Zbigniew
Benedyktowicz,
To Render the Mystery Closer. An Interview with Włodzimierz Staniewski
Asked about his plans the artist develops
the motif of further stages of a trip to Greece and the sources of
the drama. He analyses the figure of Euripides, which will comprise
the focal point of a consecutive theatrical project. In response to
a question concerning the significance of his cooperation with Jerzy
Grotowski, dramatic departure and the foundation of his own theatre,
he outlines the differences between the Grotowski theatre and
“Gardzienice”, and describes his last meetings with J.
Grotowski.
Mariusz
Gołaj,
"Metamorphoses" - an
Actor's Notes
Collected reflections by one of the
"Gardzienice" actors referring to work on The Golden Ass.
Tomasz Rodowicz,
"Onou Orchesis" -
the Dance of the Ass. About Work on "Metamorphoses"
The author - one of the co-creators and
leading actors of the "Gardzienice" group - tells about
behind-the-scenes aspects and the history of a spectacle. The
titular spectacle, which undergoes an evolution, is the very essence
of a multi-motif project, the extract of years of arduous work,
wanderings down assorted cul-de-sacs, and the discovery in oneself
and others certain places that would have never been revealed
without this adventure. Frequently, completed and well-devised
episodes were rejected because they did not contain the element of
"life". The process of creation was always dominated by
openness towards the unbridled imagination and creativity of each of
the actors-authors, combined with complete trust towards the
ultimate decisions of the director.
Krystyna Bartol,
Poets'
Paideia
The range of use of the multi-semantic
Greek term paideia has been limited here to the exclusively
educational meaning, and here it means simply: "education"
"upbringing" or "forming". The expression "Poets'
paideia" included in the title of the paper reflects the
dichotomy, so characteristic of the residents of the ancient Hellas,
the discrepancy of their views on issues connected with the process
of artistic creation, being discernible in attempts to explain the
very nature of the poet's profession and its being special in
comparison with other aspects of human activity, and in definition
of the artists' mission towards the reader that relates
to the former's creation. The correlation of this diversity is the
twofold path along which the poetic paideia is produced, in
which the artist/creator is on the one hand a recipient of education,
being on the other the author of the upbringing process.
Thus,
in the first part of the paper the issues discussed will be the main
aspects related to the rationally inexplicable - in the Greeks'
opinion - moment when one actually becomes a poet, and also
presented will be the epic and lyrical incarnation of the topos -
the so-called Dichterweihe, along with the richness of its
initiatory and mystic references. The second part of the
dissertation will consider matters connected with the poetic docere
(teaching). These are understood as the stimulation of the
auditor, assisted by a divine authority, aiming at getting him
acquainted progressively deeper with those secrets of the art of
life that would not be available to him without the intermediation
of those who had been chosen by the Muses and Apollo.
Jerzy Danielewicz Table
Initiations
- Reflections on the Greek Symposion
The feast (repast), and in particular that
part which followed the main course (symposion), occupies a
special place in the culture of the ancient Greece. During the
archaic and classical epochs, which are best known to us today, a
series of features can be observed, which allow us to juxtapose and
compare the symposion with religious rituals and analyse it
as an esoteric institution, a selected society within which special
norms and customs applied (what is particularly notable being the
important role of homosexual relations between men). In the course
of initiation, features and qualities respected in the Greek polis
were formed, attributes particularly cultivated by the
aristocracy, since the symposion
derives many of its qualities from the period when the nobility held
a dominant position in the army, where the event functioned as an
aristocratic military "club". In the colourful "sympotic
space" there was a place not only for entertainment, but also
for paideia; an important instrument for the latter being
poetry, for the performance of which a symposion created both
a background and an opportunity.
Włodzimierz Lengauer
Dionysis
Kourotrophos? Initiations of
Male Youth in Ancient
Greece and the Cult of Dionysis
The characteristic feature of the Greek
Dionysis (one of many, to speak candidly) is his appearance in
female disguise and in a female form. Due to his character, the
god is described as dimorphos. This is not merely a matter of
fantasy among poets or mythographs but is an element of the rich
Dionysian mythology. The Dionysian rituals show such behavioral
examples of his worshippers, in which the traditional distinction
between the sexual roles of male and female is not observed. On the
other hand, it is well known that a blurring of the border between
sexes and a ritual transvestitism occur in many initiation rituals (which
is best proven by some marital rituals) connected with youth, or
rather with reaching full social maturity. Of Dionysian rituals,
such character is most discernible in the feast in
Patrai
as described by Pausanias (VII19.1-20.2)- It was assigned the
category of a youth initiation ritual by Gerhard Baudy.
Even before this, attention was drawn to
the possibility of associating the genesis of tragic choirs with
the initiation of youth (John Winkler). This view is rather
slenderly based and it was not accepted by the world of science, but
the relationship of Dionysus to the initiation of youth seems,
nonetheless, very close.
The point is that Dionysus neither looks
after the upbringing processes, nor has any noticeable relation with
sexual maturity among boys (as does Artemis in respect of girls), so
it is not dear why this god should be related to the social maturity
of youth. Such a relationship seems obvious with Hermes and Herades
(physical fitness, labour and combat), possible and probable with
Apollo (upbringing, education, the character of Apollo as the
original deity of the fratria), however, the relation of
Dionysus with maturity of young people may evoke reactions of
surprise.
