Miesiąc: kwiecień 2022

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„In a Gris no. 6” is a magazine created by women serving prison sentences in the Warsaw Grochów Detention Centre as well as various visual artists. We have been publishing this unique irregular
magazine since 2013.

In 2022, we prepared issue no.6 in cooperation with artists from the Department of Graphics at the SWPS University of Humanities and Social Sciences in Wrocław. In addition to 20 ladies from the Grochów prison, the project was joined by a group of men from the Penitentiary Institution in Wołów and ladies from the Remand Prisons in Goleniów and Opole as well as the Penitentiary Institution in Lubliniec.

The editor-in-chief of the 6th issue is Ewa Frączek-Biłat. The authors and contributors are:
Alicja, Bebe, Bonita, Dawid, Eveline, Fruzia, Helenka, Iza-Iwi, KŻ, Majka, Malina, Małgosia, Miszania, Monika, Pełnoletnia, Siemion, Świeżynka, Wiewióra, Zołza, Zośka.

The authors of the illustrations are: Paulina Adamczyk, Anna Birecka, Julia Gwacka, Małgorzata Jabłońska, Darren Kruk, Oliwia Macińska, Weronika Naskręt, Justyna Przybylska, Małgorzata
Raczyńska, Oleksandra Savkina, Agnieszka Semaniszyn-Konat, Piotr Szewczyk, Ewa Tomaszkiewicz, Anastasiya Tupik, Paulina Węgrzyn, Kaja Wojciechowska.

The artistic director is Małgorzata Jabłońska. The author of the graphic design and layout is Piotr Szewczyk.
Programmatic supervision over the preparation of the issue was provided by Lt. Ewa Smolińska from the Detention Centre in Warsaw Grochów, as well as by guest contributors – Lt. Mariusz
Hawrot (Penal Institution in Goleniów), Lt. Iwona Bawolska (Penal Institution in Wołów) and Pvt. Wioletta Szczęśniak (Detention Centre in Opole).

Issue no.6 of „W Kratkę” was printed by MuruGumbel Printing House.
Courtesy of the Central Board of Prison Service, printed copies of the magazine are available in all prisons in Poland. The digital version of issue 6 as well as previous issues are available
HERE.

” W Kratkę” no. 6. was financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Cultural Promotion Fund.

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I know everyone hurts, but it’s not my fault

Even some Tuwim was hurt

But in my life, I’m the king

So I’ll tell you what hurts me and what my pain is

Seba

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Those who won’t be able to come can watch it online :).]

I live in MOW, you have to understand this

I know everyone hurts, but it’s not my fault

Even some Tuwim was hurt

But in my life, I’m the king

So I’ll tell you what hurts me and what my pain is

Seba

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“I live in MOW, you have to understand this” is an unusual project: language competence workshops conducted for boys from the Orionist Priests’ Youth Education Centre in Warsaw, finished with a rap concert.

We ran a series of Polish language classes which resulted in a rapped performance – a concert. About what? About the lives of the boys living in a Youth Centre. Their stories, their pains, their desires. Sounds cliché? It’s a very deep story, full of pain and hope, which was put into rhymes and presented to a wide audience on stage of the Comedy Club in Warsaw. It was a little bit recited, a little bit improvised.

Polish language teacher and poet Ewa Frączek-Biłat conducted Polish language classes, during which the young people learned about the classical writers’ works, as well as literary means, which they later used to write their own texts.

Rapper and radio journalist Mateusz Fuczyło led workshops sessions on creating rhymes and rapping.

Actress, trainer and improviser Kinga Kosik Burzyńska directed the concert, which was the finale of the entire project.

At the final phase of the work, the boys from the Barska Youth Centre were joined by girls from the Youth Centre on Strażacka Street. The girls presented their own lyrics, which they had written one year earlier, as part of the ’12 stories about ME’ project.

A lot of great lyrics were created, which allowed the young people to talk about themselves. A lot of rehearsals are behind us, and the concert, which took place on 22 October 2022 at the Comedy Club in Warsaw, was the culmination of the hard work of all the people involved in the project: artists, performers, the centres’ alumni and their tutors.

The texts were presented by:

Kuba, Wiki, Sabina, Turek, Mateusz/Jasin, Kamil, Paula, Dima, Kasia, Dorota, Jasmina.

The 'I live in MOW, you have to understand it’ concert was recorded by Robert Olszański.

The project was implemented by us, Fundacja Dom Kultury, in cooperation with the Comedy Club, the Orionist Priests’ Youth Education Centre, and Youth Education Centre No. 2.

It was an extraordinary event preceded by extraordinary preparations.

2022 r.

'I live in MOW, you have to understand it’ was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage within the framework of the programme 'Ojczysty – dodaj do ulubionych. Edition 2022′.

