Magdalena Cielecka in Warlikowski's "Angels in America", source: Stefan Okołowicz / TR Warszawa
This year's edition of Warsaw's biggest music festival expands its Polish cultural programme to offer not only the latest music from hot performers on the global stage, but fresh acts on the Polish scene, theatre, film, art, fashion and books
As major musical acts like Bjork, Wiz Khalifa and The Mars Volta rock out on the five main stages at this year's Heineken Open'er, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw showcases some of the most important artists on the Polish scene while world-class theatre director Krzysztof Warlikowski puts on his original staging of Angels in America.
The centrepiece of MoMA's Open'er exhition is centered around an original installation by Maurycy Gomulicki - a 12-meter pillar titled Totem. Gomulicki is known for his phallic totems (Obelisk) and neon sculptures of a cool glass of orangeade (Lightspurt). Gomulicki explains his take on his contribution to the music festival, saying "The context is definitely for me a moment of celebration, adventure and fun. One thing was clear from the start: the work must be impressive and comprehensible. There is no room for coyness in a presentation with musical performances, which are the essence of the festival". Gomulicki's Totem is a 12-foot phallic sculpture cast in the artist's customary pastel shades ofpink, lemon, cobalt). The artist expressed the hope that the piece would serve as a sort of axis for the dynamic, vibrating space of the festival, opting for a monument of joy, beauty and pleasure as opposed to the typical character of monuments that celebrate darker issues like suffering and martyrdom.
The next part of the MoMA collection is the multimedia exhibition Video Killed the Radio Star, displaying the most interesting works of contemporary artists inspired by music. The show takes place in the converted hangar on the festival site. The show looks at the relationship between music and the visual arts, with an emphasis on contemporary culture, curated by Natalia Sielewicz. Artists like Wilhelm Sasnal and Anna Molska show their own personal music videos for songs that are close to their heart, formulating an intimate portrait of themselves through music.
Krzysztof Warlikowski brings his edgy theatre to Gdynia this Open'er weekend, staging Tony Kushner's Angels in America. After premiering in 2007, the show revives its themes of alternative love and lifestyles, guilt and identity. Every day at noon the all-star cast (featuring Andrzej Chyra and Magdalena Cielecka). Contemporary German theatre is also represented through the performance of Before Your Very Eyes by the international theater collective Gob Squad.
The Planete+Doc Film Festival hosts a series of screenings of new films by new Polish directors, such as Piotr Ivan Ivanov & Krzysztof Dziomdziora's Flowing and Ana Brzezińska's I Want (No) Reality, along with some new international pictures, such as Whore's Glory by Austrian director Michael Glawogger.
As always, fashion is also a major element of the festival, with the Fashion Stage presenting runway shows from some up-and-comers like Sophie Kula and Dominika Naziębły. Pop-up shops offer festival visitors a taste of fresh Polish fashion.
Festival director Mikołaj Ziółkowski gives a few important statistics that prove how important a venue the Open'er is for promoting Polish culture in a global setting, citing 20% of the audience of 60,000-80,000 coming to the festival from abroad. The Heineken Open'er Festival takes place in the The Heineken Open'er Festival takes place between the 4th-7th of July 2012 at the Babie Doły air field in Gdynia. For more information on all the events taking place at the event, see: opener.pl/en.
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: www.opener.pl, www.teatrnowy.org, www.artmuseum.pl