It
seems that the answer to the question about the nature of and
reasons for this relationship should be sought first of all in the
very character of Dionysus as an ambivalent, ambiguous and very
often deceitful deity of the transition stages, a deity who himself
disturbs and restores the worldly order. Dionysus embodies and shows
to his worshippers the hazards of the savage world, and, at the same
time he shows the ways to control and use them. Therefore he is also
the god of social maturity, which should be developed by young
people, realizing its disadvantages and the danger of the stale in
which its basis can become weakened. Thus, Dionysian rituals may
also symbolize the path young people follow approaching maturity,
and how through the ritual distortion of normality they may affirm
its relevance. Also in this way Dyonisis may be considered a deity
of kourotrophos type.
Lech
Trzcionkowski,
The Demeter Mysteries in Attica (The
Lykomidai Rituals in Phyla - between Initiation and Mystery)
Ancient authors frequently mentioned the
mysteries which took place in the clan sanctuary of the Lykomidai in
the Attic deme of Phyla. The mysteries were held in two temples
located in a single holy circle: the first with altars of Apollo
Dionysodotes, Artemis Selasphoros, Dionysus Anthios, Nimphai
Ismenidai and Ge (Megale theos); the second temple contained altars
of Demeter Anasidora, Zeus Ktesios, Athena Tithrone, Kore Protogone
and Semnai Theai. The presence of numerous deities is connected by
the idea of the initiation of young people via wine and dance. The
whole ceremony was steered by Demeter and Zeus as the guardians of
the welfare of the community. Owing to their archaic character the
Phyla mysteries seem to be inscribed into a more general scheme
linking an introduction into the mystery of life and death with the
initiation rituals. Just as engrossing is the history of the
Lykomidai clan and sanctuary. The hall of initiation (telesterion)
was the common property of genos Lykomidai. Burnt down by the armies
of Xerxes (480 B, C.) it was rebuilt and decorated with murals by
Themistocles, a member of the clan (478-472). Writings of the
gnostic Sethian sect recall that during the Roman era the walls of
the portico featured a mural depicting Phaos chasing Phykola (gnostic
interpretation or impact). During the fourth century B.C. Methapos,
who came from Phyla, “revived” the celebrated mysteries in
Andania by introducing the myth of the Messenian origin of the
rituals performed in Athens. The Lykomidai chanted Orphic songs
during the rituals, including hymns to Eros ascribed to Pamphos
and Orpheus as well as a hymn to Demeter, written by Mousaioa. As a
boy, Euripides served in the sanctuary as a cupbearer, pouring wine
for the dancers. The possible impact of the theology of the Phyla
mysteries upon his hymn to the Mother in the tragedy Helena remains
within the sphere of suppositions.
Giovanni Cerri
Ancient Greek Poems on Nature and Mysteries'
Rituals
Careful reading of some fragments by
Empedokles and of the “Introduction” by Parmenides proves beyond
doubt that their poems about nature were, to a certain extent,
related to local rituals; that is, respectively: with the famous
Demetrian mysteries in Akragas (and, perhaps, also in Thurioi) and
in Eleia. Speaking more precisely - the doctrines of these
philosophers on the elements and existence should be presented
simultaneously both as an interpretation of divine systems and of
mythical tales specifically characteristic of these sanctuaries and
rituals. In this manner one can envisage, as far as archaic Greek
culture is concerned (or at least at some of its sites, particularly
in
Sicily
and in Greater Greece), a picture of a perfect harmony between
scientific research and religious beliefs - a harmony reached
through the technique of theological reinterpretation. Assumptions
found in some fragments of Xenophanes' works seem to be aimed in a
similar direction.
Warren D. Anderson The Ethical and Spiritual Aspects
of Ancient Greek Music
The
author discusses only two, briefly outlined aspects of ancient
Greek music, namely, its spiritual and ethical dimensions. Scarce
preserved fragments entitle us to surmise that one of the social
functions of traditional Greek songs was the transmission of moral
directives and teachings (cf. suitable fragments of the Iliad and
the Odyssey). The author also ponders whether and to what
extent it would be sensible to speak about spirituality in Old Greek
music considering that the modern division into material and
spiritual values has little in common with Greek mentality, and
blurs the perception of its specificity.
Leszek Kolankiewicz
Polish Spectacles and the Religion of
Dionysus
The problems broached in the text are
situated along the borderline between religious studies and
theatrology. Their point of departure consists of two issues: the
problematic nature of ancient Polish deities and the ideological and
staging aspects of Dziady (Forefathers' Eve), the arch-drama
by A. Mickiewicz. By resorting to the classical tripartite division
of Indo-European mythology devised by Dumezil, the author
reconstructed, upon the basis of a meticulous analysis of Old Polish
literature, the pantheon of Slavic deities, indicating the
incompatibility of the tripartite division in relation to Polish
mythology. Emphasis is placed on the distinctive presence in
Slavonic beliefs of deities protecting the spirits "in the
other world".
The author paid special attention to
connections between Polish annual rites associated with the
winter-spring cycle (the marked role played by women) and the
Athenian festivities in honour of Dionysus. L. Kolankiewicz claims
that
A. Mickiewicz
conducted numerous parallels both with the Greek Anthesteria and
rites known from descriptions of ethnographic exotica; "he
suddenly discerned Greek and Afro-American rites in his own county".
