Part 1 - The Bazaar of Tales (21, 23, 26 October, 2014)
A Polish-Turkish collaborative storytelling performance, The Bazaar of Tales will be held at 14:00 on 21st October at Konak Cultural House in Bursa, as an event accompanying the 19th Bursa Children and Youth Theatre Festival. Following performances of The Bazaar will be held at 20:00, 23rd October, at Ankara's CerModern, and at 15:30, 26th October, at Istanbul's Pera Museum.
The performance's storytellers include Małgorzata Litwinowicz, Agnieszka Ayşen Kaim, Albert Kwiatkowski, and Koray Erkök. Live music is conducted by Marta Maślanka and the performance is directed by Edward Wojtaszek.
The Bazaar tells the stories of various historical Polish personages who found themselves in Turkey for a variety of reasons. Among them are Ali Ufki Bey (Wojciech Bobowski) – an ingenious 17th century interpreter, musicologist and linguist; Jan Potocki (18-19th century) – writer, traveller, and researcher of the East; Polish national bard poet Adam Mickiewicz (19th century) and his short time in Istanbul before his death in Pera; Ludwika Śniadecka (19th century) – Sadik Pasha’s wife, and important activist for Polish emigration to Istanbul; and Aleksander Iliński (19 century) – a brave soldier and Ottoman Pasha of Tatar origin.
Focusing on the common experiences of all of these figures, The Bazaar aims to go beyond preconceived biases that commonly result from differences in age, social and national status, religion, or sex.
Part 2 - The Flying Trunk: Children’s Tales & Songs (22 & 24 October, 2014)
The Tales & Wanderers project also features a special interactive storytelling performance for children. Flying Trunk will be performed live at 14:00, 22nd October, on the Adile Naşit Stage as part of the 19th International Bursa Children and Youth Theatre Festival. A second performance will follow at 11:00 on 24th October at CerModern in Turkey’s capital, Ankara.
Storytellers include Agnieszka Ayşen Kaim, Małgorzata Litwinowicz, Haluk ve Marina Yüce, Albert Kwiatkowski. Music is conducted by Marta Maślanka and the performance is directed by Edward Wojtaszek.
Flying Trunk is an interactive storytelling performance for children aged 6-14, consisting of tales of personages from both cultures who dreamed of being able to fly, such as the Turkish hero Ahmet Hezarfen and Polish Jan Wnek, and even Alexander the Great. The performance is based on the story The Flying Trunk by Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen.
Programme:
The Bazaar of Tales
Bursa: 21 October, 14:00, Konak Cultural House
Ankara: 23 October, 20:00, CerModern
Istanbul: 26 October, 15:30, Pera Museum
The Flying Trunk
Bursa: 22 October, 14:00, Adile Naşit Stage
Ankara: 24 October, 11:00, CerModern
The Tales and Wanderers project is organized by the Grupa Studnia O. Association in collaboration with two Turkish associations who work with the traditional art of storytelling. The Grupa Studnia O. Association is a pioneering Polish group of storytellers, formed in 1997 in Warsaw.
The event is organized as part of the cultural programme marking the 600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations.
Edited by E.M. 09/09/2014