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GROTOWSKI: BEYOND THEATRE

GROTOWSKI YEAR IN BARCELONA

May – December 2009


Presented by Institut del Teatre and the Polish Consulate in Barcelona  


Curator and Project Coordinator: Anna Caixach

 

UNESCO has designated 2009 as “The Year of Grotowski”, 50 years after the founding of the Laboratory Theatre and 10 after the death of the world-renowned Polish theatre director, Jerzy Grotowski.


Our programme GROTOWSKI: MÉS ENLLÀ DEL TEATRE. ANY GROTOWSKI A BARCELONA (Grotowski: beyond theatre. Grotowski Year in Barcelona), a unique and unprecedented event in Spain, will be the first presentation of Grotowski’s work trajectory in our country.

The Grotowski Year in Barcelona will hold lectures, panels, film projections, theoretical and practical seminars and the first publication of texts of Grotowski translated into spanish and catalan after Hacia un teatro pobre (Towards a poor theatre) which appeared in spanish edition in 1970.

The core of our program will be the International Conferences on the work and legacy of Grotowski, where expert scholars on Grotowski  and Grotowski’s collaborators will present, analyse and discuss the research of Grotowski in all its periods. This event, which will take place next October 2009 in Barcelona, will be an essential contribution to let spanish audience know about one of the greatest artists and innovators of the 20th century and because of that we think it will have a big impact on Catalan theatre community.


 

Any Grotowski

 

Rena Mirecka and Ryszard Cieślak, The Constant Prince, Wrocław 1965. Photo: Laboratory Theatre

 

 

Considered one of the most influential theatre innovators of the 20th century, Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999) —theatre director and researcher who transformed deeply the contemporary theatre scene— the year 1970 announced that he would not direct more theatre productions. Apocalypsis cum figuris, one of the greatest stage work  of the 20th century, presented on  February 11th 1969, would mark a point of transition in the polish researcher trajectory opening new horizons of creative life. Driven by an immense inner  need  which would find its culmination moving away from strictly theatrical limitations, Grotowski initiates the passage from the field of Art as presentation —theatre in a classic sense of the word where the effect and the seat of the montage are in the perception of the spectator— to Art as vehicle, domain where the polish teacher dis-covers an ancient and forgotten aspect of art, where the artistic competence goes together with the approach of the interiority of the human being, becoming a spiritual vehicle, at the same time tangible and practical.

 

Any Grotowski

 

Julius Jong Soon Foo, Pei Hwee Tan and Sun Sun Yap, One breath left, Church of  San Pietro Barisano, Matera 2002. Photo: Renzo Angelillo

 

 

In the beginning it was a theatre. Then a laboratory. And now it is a place where I expect to be able to be honest to myself.

Jerzy Grotowski, 1970

 


grotowski year in barcelona

 

programME

 

 
26 May 2009 at 18‘30h

 

Opening GROTOWSKI YEAR IN BARCELONA

Institut del Teatre, Auditori

Marek Pernal, Consul of the Republic of Poland in Barcelona

Mercè Saumell, Institut del Teatre Cultural Services Director 

Anna Caixach, curator and project coordinator

Film Projection of Jerzy Grotowski - Próba portretu (Jerzy Grotowski – an Attemp at a Portrait), Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, 1999


Exhibition 50 ANYS DEL TEATRE LABORATORI  (with the collaboration of the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław)

 

28 May 2009 at 18‘15h

Launch of the book Grotowski: del Teatre a L’art com a vehicle, by Pere Sais, and “Jerzy Grotowski in the chain of performing arts. From Poor Theatre to Art as vehicle, conference by Pere Sais at Institut del Teatre, Auditori

 

29 May 2009 at 18‘15h

The space of the action in Grotowski”, conference by Inês Castel-Branco and Dimitra Konstantopoulou at Institut del Teatre, Auditori

 

12, 13 and 14 June 2009

RESEARCH OF THE SOURCES – NOBARUNA (LA NOVA LLUM). Taller teatral sobre tècniques vocals i psicofísiques de la tradició índia i del Teatre de les Fonts de Grotowski. Taller dirigit per Abani Biswas, col·laborador de Grotowski del 1979 al 1983, amb la participació dels artistes de la companyia Milón Méla at Institut del Teatre. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 

June to September 2009

VIGILS. Participatory experience exploring Grotowski’s Paratheatrical work and Art as a vehicle as two dimensions of a research for unity. The work will be led by catalan artists who share a direct connection with the heritage of Jerzy Grotowski. The meetings will take place at the Parc Natural de Sant Llorenç del Munt. Coordinated by Anna Caixach. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

13, 14, 15 and 16 October 2009 at 16h
 

THE WORK OF THE ACTOR WITH GROTOWSKI: A CRAFT BEYOND THE FRONTIERS OF THEATRE

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES at Institut del Teatre, Teatre Scanner

 

The lectures will present, analyse and discuss the research of Grotowski in all its periods through the testimony and thoughts of Grotowski’s collaborators and expert scholars. Film projections of some of Grotowski’s  theatre productions, documentary films on the work of Grotowski and film documentation of the research at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards. Material presented for the first time in Spain.