The writing of Dziady is comprehended as a myth-creating
process. The hero of the drama, "the Hero of the Poles'', is a
mythical hero, combining the ideas of rebirth, salvation and
redemption.
Krzysztof
Rutkowski Poetry
and Rite. The
world and Tradition according to Mickiewicz
Talking of transfer of tradition
takes us back to the Bible, and in particular to Genesis and the
myth of Adam and Eve about the creation of the body, the soul and
the language. The mystic Jewish tradition, but not only Jewish, paid
special attention at the bodily genesis of cognition, seeking the
reflection of all intellectual activity in bodily activities. Even
the most abstract theological categories have their roots in the
somatic structure of the human being. Transfer of tradition "from
hand to hand" - as Mickiewicz said at the Collège de
France - in other words contact of the living with the dead, or the Dziady
(a distant Lithuanian equivalent of Halloween - translator's
note) celebration - would be based on a careful, modest
reinterpretation of the promise included in the first Book of the
Old Testament and reading of the story about God's bodily sacrifice,
confirmed by the Evangelists.
Zbigniew Taranienko The
Golden Ass of "Gardzienice" - the Uncovering of the Face
of
Greece
A reflection
by an expert on the theatre and culture concerning The Golden Ass
- the most recent spectacle staged by "Gardzienice".
The point of departure of the spectacle, its pre-matter is
music - discovered and reconstructed musical fragments from the
fifth century B. C. to the third century A. D. In this case, the Metamorphoses
by Apuleius was only an inspiration, a pretext for a new
construction, and the spectacle is by no means a theatrical replica
of the classical text.
The
author maintains that in The Golden Ass Staniewski created
his own myth, produced in a creative dialogue with Greek tradition.
The "uncovering of the face of Greece" is simultaneously
the unveiling of oneself. The Golden Ass is certainly not a
contemporary version of a mystery, but rather a dialogic paideia.
Staniewski did not propose a mystery initiation, but disclosed
living tradition and showed the paths leading towards it.
Dariusz Kosiński
From,
in-between and Towards. "Mysteries and Initiations" Festival,
Krakow 2000
One of the more significant topics
discussed during the Mysteries and Initiations Festival was
the borderline between the theatre and the spectacle, on the one
hand, and religion and the rite, on the other hand. Key importance
is ascribed to the mystery comprehended (following the example of Włodzimierz
Staniewski) as a phenomenon possessing two aspects: esoteric (religious)
- intended for the initiated, and exoteric (spectacular), addressed
to the viewers. The reference of this definition to two events which
took place in the course of the Festival - the Santeri ritual and
the Whirling Dervish ceremony - demonstrates the diverse
determinants and ambiguities associated with the presence of the
traditional mystery within an alien cultural context. On the other
hand, Metamorphoses, featured by the "Gardzienice" Centre
of Theatrical Practices, proves to be a successful attempt at
creating a "new mystery" - a spectacle built by theatrical
means which revitalise those values that comprise the core of West
European culture.
Festival.
"Mysteries and Initiations" A panel discussion with the participation of
Krystyna Bartol
,
Jerzy Danielewicz
, Jacek Dobrowolski, Ireneusz Guszpit, Wieslaw
Juszczak, Tomasz Kubikowski, Włodzimierz Lengauer, Czesław Robotycki, Richard Schechner,
Włodzimierz Staniewski,
Zbigniew Taranienko
and Lech Trzcionkowski
A discussion conducted by specialists in
ancient Greece, mysteries, religion, and the anthropology of the
theatre. The topics include the Eleusian mysteries (L. Trzcionkowski),
and the engrossing interpretation motif in Bacchantes, the most
Dionysian tragedy by Euripides from the viewpoint of wisdom, sophia;
being wise is associated with the retention of moderation, sophronein
(
W. Lengauer
). An important motif is the distinction between the theatre and the
ritual, the possibility of the "unbelievers" or the "uninitiated"
taking part in a culturally alien rite, with emphasis placed on the
ethics of viewing a rite unintended for "outsiders". The
discussion frequently refers to the Afro-Cuban Santeria ritual,
seen on the previous day and performed by a specially invited Cuban
ensemble.
Michael Lambert
Ethics
in Classical Athens and
Traditional African Ethics: the Hermeneutic of Shame and Guilt
A text
read at the international Mysteries and Initiations Festival (Cracow 2000). The author embarked upon an
attempt at contrasting two ethical systems of the ancient
Athenians and contemporary Africans by asking whether upon the
threshold of a new millennium we are capable of
learning something from a comparison pertaining to
individualism and communitarianism, which could prove helpful for
shaping a new ethic of tolerance and sensitivity. A discussion of
the way in which such essential moral feelings as shame and guilt
function in those societies in which the community is more
important than the individual, and in those where the situation is
the opposite.
Jadwiga M. Rodowicz
The Song
as a Nucleus of the Actor's Work
on Stage
The article aims at the comparison between
the techniques used in the traditional Japanese No theatre and in
contemporary work conducted by Staniewski with his actors in the
"Gardzienice" Centre for Theatrical Practice, centered
around building the theatre language (the actor's expression) on
the basis of the song. The fundamental component is the "song-like
phrase" (Polish: zaśpiew), regarded as equal to the ku
element in No. The bigger unit is a whole song (poem), which
serves building the dialogue between actors on stage, while the
exchange of songs leads, in both forms, to constructing a chain of
pictures (metaphors) giving rise to dramatic tension. Thus, very
much in a way similar to No drama, the dramatic text aims not so
much at the reconstruction of events, but rather at compressing
images and metaphors into a sequence that ultimately culminates at
the "breakthrough" of the final scene. In terms of
performance technique, the used method seems to follow the rule of jo-ha-kujo-ha-ku
(introduction-development-rapid climax), as devised by Zeami.
