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2011 2012 ADAM MICKIEWICZ INSTITUTE | REPORT | SEASON 2011/2012 It was an excellent season for the growth of the Polska brand as well as for the development of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute’s reputation among our global partners. Paweł Potoroczyn, director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute The 2011/2012 season will be remembered as a period of great challenges and spectacular outcomes. With whole-hearted accountability, we can say today that through the success of the International Cultural Programme of the Polish EU Presidency we have gained a level of experience that prepares us to meet any challenge head on. This experience is already paying dividends, as evidenced by projects like Polska Arts Edinburgh 2012, Polska Music, the Asia Project and the latest concert tour of the I, CULTURE Orchestra. The International Programme of the Polish Presidency surpassed even our boldest expectations – 20 million spectators in 10 world capitals, more than 7,500 write-ups in the most influential media and hundreds of valuable new contacts. At the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, we do not speak about the success of the Presidency; we speak about its effects, thanks to which Poland now has a face and our national brand is ever more robust and ever more reflective of the most desirable traits. Equally important to us is the fact that, due to the geographic reach of the Presidency, we gained valuable and practical experience in the Far East, which we plan to capitalise on in upcoming seasons. Though the Presidency is now behind us, two of its pillar projects will continue to shine with a new lease on life and, thus, a new energy: the I, CULTURE Orchestra and the Karol Szymanowski project. Initially established for the duration of the Presidency, the orchestra composed of young musicians from Poland and countries of the Eastern Partnership met with such great enthusiasm from the public, critics and diplomatic circles that we decided to make it the Partnership’s de facto flagship institution. Garnering praise as one of the most interesting projects of the Presidency as well as of the entire music season, and being honoured with a distinction from the European Commission, it has been renewed as a long-term project. In the summer of 2012, a new edition of the ICO set out on a tour of Eastern Partnership nations, while the following season will see them visit the Baltic states. The Presidency also played a key role in the re-appearance of works by Karol Szymanowski in the repertoires of the world’s leading orchestras and in the most prestigious concert halls. The composer’s music resounded at the Royal Festival Hall and Cadogan Hall (London), La Monnaie and Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), Berliner Philharmonie, Theatreo Real (Madrid), Theatre de Chatelet and Salle Pleyel (Paris), the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Asahi Concert Hall (Tokyo), as well as the National Philharmonic of Belarus, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine and the Ukrainian National Opera. The London Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Szymanowski’s complete symphony cycle and both of his violin concertos, under the baton of Valery Gergiev, turned out to be real sensation at the Edinburgh International Festival. In the summer of 2012, as part of the Cultural Olympics, Poland had a strong presence at four Edinburgh festivals simultaneously – from the extremely popular and attendance-record-setting Fringe, to the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, the Edinburgh Art Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival (one of the world’s longest- running festivals). The Edinburgh International Festival was opened by the play Macbeth directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna. In all, Polish performances drew nearly 30,000 spectators at the massive international competition, with the Song of the Goat Theatre and Theatre ZAR winning awards in all of the most noteworthy categories. It was an excellent season for the growth of the Polska brand as well as for the development of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute’s reputation among our global partners. The strength and credibility of our institution are measured in the trust that other Polish and international institutions put in us, while our ISO certification is a formal assurance of our rigorous commitment to quality. In keeping with tradition and good practice, let us use this moment to thank the officials, colleagues and friends at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the various Polish Institutes and Polish diplomatic outposts throughout the world for their invaluable support, wise advice and gracious cooperation. season 2011/2012 CONTENTS KLOPSZTANGA KLOPSZTANGA 10 COMING SOON 12 THE COAL RIVIERA 16 PART BIBLE, PART RECIPE BOOK 20 COMPOSERS AT WORK 24 EDINBURGH CULTURAL OLYMPICS 28 POLISH JAZZ STORMS SCOTLAND 30 ASIA PROJECT POLISH MUSIC IN ASIA 36 GREAT MUSIC AND GREAT POLITICS 38 A COMPELLING EPITAPH 40 CHOPIN IN SEOUL 44 POLAND IN CLOSE-UP 48 THEATRE HYSTERICAlly