courtesy of www.polishculture.org.uk
An evening of film screenings and discussion brings together writers, scholars and philosophers in London. Focused around Yael Bartana's work and the new interpretations of Poland’s Jewish past, the meeting explores the potent role of art in imagining a different future
Taking place as part of London’s Jewish Book Week, the discussion sees a meeting between Polish cultural activist Sławomir Sierakowski, Polish Jewish leader Stanisław Krajewski, novelist Eva Hoffman, scholar François Guesnet and art historian Tamar Garb. The panel takes place following a screening of the visionary trilogy by Yael Bartana …And Europe Will Be Stunned (2011), courtesy of The Artangel Collection.
The event also previews the 2013 opening of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto.
…And Europe Will Be Stunned was created by Israeli director Yael Bartana and it was the first non-Polish national to represent Poland at the 2012 Venice Biennale. The series of three films that form this work revolve around the activities of the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland (JRMiP) - a group founded by the artist that calls for the return of 3.3million Jews to Poland. A complex and potent work which suggests many possible meanings, it was made by Bartana and partly scripted by Sierakowski, who plays the role of the leader of the JRMiP. The three films - Mary Koszmary / Nightmares (2007), Mur i wieża / Wall and Tower (2009) and Zamach / Assassination (2011) - explore a landscape scarred by the histories of competing nationalisms and militarisms - overflowing with the narratives of the Israeli settlement movement, Zionist dreams, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and the Palestinian right of return.
The participants will discuss the ways in which this trilogy of films touches on common strands of Polish and Israeli politics, such as the desire to reverse loss and the longing for a multicultural future. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is a major project, funded by public and private partnership. Deliberately designed not to be a "Holocaust museum", the institution aims at becoming an educational and cultural forum, which will present the 1000 years of the history of Polish Jews. Employing multimedia and newest technologies in the expositions and installations, the Museum will convey Jews as an integral part of Polish history, without which it would not be complete. The institution’s mission statement declares that by recalling the memory of a thousand years, it intends to contribute to the formation of modern individual and collective identities amongst Poles and Jews, both in Europe and across the world.
The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is scheduled to open in 2013 on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto.
Stanisław Krajewski teaches logic and philosophy of mathematics. He holds a doctorate in mathematics and philosophy and is also a professor in humanist sciences. His publications cover the range of inter-religious dialogue, Judaist tradition and religion, and science. He was one the founders of the Solidarity movement, which he was a member of between 1980 and 1990. He is currently working on the concept of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. After the fall of communism in 1989, he founded and animated the Society for Polish-Isreali Friendship, the Polish Board of Christians and Jews and the Jewish Forum Foundation.
Sławomir Sierakowski is Sławomir Sierakowski is a journalist, publisher, literary crititc and sociologist. He is the founder and editor in chief of Krytyka Polityczna (Political Critique), a socially-oriented magazine. The circle of left-wing intellectuals, artists and activists which has consolidated around Sierakowski and Krytyka Polityczna has also expanded onto befriended branches in Ukraine, Germany and Russia. In October 2003, Sławomir Sierakowski initiated the writing of an Open Letter to the European Public Opinion, which was signed by 255 leading intellectuals, which called into question the federalist model of European integration. The letter was published in Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita and other European newspapers, stirring significant debate and leading to an official meeting between the Polish President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of European Affairs and a representation of European officials. Sierakowski has been frequently listed as one of the most influential Poles by major Polish press titles, including Polityka, Wprost and Newsweek Polska magazines.
Eva Hoffman grew up in Poland, and emigrated to the Canada at the age of 13. Upon graduating from high school she received a scholarship and studied English literature at Rice University Texas, Yale School of Music, and Harvard University, where, in 1975, she received a Ph.D. in English and American literature.
Eva Hoffmann has been a professor of literature and creative writing at various institutions, such as Columbia University, the University of Minnesota, Tufts, and CUNY's Hunter College.
She is the author of Lost in Translation, After Such Knowledge, Shtetl and most recently the novels Illuminations (2008), and Time: Big Ideas, Small Books (2009).
François Guesnet is Sidney and Elizabeth Corob Reader in Modern Jewish History at UCL, University of London.
Tamar Garb is Durning Lawrence Professor in the History of Art at UCL, University of London.
The event is organised with the support of the Polish Cultural Institute, London, The Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Artangel.
Wednesday 27th of February, 7:30pm
Kings Place, Hall 2 90 York Way
London N1 9AG
Paulina Schlosser, source: http://www.polishculture.org.uk, http://www.jewishmuseum.org.pl, press release, Agnieszka Le Nart’s article for Culture.pl