Strong prevalence of music over semantics can be observed in the
formation of the two theatrical forms, and it is music, intricate
in theatre material, and not the literary text that gives the basic
meaning to what the audience perceives. Music precedes and
articulates all theatre language. This factor once again influences
actor's work on himself (the role), since he has to concentrate
simultaneously on rhythm, building the metaphor, and dialogue with
objects (partners and objects in his memory/imagination).
The outcome changes the whole paradigm of
the presence of dramatis personae (scattered throughout the
material).
Trust
and a Return to the Beginning.
Piotr Machul
talks
with Maciej Rychły about Work on Music to Carmina Burana and Metamorphoses
For past several years Maciej Rychły has
been responsible for the music in the spectacles staged by
"Gardzienice" theatre, i.e. Carmina Burana and Metamorphoses.
In the interview, M. Rychły presents the assorted motifs of
his collaboration with the Włodzimierz Staniewski group,
drawing attention to the fact that the point of departure was music
played jointly after a spectacle, i.e. the Gathering - one of the
basic artistic practices of the "Gardzienice" theatre.
From the very beginning, the “Gardzienice” Group was interested
in various types of music - folk, Russian Orthodox liturgy,
mediaeval and classical Greek. M. Rychły underlines the fact that
"Gardzienice" is primarily a musical theatre, a feature
unnoticed by many critics. He pays particular attention to the music
used in Metamorphoses, and refers to work with Howard Brenton
and the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as the Excursion to Egypt,
work with the actors during rehearsals, and attempts at
reconstructing music recorded on stone and papyri. Finally, M. Rychły
recalls the relation between the music of ancient Greece and Arabia,
the theory of rhythm, and the so-called human second.
Work on every "Gardzienice"
spectacle changes not only the musical material, but also the actors'
training and dramaturgy. This neither a revolution nor an evolution.
"This is trust and a return to the beginning" - M. Rychły
declares.
Jan Staszewski
Music
of Greek Antiquity,
"Gardzienice" and Maciej Rychły
The "phonosphere" (the sound and
musical aspects) of the spectacle Metamorphoses,
staged by the theatre in Gardzienice, is the work of Maciej Rychły.
Its extraordinariness consists of the fact that this is by no means
a simple attempt at recreating ancient Greek music upon the basis of
extant sources, but a combination of old Greek material, musical
archaisms and Oriental themes (mainly Balkan}, preserved in oral
tradition and invented by the composer. The phonosphere of Metamorphoses
can and should be considered within the context of antecedents (such
as historicism, Orientalism and folklorism) and as an artistic
proposal.
A Dance with Tradition as if with the François
Vase. A Conversation
about "Gardzienice" and
Metamorphoses with the participation of
Krystyna Bartol
, Anna Wyka,
Zbigniew Benedyktowicz
,
Jerzy Danielewicz
,
Jacek Dobrowolski
, Ireneusz Guszpit, Dariusz Kosiński, Tomasz Kubikowski, Włodzimierz
Langauer, Czesław Robotycki,
Tomasz Rodowicz
, Maciej Rychły, Włodzimierz Staniewski,
Zbigniew Taranienko
,
Lech Trzcionkowski
, Magdalena Bartnik,
Agata Zyglewska
and Paweł Passini.
An
account of the conversation held at the beginning of this year in
Gardzienice. The participants continued certain motifs from a panel
discussion in Cracow, but primarily focused on three issues:
1. My experiences of cooperation with „
Gardzienice";
2. Opinions and declarations about Metamorphoses;
3. The
significance and role of initiation and mysteries in contemporary
culture.
The speakers emphasised the relation
between tradition and contemporaneity, folk and ancient culture, the
anthropology of culture, hermeneutics and the theatre.
Agata Zyglewska "A Dance with Tradition...". Commentary to Some Topics Discussed during
the Panel
A polemic with certain statements made
during a discussion panel held after the Cracow festival Mysteries and Initiations; the discussion took place in the Centre
of Theatrical Practices in Gardzienice and concerned the Afro-Cuban
Santeria cult ritual presented during the Mysteries...
Howard Brenton
Give the Donkey Roses
The comments and impressions of the
literary director of the Royal Shakespeare Company concerning his
several-year long cooperation with Włodzimierz Staniewski and the
"Gardzienice" Theatrical Society in
connection with a spectacle based on The Golden Ass by
Apuleius. Unfortunately, due to financial reasons the jointly
prepared staging was never realised. The original article appeared
in Hot Irons. Diaries,
Essays, Journalism,
London
1998.
Zbigniew
Taranienko Twenty
Years of "Gardzienice"
A summary of the main motifs of a book
concerning the "Gardzienice" Centre of Theatrical Practice.
The author reconstructed in detail the activity of the Centre from
its first theatrical undertakings to most recent spectacles. He
recalled the beginnings of the "Gardzienice" ventures (Excursions,
Gatherings, Training and
Workshops) and presented briefly the origin and
elementary meaning of successive spectacles (The Evening
Spectacle, Sorcery, The Life of Avvakum the Priest, and Carmina
Burana).