ABOUT LOVE 52 WALPURGISNACHT IN NEW YORK 54 RUSSIA LOVES (A)POLLONIA 58 A TRIUMPH OF DIVERSITY 62 MUSIC MARIA RESURRECTED 66 SZYMANOWSKI LONDON-STYLE 68 CHOPIN REINVIGORATED 70 LIVERPOOL SOUNDS 74 POLISH WAVES ON THE ENGLISH CHANNEL 76 NEIGHBOURS AT THE GATE 80 ORCHESTRA JOINS EAST AND WEST 84 VISUAL ARTS AND EUROPE WAS STUNNED 90 AN INTENSELY POLISH PARIS 94 ACTION ABOVE OBJECT 96 DESIGNERS ON THE OFFENSIVE 100 A CRUISE TOWARD A BETTER LIFE 104 THE DEVIL IN THE HOTHOUSE 106 PUBLICATIONS PANUFNIK ON DISC AND ON PAPER 110 LUTOSŁAWSKI WITH THE BBC ORCHESTRA 111 POLAND FOR BEGINNERS 112 PRINTED MASTERPIECES 113 ABOUT US AMI CULTURE AWARD 116 THE HIGHEST QUALITY 118 XPERTIS FOR EXPERTS 120 STAFF STRUCTURE 120 2011/2012 BUDGET 122 KLOPSZTANGA AGATHERING BY THE CARPET BEATING RACK An immense presentation of contemporary Polish culture in North Rhine-Westphalia More than 70 cultural events were held in North Rhine-Westphalia as part of a large-scale presentation organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The programme aimed to expose German audiences to the young, experimental and avant-garde face of Polish culture. The project showcased Poland as a creative nation, full of artistic fervour, where many unique and unusual things come to life. Klopsztanga, as the project was named, is a Silesian word for carpet beating rack. In the past, both in Poland and in Germany, the carpet beating rack was the epicentre of community life. It was where childhood friendships were forged, first loves blossomed and crazy ideas were born. The carpet beating rack functioned like a network, like an early facebook. Klopsztanga. Poland without Borders 2012/2013 hopes to create just such opportunities for cultures to meet: without ceremony or proprieties. The presence of Polish culture in North Rhine-Westphalia was felt most intensely in April and June of 2012. Concerts, performances, exhibitions, screenings and discussions abounded in more than 20 cities, including Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bochum, Essen, Dortmund, Straelen, Unna and Witten. The large-scale project was inaugurated on 15 April 2012 with the FEST MIT POLEN event at the Schauspiel theatre in Cologne. The event featured concerts by Mitch & Mitch and Baaba, an exhibition of photography by Piotr Wójcik, Andrzej Tobis and Arkadiusz Gola, and a performance of the play “Sierakowski” by komuna//warszawa theatre. The evening’s rich programme was rounded out by special multimedia presentations and discussion panels. For the Klopsztanga project, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute did more than just organise presentations of Polish art in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Institute also made sure Polish artists and people of culture were present at all of the most noteworthy cultural events in the region. A series of discussions on Polish contemporary art was organised to coincide with the Art Cologne Fair on 18 – 22 April, while June and c July saw Polish musicians take the stage at the /o pop and Juicy Beats festivals respectively. Klopsztanga is just a prelude to long-lasting and regular cultural cooperation between Poland and North Rhine-Westphalia that will include coproductions in various fields of art (music, dance, theatre) and creative workshops. The Klopsztanga project is also significant from a political perspective – the events enable the German public to see Poland as a creative and modern country that acts as a moderator in the Mitch&Mitch concert at the inauguration dialogue between Western and Eastern Europe. of the Klopsztanga project photo: Marcin Oliva Soto COMING SOON! season 2011/2012 > klopsztanga (ARRIÈRE-GARDE) 012 COMING SOON (aRRIÈre-gArde) Uncertainty about the future, TEMPORARY GALLERY, COLOGNE, the anticipation of the end of 16 – 26 APRIL 2012 the way things are, not knowing what will come later – these are common elements of the works of art gathered at the Coming Soon exhibition at the Temporary Gallery in Cologne The exhibition is steeped in a sense of impending disaster, but it is Sometimes it’s difficult also a manifestation of artistic freedom and individuality. Like all to shake the disturbing of the projects organised by the Institute, it deals with vital social thought that Poland questions. In Cologne, Radek Szlaga exhibited burned automobiles, took on the task of which brought to mind the recent riots in the UK. Konrad Smoleński assimilating into old assembled an installation from microphones that emitted sound Europe too late, and thus, instead of capturing it – the work is titled “The End of Radio” and in vain. The European it uses simple imagery to show how, in the age of the Internet, the project is bursting at the traditional distinction between broadcaster and listener has been seams, and the West is irrevocably shattered. Jacek Malinowski’s film “Nosferatu – The silent about its future. Fearful Dictator” tells the story of a vampire who comes to Warsaw There is the feeling that to buy real estate (watching the film, one immediately thinks of we are learning a role investors and speculators, and the degree to which they dictate terms for a performance that is for ordinary people).