 

13 and 14 October 2009 at 16h

From Poor Theatre to Paratheatre. Artistic experience gives way to human experience“

Ludwik Flaszen, literary adviser and co-founder, with Grotowski, of the Theatre of 13 Rows in Opole, Poland. Participant of Paratheatre and leader of paratheatrical project “Meditations aloud”. His writings include Teatr skazany na magię (1983), Głowa i mur (1958, confiscat per la censura), Cyrograf (1971), Il Teatr Laboratorium di Jerzy Grotowski 1959-1969, testi e materiali di Jerzy Grotowski e Ludwik Flaszen con un scritto di Eugenio Barba (2001).

Jenna Kumiega, was introduced to the work of the Laboratory Theatre by her Polish uncle in 1972, whilst on a visit to Wroclaw. Between 1975 and 1981 she undertook active research into the work of Grotowski during extended visits to Wroclaw, and on tour with the company in Italy, Poland and the UK. Her book “The Theatre of Grotowski” was published by Methuen in 1985.  Subsequently, she became involved in cultural development in rural parts of England, and has continued to work to increase cultural participation through local government and as a consultant. Currently, she also has a parallel career as a counsellor.

Inês Castel-Branco, PHD in Architecture with the dissertation "The theatrical space of the 60s. Revolution and ritual in the Living Theatre, Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski" (UPC, 2007). Since 2007 she is coeditor of  Fragmenta Editorial. Author of Camins efímers cap a l’etern. Interseccions entre litúrgia i art (Cruïlla, 2004) with the award Premi Joan Maragall 2003.   

 

15 and 16 October 2009 at 16h

Art as vehicle and the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards. A living research”

Antonio Attisani, professor of Theatre History at the University of Turin and author of numerous books and essays, most recently Un teatro apocrifo - Il potenziale dell’arte teatrale nel Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards (Medusa, 2006). His other research interests include Tibetan Theatre and the esoteric dimensions of the European avantgarde. A professional actor for many years, he currently contributes to the Open Program directed by Mario Biagini at the Workcenter. Member of the documentation team of the Workcenter from 2003. 

 Kris Salata, theatre director, researcher, and scholar. He holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Warsaw, Poland, an M.A. in Theatre Arts from San Diego State University, California, and a Ph.D. in Drama and Humanities from Stanford University, California. He has taught stage directing, acting, performance, modern drama, theory and criticism, dramaturgy, and several courses designed to combine practice and theory. He has worked at SDSU, Bowdoin College, Maine, and recently at Stanford University. His scholarly research focuses on phenomenology of performance, ontological and epistemological aspects of theatre practice, and theory and praxis of acting and directing. He has written on the legacy of Jerzy Grotowski. Salata’s work was published in Opere e Sentieri: Il Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards (Antonio Attisani and Mario Biagini eds., Bulzoni, 2007), Doorways: Performing as a Vehicle at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards (Lisa Wolford-Wylam and Mario Biagini eds., Seagull Press, 2009). His extensive interview with Grotowski’s successor, Thomas Richards, was published in Thomas Richards, Heart of Practice (Routledge, 2008). Together with Lisa Wolford-Wylam, Salata leads a working group, Performance as Research, at the American Society for Theatre Research. He is a guest editor of a special issue of TDR (Summer 2008). He works closely with the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in Pontedera, Italy.

Anna Caixach, researcher and artist. M.A. in Drama, Ph.D candidate at Institut del Teatre (Scenic Arts). In her dissertation Anna is developing a research on Art as vehicle and its connections to the ancient tradition of the “work on oneself”, with a Doctoral Research essay “Art as vehicle. The sacred dimension of performing arts” (Institut del Teatre, 2008). Curator and translator of the first book with essential texts of Grotowski translated into catalan, L’Art com a vehicle. Una recerca més enllà del teatre (2009, Fragmenta Editorial) and coordinator of the monographic volumes on Grotowski in spanish theatre journals “Estudis Escènics“, “Primer Acto” and “Entreacte” (2009).

 

A panel will take place after the lectures and at the end of the sessions a  dialogue with the audience will be opened.

 

19 October 2009 at 16h

Panel GROTOWSKI AND CATALONIA at Institut del Teatre, Teatre Scanner

Lluís Masgrau, Pere Planella, Jordi Coca, Inês Castel-Branco and Anna Caixach.

 

 

November 2009

Publication and launch of the book of texts of Grotowski L’Art com a vehicle. Una recerca més enllà del teatre (Art as vehicle. A research beyond theatre), edited by Inês Castel-Branco and Anna Caixach, Fragmenta, 2009.

 

December 2009

Publication and launch of the monographic volumes on Grotowski in theatre journals “Estudis Escènics”, “Primer Acto” and “Entreacte”. Coordinated by Anna Caixach

 

Any Grotowski

 

Laboratory Theatre of 13 rows, Akropolis, Opole 1962. Photo: Laboratory Theatre 

 

 

 

GROTOWSKI: BEYOND THEATRE

Curator and project coordinator: Anna Caixach

 

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MORE INFORMATION AND CONTACT:

 

www.anygrotowski.com

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Telf. 636 301 052

 

 

SPACES:

 

Institut del Teatre

Plaça Margarida Xirgu, s/n

08004 Barcelona

Parc Natural de Sant Llorenç del Munt

 

 

With the support of:

 

 

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Colaborators:

 

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