Z.
Taranienko
tried to justify the thesis that despite
numerous opinions the "Gardzienice" phenomenon is
primarily theatrical, A special part is played by two elements: the
new, "organic" conception of acting and the distinctive
presence of music and songs. A further characteristic feature of
"Gardzienice" is the ecological dimension of its activity:
"The ensemble cultivates the ecology of the body and the spirit,
focused on theatrical practice via creativity, realised in
the presence of the Earth and the Sky, all the phenomena of Nature,
animals and plants. It evokes the spectacles, teaches how to notice
oneself, the others and all that which surrounds us - the Theatre
and, simultaneously, the world."
Alison Hodge Włodzimierz.
Staniewski: "Gardzienice" and the Naturalised Actor
The original article appeared in Twentieth
Century Actor Training (ed. by Alison Hodge, Routledge 2000).
The author considers the specificity of work with an actor in the
"Gardzienice" Centre of Theatrical Practices, where he is
subjected to a specific training, a “naturalisation” linked with
contact with the natural environment and native culture, based on
the principle of musicality and mutuality.
Lucjan Świetlicki
From
the History of Gardzienice
A
lecture given for students of the
Academy
of
Theatrical Practices
in Gardzienice by a teacher - historian from Piaski. The main theme
of the lecture is local history, important events and celebrities
who had lived in or passed through Gardzienice as well as the
wartime history of the local Jews.
Carol Martin
Another Kind of Metamorphosis
A very personal and emotional attempt at
deciphering the "Gardzienice" version of Metamorphoses,
which the author perceives primarily as a play about the
restoration of memory. To remember means to lament. Mourning is a
way of reviving the existence of someone or something which died and
is lost. Metamorphoses bring back to life the vital
experiences of the ancient Greek theatre.
The author deliberates on the aptness of
the thesis proposed by Włodzimierz Staniewski, who maintains that
the spirituality of Eastern Europe is closer to the archaic Greek
traditions than the Western world. She tries to understand why the
prewar Jewish world, at first glance so close to the Poles, has not,
so far, become a living part of our memory; and why we had not
embarked upon the task of collective mourning.
Jacek Dobrowolski
Metamorphoses
and Misunderstandings
A reply to Carol Martin's critique of
ignoring the influence of Jewish culture by Gardzienice in their
latest performance Metamorphoses and basing it on Greek
culture instead. The critique is a misunderstanding as Greek drama
inspired Polish theatre much more than Jewish prototheatrical
Chassidic influence, or Purim festivals. Also Chassidic music and
dances did not influence Polish folk music and dances. Quite on the
contrary it was Polish folk music (krakowiak and mazurek dances)
that influenced Jewish musicians. The only musical Jewish influence
in popular music was that of klezmer city folk music in the 19th and
20th c.
Gardzienice
Stories,
prep. by Arkadiusz Cholewa
Collected material concerning assorted
Gardzienice stories, including statements made by local residents
about the history of Gardzienice village.
Jacek Dziekan
Esoteric Privacy. On Ways of Building "Personae Dramatis" in "Carmina
Burana" at the "Gardzienice" Centre of Theatrical
Practices
In his reflections on the phenomenon of
acting in Carmina Burana
the author compares ways in which the actor is guided by
Jerzy Grotowski and Włodzimierz Staniewski. The former accentuated
the process of bringing forth a different "I" of the actor,
while the latter tries to confront the actor's privacy with the
reality of art.
Włodzimierz Staniewski
Director's
Notes: "The Life of Avvakum the Priest", "Carmina
Burana", "Metamorphoses"
The director's remarks and commentaries
about the above listed spectacles.
Around "The Life of Avvakum the Priest".
Monika
Kubat talks
to Jerzy Nowosielski
The
interview with Professor Jerzy Nowosielski is composed of a thematic
collection of questions, all of which focus on the icon, but aim
towards the theatre. The icon is a living image, brimming with light
and suffused with mysticism and the spirit, but also with pathos (suffering)
and human drama. It contains the frenzied gestures of the prophets
and decipherable traces of man. Professor Nowosielski envisages
creativity as something quire unexceptional, a way of living, and
the ever subconscious realisation of classical tradition.
Monika Kubat Sacral
Space and Theatrical Space
The presented symbolic of liturgical space
serves the discovery, within the experiences and forms of the
theatre, of the sacrum characteristic for each of the arts.
The theatrical space of The Life of Avvakum the Priest is a
devised liturgical space. The space of the theatre - the site of the
spectacle - intermingles with the space of liturgy on assorted
levels, and transmits tension between that which is secular and that
which is sacral. In its rhythm, variability and multi-level nature
of events Russian Orthodox liturgy is very close to the theatrical
spectacle.
Mira Żelechower-Aleksiun
Cosmos
- Gardzienice
My - Our Gardzienice, an exhibition
displayed in the Miejska Gallery in Wrocław in 1995, launched the
stage design space entitled Cosmos, realised in Berlin at the
Theater der Welt in the church of St. Matthew (1999). Inspired by Włodzimierz
Staniewski, the interior of the basilica was arranged in such a way
as to feature the Gardzienice mist-enshrouded meadows, resounding
with the echoes of spectacles created from the very beginning of the
ensemble, such as Avvakum and Carmina Burana. Together
with musicians from the Bieszczady Mts., the actors ended the
meeting by dancing together with the audience. Part of the space was
devoted to an exhibition of paintings by Mira Żelechower-Aleksiun,
a friend and collaborator of "Gardzienice"; the displayed
works comprised simultaneously a backdrop for the presentation of
the spectacles. Each evening, this space was utilised in a different
manner.
