or modern reconstruction of a Gdansk gusla.
LUDOMIR FRANCZAK (SŁUPSK, POLAND)
The "ERFT" Project deals with the war fate of my grandmother - Józefa Wanda Kraus (previously Franczak), nee Filipczak, and the family secret confided to my father by my grandmother. According to it, my biological grandfather was Hungarian doctor whose name was ERFT. My grandmother's story is one of many war stories and at the same time it is a part of my family story, associated with its identity. I am interested in the process of "remembering" as such.
Documents collected during the research served as a base for performance/installation of mixing sonic, theatrical, visual and historical media.
http://lfranczak.blogspot.com/
http://www.baltic-gallery.art.pl/archiwum/rybieoko2/franczak.html
JANUSZ TURKOWSKI (SZCZECIN, POLAND)
In June 2008 quite accidentally I became an owner of amateur films recording scenes from life of a German woman living near Polish-German border. I was enchanted by matter of these celluloid tapes. I entered someone's life, someone's record of memory..." The presentation includes screening of films with data and 8 mm projectors. The author tells the story of finding the tapes and seeking the protagonist of the films.
INFORMAL GROUP AVIS (SZCZECIN, POLAND)
The main rule of the group is to avoid literalness and to construct the world on the stage by means of metaphor. The priority of self-development stimulates constant motion of the group thus defining themselves as wanderers. The monodrama performed by Agnieszka Makowska is a compilation of various texts focused on national martyrdom (2nd part of The Forefathers Eve, works of Leśmian, Miłosz, Staff, Łysiak) and the script by Agata Biziuk. The performance blends various domains of art: fine arts, music and theatre (theatre of movement, dance theatre, puppetry). The bitter-sweet production confronts young audience with a motif of an exile, and artificially mythologized, absurd and aggressive concept of patriotism.
THE STETTINERS THEATER (SZCZECIN, POLAND)
The story of "Lonesome Wanderers from Labor" takes place in distant Mexico: members of typical patriarchal Sanchez family find themselves face to face with the real revelation... References to the Bible, to Polish Romanticism, to Samuel Beckett, to swashbuckler films, to the aesthetics of Jerzy Szaniawski and his epigones, can be an instructive proposal for the audience suffering from emotional disorders and existential troubles. The legendary Szczecin-based team returns with refreshed although a bit wrinkled crew.
MAGDALENA FRANCZAK (SŁUPSK, POLAND)
Magdalena Maria Franczak, educated as a painter yet engaged in interdisciplinary artistic activities, deals in her works with a problem of body, its oppression, and condition. She investigates mythologies and rituals of childhood. She researches the process of memory and imagination, exorcises fears and anxieties. In her multi-layered project "Hairy candies" the main areas of reference are animality and instincts and operations upon one's own imagination.
ZYGMUNT'S STREET - PAINTING ACTION OF ANDRZEJ BOJ WOJTOWICZ
Andrzej Boj Wojtowicz, a painter graduated in Art Academy in Wrocław; he was a long-term friend of Zygmunt Duczyński, the founder of the Kana Theatre, and co-designer of stage settings to performances of the Kana Theatre. Wojtowicz is interested in portraits. He paints portraits, easel paintings, drawings, graphics, and does performances. His action is associated with naming the street where the Kana theatre is located with name of Zygmunt Duczyński (the founder of Kana Theatre). The artist will paint a series of murals dedicated to Zygmunt.
MIRA JARMOŁOWICZ (SZCZECIN, POLAND)
Mira Jarmołowicz is the Dean of the Visual Arts Department in the Art Academy in Szczecin. She graduated at the Architecture Faculty of the Technical University of Szczecin. She won many contests and has accomplished numerous architecture projects. She is also active as an artist in other disciplines, including drawing, painting and photography. Her portraits of Tibetans were made in August and September 2010 during her voyage to Tibet. She made them in monasteries in Samye, Tashilhumpo and Sakya. In the latter, on 26th August, she witnessed ritual ceremonies and dances performed by monks. These ceremonies are usually participated by local people and, extremely seldom, by foreign newcomers.
NIGHT CINEMA - TIBET
Children of Dalai Lama
dir. Julia Popławska
(2008; approx. 25 min.)
A documentary about Tibetans living in Poland. Venerable Khandro Ripoche, a female lama who visited the Buddhist Center in Grabnik near Warsaw, presents philosophy of Buddhist teachings. Kesang Y. Takla, a minister of Tibetan government in exile discusses current situation in Tibet. Doctor Tenzin Jangchub tells about Tibetan medicine and his career in film industry. The documentary shows a ceremony of creation of sand mandala and explains its symbolism.
Interview: "Dalai Lama - Crucial Conversation"
dir. Julia Popławska
(December 2008; approx. 25 min.)
A film concerning existential and spiritual issues. The Dalai Lama tells about life and death, also answering the question why one it is worth cultivating the religion we have been brought up.
