The major project aiming to promote Polish poetry in public spaces around the world launches in Warsaw. The works of over thirty contemporary Polish poets will be presented in eight different capitals in Europe and Asia
The project will take place in London, Paris, Madrid, Kiev, Beijing and Tokyo. The authors whose work will be presented on the underground are representatives of different generations: from the classics such as Tadeusz Różewicz and Wisława Szymborska to contemporaries Tomasz Różycki and Jacek Dehnal.
The project launches at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute on July 4th, 2011. The afternoon begins at 5 p. m. and the opening programme comprises poetry readings by Julia Hartwig and Jacek Dehnel, a presentation of an audiobook with Czesław Miłosz’s works, and a talk during which the event’s organisers will present details of the project’s journey abroad.
During the first fortnight of July, dwellers and visitors of the Polish capital will be able to read fragments of poems while travelling on the underground. The winner of the haiku competition is to be announced on the 22nd of July, and on the 1st of August the trip to London will begin Polish poetry’s journey around the world.
The project is scheduled to run as follows:
- Warsaw: 4th of July – 17th of July 2011
- London: 1st of August – 14th of August, 2011
- Paris: 22nd of August – 4th of September, 2011
- Madrid: 5th- 18th of September, 2011
- Kiev: 26th of September – 9th of October, 2011
- Beijing: 24th of October – 6th of November, 2011
- Tokyo: 7th of November – 20th of November, 2011
- Warsaw: 5th of December – 18th of December, 2011
exhibitions of poems in the European Parliament:
- Brussels and Luxembourg: 1st – 30th of October, 2011
The initial edition of Polish "Poems on the Underground" took place in 2008, thanks to the initiative of the British Council and the Instytut Książki Book Institute.
As a part of the project, new forms of poetry are promoted alongside traditional ones. A slam festival entitled "Spoke'n'Word", various happenings and a haiku competition are all scheduled to take place, encouraging an active participation of the audience.
The initiative draws its inspiration from similiar events which took part in Dublin, Paris, New York, Barcelona, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Moscow, and most notably, London, where "Poems on the Underground" is an ongoing series since 1986.
Vice-president of the Office of Promotion of the Capital City of Warsaw, Andrzej Mańkowski:
We are really glad that through presenting Polish poetry in so many different cities around the world, we will be able to present Warsaw in a new way. It will get a chance to be seen not only as Skłodowska-Curie and Chopin’s home-town, but also as a centre of high culture and a place of poetic inspiration
The poet Jacek Dehnal comments:
The city space has been "written" over for ages: inscriptions on the frontons of shrines and courthouses, shop signs, political slogans and insults scribbled on various walls have been present since the very beginnings of writing. Yet in our times, it's large and small scale advertisement which seems to have taken over the space. I believe "Poems on the Underground" to be an action which can return to the public space issues of greater significance - greater than, say, the question of which washing powder to choose or where to buy lingerie.
Works of the following authors will be presented as part of the project: Czesław Miłosz, Zbigniew Herbert, Wisława Szymborska, Julia Hartwig, Ewa Lipska, Krystyna Miłobędzka, Tadeusz Różewicz, Adam Zagajewski, Ryszard Krynicki, Julia Fiedorczuk, Marzanna Kielar, Julia Szychowiak, Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało, Marcin Baran, Wojciech Bonowicz, Ernest Bryll, Jacek Dehnel, Jacek Gutorow, Jerzy Jarniewicz, Zenon Jaskuła, Edward Pasewicz, Tomasz Różycki, Marcin Sendecki, Krzysztof Siwczyk, Piotr Sommer, Andrzej Sosnowski, Grzegorz Wróblewski, Bohdan Zadura, Adam Zdrodowski.
For more details on "Poems on the Underground", see: www.wierszewmetrze.eu
Date: 4th of July – 18th of December, 2011
Location: The underground public transport systems of Warsaw, London, Paris, Madrid, Kiev, Beijing, Tokyo
Organised by: Warsaw Destination Alliance, Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Source: Warsaw Destination Alliance