Agata Zyglewska
Academy of Theatrical Practices
A synthetic description of the emergence
and activity of the
Academy
of
Theatrical Practices
at the “Gardzienice” Theatre. A brief presentation of
differences between two consecutive two-year courses held at the
Academy demonstrates the trend of the latter's evolution.
Maria Fogler
The "Gardzienice" Centre of Theatrical Practices as an Example
of Hermeneutic Activity in the Theatre
With Gadamer's definition of hermeneutics
conceived as the art of explanation, direct communication, and the
overcoming of the spiritual distance between people and epochs as
the point of departure, the author demonstrates that
"Gardzienice" could be treated as an example of the
hermeneutic theatre. The Centre conducts a "translation"
of traditional culture (currently, also antiquity) into the language
of theatrical staging by perceiving the "monuments" of
that culture as still topical carriers of all-human values and
meanings.
Piotr Machul
Little Dictionary of Terms of the "Gardzienice" Centre of
Theatrical Practices (rough
version)
An attempt at preserving the terminology
used by the "Gardzienice" artists, endowed with the "lightness
of metaphor", as well as scientists observing and describing
the undertakings of the group. "Konteksty" publish only
select lexemes, for example: "ethno-oratorium", "ejaculatory
prayers", or "the Gathering". The presented text is
a fragment of a larger whole; the Dictionary is not a
collection of definitions that may serve as a foundation for
describing the "phenomenon" of Gardzienice. From its very
outset the Staniewski Theatre has evaded all classifications.
Viliam Dočolomanský God
Lives in Poland
A synthetic statement concerning the
"Gardzienice" phenomenon written by a young Slovak
director after participating in the "Gardzienice"
theatrical workshops and seeing the Gardzienice Cosmos, composed, i.
a. of the three last spectacles: Avvakum, Carmina Burana and Metamorphoses.
Przemysław Sieraczyński
Taming the Actor
The author interviewed up to twenty
inhabitants of Gardzienice. His text presents and discusses their
statements reflecting assorted attitudes towards actors of the
Centre of Theatrical Practices, reactions to spectacles and the
degree of the identification of the ,,natives" with the once
"alien" arrivals. Despite certain critical opinions, the
theatre presumably became for many of the residents of Gardzienice
an important part of their local identity,
Mariusz
Gołaj
Records
from a Gardzienice Cottage
A description
of the life and theatre career of a "Gardzienice" actor.
Tomasz Rodowicz
On the Ambiguity of Connections between
Art and Sacrum
In his loose notes the actor ponders the
borderline of art and religion, and the possibility of the
existence of the two orders.
Wojciech Michera
Tradition
and Contemporaneity. The
Actor
A discussion
of the relation between tradition and contemporaneity. Tradition
denotes continuum and persistence, but also severance, "betrayal"
and unavoidable change. In relation to tradition contemporaneity
must either assume the stand of a ruthless guardian or opt for a
hermeneutic, interpreting attitude. In the first part of the text
the author applies as the model of the phenomenon in question one of
the scenes in Agamemnon by Aeschylus: the description of the
fire telegraph made by Clytemnestra. Next, he inscribes into this
model artistic (musical and theatrical) attempts at "reviving
tradition", the reconstruction of forgotten performance models.
Finally, by referring to texts by Hannah Arendt and Jean Beaufret,
he considers the important caesura in the history of European
culture: the transition from Greek to Latin, pondering the
difference between the Greek and Latin conception of "activity"
as well as presenting the concealed existential meaning of Latin
words derived from ago, agere, egi, actum, and, primarily,
the word actor.
Albert Hunt
,,Gardzienice'. An Introduction
The original version has been published in
English in Arts Archives,
Exeter 1993
Gardzienice.
Włodzimierz Staniewski in
Conversation with Peter Hulton
A slightly altered and abbreviated
conversation held by Włodzimierz Staniewski and Peter Hulton
concerning the philosophy, sources of inspiration and prime motifs
of the work pursued by ,,Gardzienice". The original version has
been published in English in Arts
Archives, Exeter 1993.
Excerpts from notes on book about
"Gardzienice" by
Z. Taranienko
Zbigniew
Taranienko How
I
wrote "Gardzienice..."
A unique self-reflection and hermeneutic of the author's
book about "Gardzienice": Gardzienice.
Praktyki
teatralne Włodzimierza Staniewskiego (Gardzienice.
The Theatrical Practices of Włodzimierz Staniewski, Lublin 1997). The
presented publication is the outcome of years-long interest in the
work pursued by the Centre, as well as conversations with the actors
and the creator, aimed at bringing forth the methodological premises
of the undertakings of the theatrical group, engaged in trying to
solve anew the problems of acting, the borderline between reality
and non-reality, or language. The purpose was to create a borderline,
dialogic work in which assorted voices supplement each other. The
author consciously assumed the role of a subject influencing the
object of the studies, thus becoming, for all practical purposes,
the "midwife" of Staniewski's aesthetics, its "
author" intent upon translating the living work into the word.