Concert documentation Justyna Domasłowska Szulc

Concert documentation Małgorzata Brus

Concert documentation Zuzanna Brus

Photos: Małgorzata Brus

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Partners

 

„Romani Kultura” is a travelling festival of contemporary Roma art and culture. In 2022, we visited Łódź in order to present the works of the Roma community from the Łódź area to a wider audience.

 

Wandering with culture around Poland!

When the question is asked about Roma traditions and culture, what comes to our minds most often? If we were to survey the people of our country, a very popular answer would probably be music and dance! I state this with confidence, having worked among the Roma, Roma artists, and the Polish public for almost 20 years.
Almost two years ago in Radom, Małgorzata Brus from Fundacja Dom Kultury and I were having a nice chat during a film animation workshop for Roma children. In these interesting circumstances, it occurred to us that we should organise a festival of Roma culture in the near future and present authentic, but also the most characteristic, well-known elements of Roma culture. But to do this in a less obvious way so as not to create further stereotypes.
This is not an easy task. The schematic image of Roma life is so vivid in the imaginations of many audiences that it is sometimes difficult to present something quite different, but just as true. Generations born in the 1980s and 1990s, not to mention older ones, know what I mean. The famous „colourful carts” roamed Poland practically until the mid-1970s, also the colourful dresses were present on Polish stages, more or less a decade earlier. This distinctive image, present and popular in our country, made its way into the domestic mainstream and became almost the flagship image of Roma communities at least in this part of Europe.
Particular credit for this goes to the musical events of the 1990s, which created and, I would venture to say, even sharpened the image of the Roma artist and the Roma dancer. Practically at festivals, audiences even demand the „ore, ore” songs and dances with frilly skirts, which is what the true Romani musical tradition means to some people.
And returning to our intentions, a short time after the aforementioned and fruitful chat, in the summer of 2021 a festival was created and held. 'Kłodzka Roma’ took place in the picturesque open air in Kudowa-Zdrój, at the Art-Dworek guesthouse at the foot of Stołowe Mountains.
Great artists were invited. Krzysztof Gil, now a world-renowned, award-winning artist with Roma roots, led an open-air painting workshop, which was mainly attended by the adult part of the event’s participants. At the same time, the children, under the guidance of Roma artist Róża Łakatosz, prepared artworks. At the same time, they received a solid portion of knowledge about Roma culture, which they would certainly not have received as part of their education in Polish schools.
One of the inseparable elements of peoples’ culture is cuisine, and in the context of Roma cuisine, many interesting associations have been made, but also many questions. How did the Roma prepare their meals during their wanderings? What are the typical ingredients of Roma cuisine? These questions and many more were answered by Krystyna „Perła” Markowska during a cooking workshop. In the evening, the same artist performed a repertoire of traditional Roma songs together with her husband, Michał, who accompanied her on guitar. Those were not well-known songs from the radio or television, but the audience had a great time.
A year later, the Kłodzka Roma Festival was transformed into the Wandering Roma Culture Festival „Romani Kultura”, which took place at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre in Łódź. The idea behind the Festival is to reach the widest possible audience in various places in Poland and to present the cultural achievements of Roma artists and creators living in selected regions.
On 5 June 2022, from the early morning hours, kids and adults of Łódź came to paint a mural with artists Krzysztof Gil and Marcin Janusz. A young Roma artist, Noemi Łakatosz, was working at a stand next to them, conducting art classes with the youngest children to create a modern tabor. Throughout the Festival, it was possible to watch short films made by Delfin Łakatosz, a young Roma director specialising in short documentary and feature films. In front of the Dialogue Centre, an authentic Roma wagon of the Ostrowski type from the collection of Andrzej Grzymała Kazłowski’s Museum of Roma Culture in Warsaw could be viewed up close.
In the afternoon, we had a meeting with poet Róża Łakatosz (there is no coincidence of names, the Łakatoszes are a family), during which the author read her poetry from her latest volume.
And so the festival moved on to its climax, a concert by artist Zdzisław Markowski and his friends. The musician is known for his traditional musical inspirations and for playing exclusively live. It was a real musical feast.
Where will 'Romani Kultura’ go next year? That we don’t know yet, but therein lies the greatest surprise and power!
Follow the website and social media of Fundacja Dom Kultury, including E-Drom.pl, and perhaps your next holiday will be an unforgettable adventure.

Agnieszka Caban

 

The festival took place on 5 June 2022 at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre, 83 Wojska Polskiego Street.

