The third edition of the FESTIWAL DIALOGU CZTERECH KULTUR / DIALOGUE OF FOUR CULTURES FESTIVAL in Lodz will be starting very soon. This edition of the Festival coincides with the city's commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Lodz Ghetto liquidation. The role of the event is to build bridges between history and the present day, to delineate a path along which many nations can live harmoniously, independent of historical encumbrances. This can be best achieved with the help of culture, which speaks to all in its universal language, builds bonds without prejudice, creates prospects of cooperation for generations to come. The concept of a great Carnival of Culture that is both Lodz-based and European draws on the past, on the dialogue of four cultures that contributed to the creation of a city that was unique on a European scale, that was multi-national though located in the very heart of Poland. Lodz is where Poles, Jews, Germans and Russians lived side by side, worked together, built their "promised land." The high profile artistic events planned for this year's edition of the Festival share a spirit of tolerance and dialogue. Several of them will be in overt homage to the city's Jewish inhabitants.
The third edition of the Festival will begin with a musical spectacle commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liquidation of the Lodz Ghetto. NIEWIDZIALNI / THE INVISIBLE is slated to be an impressive, moving and simultaneously highly unusual concert devoted to the memory of the Jews of Lodz. This performance composed of visuals and music was devised by Jerzy Kalina, a renowned creator of spectacular open-air events. An homage to the past, it will feature only two live actors: the conductor and the famous cantor of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York - Joseph Malovany. Instead of a choir, the audience will see rows of glowing columns, in place of an orchestra, there will be merely instruments. The concert will be held on August 30th in Lodz's Old Town Square, a site clearly marked by history, as it was the starting point for the last stage of life for the Ghetto's inhabitants.
On September 3rd, the legendary Gesher Theatre of Israel will inaugurate the FESTIVAL with a presentation of its production ADAM ZMARTWYCHWSTALY / ADAM RESURRECTED. The famous play is an unconventional take on the Holocaust and centers on Adam, a patient in a psychiatric hospital who was formerly a concentration camp prisoner. In the production, black comedy combines with drama, lyricism with suspense, farce with a circus atmosphere. The production's style is used, however, to explore issues of utmost importance: love, suffering, goodness and sacrifice. The troupe will offer two performances of this Hebrew-language production.
The creative group LODZ KALISKA (a name referring to a local train terminal) has been active for twenty-five years and has prepared a new and highly interesting project for the FESTIVAL. The group's concept was to engage in a highly original dialogue with mass culture and the all-pervasive consumer stance. Their project is based on the famous 1956 photomontage titled "Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?" by Pop Art precursor Richard Hamilton.
"Lodz Kaliska's installation titled 'Co sprawia' / 'Just What Is It that Makes' consists of hordes of posters distributed throughout the city and four large billboards (suspended above the city's main pedestrian thoroughfare, Piotrkowska Street). These will advertise the 'Artdom' / 'Arthouse' supermarket, which offers all manner of items for the home. Four versions of the poster and billboard have been produced, with each version showing the same goods priced in four different currencies (zlotys, shekels, euro and rubles), as well as four women, four bodybuilders, four astronauts, four nations, four newspapers, four languages, the same sofas, armchairs, carpets, television sets, vacuum cleaners, plants - everything! The same muscles, the same newspaper content... (...)"The poster is deeply symbolic. The woman symbolizes motherhood, the bodybuilder strength, plants stand for nature, the vacuum cleaner denotes cleanliness. The stairs stand for development, the ceiling for heaven, the window for openness, the carpet for planet earth. The sofas symbolize affluence, the armchairs - tradition, the television - civilization, the lamp - knowledge (...) the table denotes understanding, the astronaut stands for success (...). If the customer wishes, these elements can symbolize something entirely different. Each of them has its price. Prices describe accessibility. Languages describe names. Why are there different languages if they all speak of the same? (...) Just what is it that makes our homes the way they are? Has life truly come to resemble art?"
The State Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Lodz will host a film series titled "Czterech wielkich, czterech kultur" / "Four Greats of Four Cultures" (7-11 September), which will feature films directed by Volker Schloendorff, Wojciech Has, Andrei Tarkovsky and
Roman Polanski. Viewers will have an opportunity to see titles like BLASZANY BEBENEK / THE TIN DRUM, REKOPIS ZNALEZIONY W SARAGOSSIE / THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, SOLARIS and NOZ W WODZIE / KNIFE IN THE WATER.
On September 6 and 7, Warsaw's TR Theatre (formerly the Variety Theatre) will present its production of DYBUK / THE DYBBUK (
more...), directed by
Krzysztof Warlikowski based on texts by Szymon Ansky and Hanny Krall.
The 3rd edition of the DIALOGUE OF FOUR CULTURES FESTIVAL in Lodz will conclude with an event titled MUZYCZNY DIALOG CZTERECH KULTUR / A MUSICAL DIALOGUE OF FOUR CULTURES, devised by Krzesimir Debski. The charm of Debski's concept lies in the composer's relatively free interpretation of what those cultures are in and of themselves. Thus, the Rolf Zielke Project of Germany will broaden its repertoire to include Turkish elements, while Russian music will be supplemented with Ukrainian and Moldovan threads. Jewish culture will be represented by the Krakow-based singer Marta Bizon, who will perform a repertoire of Jewish songs composed especially for her, while Polish accents culture will come in the form of performances by the Turnioki ensemble of the Beskid Highlands and, surprisingly enough, by a Bulgarian vocal ensemble known as the Eva Quartet. The latter choice derives from the Debski's conviction that the roots of old Slavic music should be sought precisely in the Balkans. dditionally, Anna Jurksztowicz will perform "Piesn Heleny" / "Helena's Song," which featured in the film OGNIEM I MIECZEM / BY FIRE AND SWORD.
Office: Plac Wolnosci 5, 91-415 Lodz
tel. (+48 42) 636 38 21
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Program of the Festiwal: www.4kultury.pl