The book contains different types of narrative - not only documents
conceived as available source material, but also methodological
ascertainments motivated by means of philosophical opinions
concerning the state of contemporary art and the methods of its
examination.
Błażej Matusiak OP Wine
from the Broken Vase
Błażej Matusiak regards the recording
made by “Gardzienice” and Maciej Rychły: Metamorphoses.
Music of Ancient Greece to
be truly extraordinary, and best characterised by such terms as “a
wild element, a distinctive rhythm”. Some of the compositions
bring to mind children's counting rhymes. Matusiak wrote: “Lyrical
and hieratic chants, cries and whispers, together with heavy
breathing treated as another musical mean - all this brings
,,Gardzienice" close to experiments conducted by Meredith Monk”.
The “Gardzienice” record intoxicates like excellent wine.
Lidia
Kuchtowna
The Diplomatic
Mission
of Karol Frycz in the
Far East
In September 1919
Karol Frycz (1877-1965), painter, graphic
artist, author of posters and caricatures, a representative of the
applied and sacral arts, and stage designer, was nominated member of
a Polish diplomatic mission as a press attaché (the plenipotentiary
in Siberia and the Far East was Józef Targowski). From February to
April 1920 the mission was active in
Harbin
, and from 1920 additionally in
Shanghai. In August 1920, the Polish legation in Tokyo initiated diplomatic
relations between Poland and Japan. While in China Frycz published
polemics with the Bolshevik press and repelled anti-Polish attacks.
In Japan, he gave a series of lectures about Poland at the
universities of Kyoto and Tokyo. He penetrated the mysteries of the
Far East and became acquainted with the Chinese and Japanese theatre.
His diplomatic mission, which came to an end in February 1921, was
described in more than seventy articles.
Jerzy S. Wasilewski A Description
of
China
. The Travelling Ethnologist
The account as the last and most pleasant
part of the journey, on par with preparations for an expedition.
Both pleasures overlap, The preparations involve hearing someone's
reports, reading descriptions made by predecessors, and building
one's own imagery upon their basis. After all, the reason for
travelling lies in the wish to check our earlier images. We set off
because we feel the need to react to this personal signal, to
respond to individual challenges, and to heed a vocation even if its
source might seem suspicious.
Aleksander Jackowski
My
Map of the Country and Environs
The
author is a member of a jury established by the Foundation of
Culture for the Small Fatherlands Competition, whose purpose is the
appreciation of assorted local social and cultural initiatives. The
text describes several of the most interesting awarded proposals; at
the same time, it presents localities visited upon other occasions.
The contemporary image overlaps with reminiscences of past sojourns
in places essential for the history of Poland: Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, Oświęcim,
Treblinka, Jordanów-Wysoka, Nadrzecze, Rzepczyno and Stockholm.
Krystyna Duniec The
Non-existent Generation. The Young Theatre of the 1990s
The text discusses the young Polish theatre
represented by Anna Augustynowicz, Agnieszka Glińska, Grzegorz Jarzyna and Krzysztof Warlikowski. Having rejected the conception of
the theatre conceived as a political forum, a national vocation and
great ideas, the contemporary theatre seeks new ways of speaking
about the world. In an epoch of great political, social and moral
transformations it inscribes the world into a paradigm of daily life
and privacy, and refers to a hero with whose problems the young
member of the audience may identify himself. Augustynowicz creates a
theatre delving into the problem of social violence, Glińska opts
for subtle psychodramas, Warlikowski wishes to produce a theatre
which would "get under the skin", while Jarzyna maintains
that the theatre is supposed to "vomit reality". The
present-day theatre is ruled by physiology, rhythm, and the body,
and the contemporary drama is no longer supported by transcendence,
metaphysics or a cohesive system of values, but reflects
difficulties with establishing interpersonal ties and moral
relativism.
Maria Prussak
Between Fredro and Słowacki
The article considers the structure of the
verse in Wesele (The Wedding) by Stanisław Wyspiański and ensuing additional meanings essential for
the whole work. Wesele, written in irregular verse, is
dominated by the trochaic octosyllable, although the latter does not
produce a uniform pattern. By differentiating the metre Wyspiański
referred to manners of rendering speech rhythmical, vividly marked
in literary and theatrical tradition, and predominantly to Fredro's
verse in Zemsta (Reprisal) and the mystical dramas by Słowacki.
In the Wesele text we may easily observe how Fredro's rhythm,
prevailing in the opening scenes of the first act, gradually changes
into Słowacki's rhythm from Sen srebrny Salomei (The Silver Dream
of Salomea) with certain references to the second part of Dziady
(Forefathers' Eve), discernible in the first scenes with the
Strawman. In this way, Wyspiański included into his play a dialogue
with the tradition of die Romantic drama, existing in the nineteenth-century
theatre due to Fredro and in literary memory thanks to Słowacki. At
the same time, he confronted the different visions of the world
occurring in the texts by those authors and in the consciousness of
the spectators of his own drama.
Adam Nawierski Węgajty
- between Theatre and Ritual? Comments on the Margin of the
Spectacle "Ludus Paschalis"
The author considers the relation between
the theatre and the ritual. His description of Ludus Paschalis, shown
in the cathedral basilica in Kielce (27 May 2001) by the Schola of
the Węgajty Rural Theatre, expresses doubts as regards the
possibility of recreating a ritual. The form of the mediaeval
liturgical drama, envisaged as a bridge leading to the ritual
sources of the theatre, reveals its small capacity - quite possibly,
the reason lies in the ontological divergence between the essence of
Christian liturgy and theatrical ventures.
