| The Grotowski Year 2009 - Press conference |
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We are pleased to invite you to a press conference at which we will announce the programme of the Grotowski Year 2009, under the auspices of UNESCO. The main initiator and principal organiser of the Grotowski Year is the Grotowski Institute in Wroclaw. The conference will take place on 17th December 2008 (Wednesday) at 12:00 noon , at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw (Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28, the old building of St. Roch’s Hospital, room No 5 on the first floor). The host of the conference will be Prof. Leszek Kolankiewicz – Director of the Institute of Polish Culture UW, and member of the Grotowski Institute Council The program of the Grotowski Year 2009 will be announced by: Jaroslaw Fret – Director of the Grotowski Institute, Dr Grzegorz Ziolkowski – Programme Director of the Grotowski Institute, and Joanna Klass – Producing Director of the Grotowski Year 2009. The conference will be enriched by the presence of:
The year 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Jerzy Grotowski, 50 years since Grotowski and Ludwik Flaszen took over the Theatre of 13 Rows in Opole (later the Laboratory Theatre), and the 25th anniversary of the dissolution of the Laboratory Theatre. The Grotowski Year 2009 Programme includes many artistic and scholarly events, including conferences, exhibitions and installations, practical seminars, and meetings in Poland (Wroclaw, Krakow, Warsaw) and abroad (United States, Italy, Cuba, and more), as well as two major festivals:
The European Theatre Prize has been awarded since 1986 by international jury under the patronage of European Committee, Union of Theatres of Europe, European Theatre Convention, International Association of Theatre Critics, International Theatre Institute of UNESCO and Institute of Mediterranean Theatre. The laureates are: Ariane Mnouchkine, Peter Brook, Harold Pinter, Robert Wilson and Pina Baush. One year ago, the New Theatre Reality prize, a special recognition for artists who create new theatrical languages, was awarded to a Polish director for the first time. Prestigious celebrations of the award have been organized until now in Taormina (Sicily), Turino, and Thessaloniki. These festivities attract a multitude of influential theatre figures, such as actors, critics, journalists from leading world magazines, professors, and directors of theatres and festivals. This year’s gala, added to the programme of the Grotowski Year 2009, will take place in Poland for the first time, by initiative of the Grotowski Institute. From 31 March to 5th April 2009, Krystian Lupa, the laureate of the first prize, will be an honoured guest in Wroclaw, as well as five directors awarded with the New Theatre Reality prize: Guy Cassiers (Belgium), Pippo Delbono (Italy), Árpád Schilling (Hungary), François Tanguy (Argentine/Spein) and Théâtre du Radeau (France). At this time, there will be opportunities to see performances directed by the awardees and participate in special public dialogues with them.
This festival, with a name inspired from a speech by Jerzy Grotowski, is an opportunity to witness the work of directors who transformed different areas of the theatre in the twentieth century, very often pushing artistic boundaries. Each featured world master has developed a special aesthetic and form, drawing heavily from the influence of Grotowski’s acting methods and research. The festival will explore the questions, “What is permanent in the transitory art of theatre?” “What is independent of the momentary tastes of audiences?” and “What are we carrying to the new theatre millennium?” From 14th to 30th Juny 2009 in Wroclaw, there will be an array of performances directed by: Roberto Bacci, Eugenio Barba, Pina Baush, Peter Brook, Alvis Hermanis, Krystian Lupa, Richard Schechner, Wlodzimierz Staniewski, Tadashi Suzuki, Theodoros Terzopoulos and Krzysztof Warlikowski. The festival also will include meetings with Ludik Flaszen and Anatoli Vassiliev, as well as conversations with the featured masters and film presentations. The festival also will offer performances by “The Eastern Line”, a collection of Eastern Europe’s premiere Grotowski-inspired experimental theatre companies, all supported in the past by the Grotowski Centre and the Grotowski Institute |