UNESCO has declared 2015 the Year of Tadeusz Kantor – April 6th marked the 100th anniversary of his birth. As a theatre director and stage designer, author of happenings and stage shows and a visual artist, Tadeusz Kantor has been recognised as one of the most eminent artists of the 20th century and a highly influential reformer of world theatre. In 1955, Kantor founded the Cricot 2 Theatre, which never existed as an institution but was, in the first place, a unique proposition of avant-garde theatre, combining visual forms with a deeply emotional message in highly expressive shows. In Europe, he was an indisputable advocate of avant-garde art and a staunch proponent of unlimited artistic freedom. Remaining in constant touch with reality, making use of phenomena and the simplest objects, deprived of their original functions, comprising the 'mass and pulp of everyday life', was an important aspect of Kantor's art. Among his crucial productions are The Water Hen (1967), The Dead Class (1975), Wielopole, Wielopole (1980), Let the Artists Die (1985), Today Is My Birthday (1990).
Programme:
14th October
- 14:00 Opening Ceremony of the Exhibition "Tadeusz Rolke. Tadeusz Kantor"
The exhibition will be open through November 14th 2015. - 15:00-16:30 Documentary Film Screening "Tadeusz.kantor@europa.pl"
(dir. Krzysztof Miklaszewski) and meeting with students
Address: Changping Campus, Hongfu Road 4
15th October
Seminar:
- 9.30 -11:00 dr Anna Burzyńska: "Polish theatre of directors"
- 11:00 -12:30 dr Lech Stangret, Barbara Stangret: "Tadeusz Kantor, the maker of everything", "Actors of the Cricot 2 Theatre"
- 14:00 -16:00 Krzysztof Miklaszewski: "The provincial universality of Kantor's art", "The actor in Kantor's theatre"
Organisers: Culture.pl, Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, Culture Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Beijing - Polish Institute in Beijing, Gallery Le Guern (Poland)