Aleksander Jackowski
"The Sun will Faint from Sudden
Fear... " - The Apocalypse according to Chełmowski
Józef
Chełmowski is the author of the remarkable Apocalypse Panorama, painted
in the course of three years on six scrolls 55 metres long and
79 cm
high (1992-1994). The artist translated the Revelation of St.
John into the language of images, numbering each scene and
adding brief information about its contents. The author claims that The
Apocalypse contains the whole theology of mankind. The work is
based on a
translation from the Greek by Czesław Miłosz. Chełmowski, a
farmer from the Tucholskie Forest, is also a folk naive theologian,
philosopher, painter and sculptor.
Aleksandra Melbechowska-Luty The
Doomsday of Polish Artists
An exhibition entitled The Last Judgment,
held in Warsaw at the turn of 1999, was inspired by the end of
the millennium and by Hans Memling's The
Last Judgment, featured at the National Museum. The works of
eight artists were displayed in four galleries: in the
"Kordegarda" Gallery
Magdalena Abakanowicz
showed twenty headless Marching human figures. The walls of
the "Pokaz" Gallery were covered with a "frieze"
composed of drawings, engravings, collages and posters by Eugeniusz
Get Stankiewicz, all representing remarkable workshop mastery. The
"Studio" Gallery featured numerous canvases by Edward
Dwurnik, imbued with kindly or scathing irony, the grotesque and
mockery, as well as large installations by Isabella Gustowska - Travelling (recalling the scales carried by the Archangel Michael),
and seven expansive canvases by Gabriela Morawetz, portraying a
magnified man-phantom. Jerzy Kalina used the walls of the
"Teatr Akademii" Gallery for creating an imposing
spectacle of the performance art genre - man's journey towards the
gates of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven along steps glowing with burning
fires. The same gallery also displayed works by Zuzanna Janin -
installations and paintings made of fragile material, and Jacek
Sempolinski, who showed mysterious portraits and self-portraits
expressing inner dramas, concealed desires, and "man's struggle";
his intimate sketches of nudes contrasted with self-portraits,
offering penetrating testimony of absolute humanity.
Aleksandra Melbechowska-Luty
An Apology of Degraded Contemplation.
On Two "Melancholies"
by
Cyprian Norwid
Cyprian
Norwid (1821-1883), Polish poet, playwright, prose writer,
theoretician of art, thinker, painter, draughtsman, graphic artist
and sculptor was one of the greatest national men of letters and, at
the same time, a creator enrooted in European tradition and
contemporaneity. Since 1842 Norwid lived abroad: in Italy, Germany,
Belgium, England, the United States, and, longest of all, in France.
In his oeuvre the word and the image - in their intellectual
and spiritual dimension - merge into a cohesive entity, producing a
unique symbiosis of the arts. Motifs and keywords used in prose
penetrate the plastic arts. Here we encounter galleries of
characters (sages, prophets, etc.), images of ruins, eschatological
motifs, the figure of the Crucified, and personifications of death
and Satan. One of the prime motifs was the concept of melancholy,
associated with despair and depression, but also with reticence,
reflection, concentration and contemplation. This is the theme of
the engraving Solo (Melancholy) and a small oil composition
depicting Saturn measuring the Earth with a compass (1873-1883). Solo
(1861), inspired by Dürer's Melancholy I,
deals with the fate and condition of Polish society prior to the
outbreak of the Uprising of
1863. In
Saturn the fundamental question are two elements steering
life, and identified as theory and practice, contemplation and
activity, as well as the antonyms of, and links between ideas. Solo
and Saturn - the Geometrician are allegorical portrayals of
thinking creatures, immersed in melancholy reflection and shown as an
apology of "degraded contemplation".
Andrzej Pieńkos The
Volcanic Spectacles of Nature in Modern
Art
An analysis of the enormous popularity of
the phenomenon and image of the erupting volcano (Vesuvius, Etna) in
eighteenth-century art. The author places this phenomenon against
the background of the Enlightenment-era "culture of the
spectacle", in which
a special part was performed by catastrophic spectacles staged by
Nature.
The execution of volcanic eruptions was
very frequently connected with research expeditions, and aesthetics
became an unexpected ally of scientific studies. Artists often
discover the purely aesthetic qualities of natural phenomena, a
tendency which could be comprehended as compensation of the
progressing waning of the sacrum in European sensitivity.
The motif of the erupting volcano rapidly
grew banal, and in the course of the nineteenth century became part
of popular visual production.
Jacek
Jan Pawlik SVD
The
Puppet in Burial
Rites
Burial
rites are regarded as one of the culturally richest ritual practices,
which frequently do not end with the funeral itself, but are
continued. Frequently, in the course of further rites, the puppet
becomes a substitute of the body and resembles the deceased, e. g. a
photograph replaces the face. The author compares the use of puppets
in burial rites in a number of cultures from different parts of the
world: the Luiseño Indians (California), the Basari (Togo),
the Newari (Nepal), and the Sulawesi (Indonesia), as well as the
cult of the dead in Mexico. The puppet does not merely emulate the
deceased, but is frequently identified with him and treated as his
soul or other component.
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