The Adam Mickiewicz Institute together with Polish artists Ula Zerek, Rafał Dziemidok, Ewa Garniec and Adam Świtała are preparing a special dance performance which aims to capture the phenomenon of postindustrial spaces in Central Europe.
The titular Heart of the Factory are the workers – they are truly the heart and soul of these spaces. They set the machines in motion – they gave the factories a pulse. Today, the decaying buildings stand empty and instead of workers we find artists. They are attempting to continue the workers’ mission, beating out the original rhythm anew.
The Heart of the Factory project aims to bring the artists and factory workers together by creating common activities for the artists and the local community in Košice. It will show how the history of the factories – and the modern presence of artists – can speak volumes about the role of the individual in the community, as well as about small communities confronted with global economic processes.
By including the local community, Zerek, Dziemidok, Garniec and Świtała’s project will have a will a documentary feel to it – authentic archival material will be the basis of the choreography.
The Gdańsk Shipyard is the starting point for the Heart of the Factory project. For many, it is a symbol of change and the fight for freedom, which, at the turn of the century, gradually became a space for many artists. This process is currently also taking place in Košice, in the former tobacco factory Tabačka, now known Tabačka Kulturfabrik.