 

Programme

• Intergenerational painting workshops: we have invited a special guest, artist Krzysztof Gil, to run painting workshops. According to his original idea, we will all create a large-format painted patchwork. The multitude of expressions will be connected by a coherent concept of this international artist with Roma roots.
• Camp: arrangement and presentation of an antique Roma wagon (of the Ostrów type). The vehicle, fully equipped and open to the public, will be located in the park by the Centre. There will be a camp set up around the wagon and an animator will be guiding visitors around it.
• Short film projection: we will arrange a stand with a show of video clips by a young Roma artist, Delfin Łakatosz in the foyer of the Centre. Delfin’s short films depict the contemporary world of Roma youth. They are a great document, a testimony of our times, full of colour and fast narration.
• All-day artistic workshops for children: led by young painter Noemi Łakatosz in the park next to the Centre. We will build a cardboard wagon and decorate it with motifs typical of Roma culture. The workshop is intended for children of all ages, the youngest ones will be assisted by animators.
• Poetic afternoon: Róża Łakatosz is a contemporary Roma artist and poet. Her poems illustrate Roma contemporary life, they are a record of everyday life, the changing seasons, but also a testimony of the current situation, including the pandemic. The author’s reading of her poetry will be accompanied by artistic visualisations by Delfin Łakatosz.
• Dance workshops: participants of all ages will be led by Grażyna Markowska, a choreographer, dance instructor and dancer from the „Patria” and „Perła i Bracia” ensembles.
• Musical feast: musical workshops with a final concert will be performed by Zdzisław Markowski, a guitarist, instrumentalist, certified instructor of music and traditional dance, choreographer and dancer. He will be accompanied by local musicians.

 

Wandering Festival „Romani Kultura”: Łódź 2022 has been co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, National Centre for Culture in the Programme EtnoPolska 2022.’

 

Honorary patronage

Partners

 

Media patronage

We’re painting the ramp at the Multicultural Centre!

A mural is a favourite form of collective expression among Varsovians. Invited groups and random passers-by willingly try their hand at painting and join the process enthusiastically. The open formula of the mural allows everyone to join in without trepidation, at any time and is not based on possessed skills. This year, we are planning the third edition of creating an inclusive mural illustrating the diversity of Warsaw residents. This time, we want to design and paint a ramp for wheelchair users next to the Multicultural Centre. 

Within the framework of this task, we will conduct design workshops for foreign children, as part of which the mural design will be created. Next, we will organise an event during which Warsaw residents will paint a mural according to the design. However, the project will be only a concept, more a form to be creatively filled in by the participants than a finished artistic product.  Organised groups of participants with difficult access to the cultural offer as well as random passers-by, Varsovians and tourists will be encouraged to join the creative process. The activities will be led by animators under the direction of artist Katarzyna Witt and animator Małgorzata Brus.

As a result, a colourful visual story about the diversity of Warsaw’s inhabitants, created by the inhabitants themselves, will emerge in a public and busy place – Haller Square. 

Partners

 

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„Ballads and Romances” – prison artbook to mark the 200th anniversary of the first edition of the collection

A review of Adam Mickiewicz’s works, familiarisation with Polish and global Romanticism, creative poetry reading, creating ballads and handwriting a collection of „Ballads and Romances” – such activities are to be provided for the women of the Detention Centre in Warsaw Grochów in 2022.

The series of classes was prepared in cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature in Warsaw, a poet and polonist Dr Ewa Fączak-Biłat, an actress Kinga Kosik-Burzyńska, an artist Dr Małgorzata Jabłońska and a calligraphy specialist Małgorzata Brus.

The activities in the prison will last from April to July. At the end of the project, inmates will hand-write all pieces from the collection, illustrate them, create calligraphed and decorated covers, title and inter-title pages, and tables of contents. The hand-made artbook created during the workshops will be gifted to the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature in Warsaw. 

In this way, socially and culturally excluded people will participate in the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the first edition of „Ballads and Romances”.

The project was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Cultural Promotion Fund. 

The project has been granted patronage by the 'Forum of the Prison Service’.

 

Author: Józek Gałązka

 

As part of this project, the residents of the Orionist Fathers’ Youth Education Centre in Warsaw, together with guests, artists and accessibility activists, designed their home – space friendly to all.

After a series of workshops on life with various limitations for different reasons, the boys created a model of a house – according to the rules of universal design and art. The creative activities were led by artists Michał Slezkin and Józek Gałązka.

During the project, Fundacja Dom Kultury worked with, among others, the Invisible Exhibition, the Kulawa Warszawa Foundation, the Culture Without Barriers Foundation and, of course, the Youth Education Centre. Accessibility classes were conducted by: Ola Petrus, Małgorzata Szumowska and Sebastian Grzywacz, Alaksandra Szorc, Iza Sopalska-Rubak.

 

Below you can find a video in which the authors of the model talk about the project. We also included some photos from the workshops and a graphic by Małgorzata Brus.

 

The task „Accessibility classes for boys in Youth Education Centres ” was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Cultural Promotion Fund.

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Author: Małgorzata Brus

 

 

The task was co-financed from the funds of the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Fund for the Promotion of Culture, obtained from subsidies established in games covered by the state monopoly, in accordance with Article 80(1) of the Act of 19 November 2009 on games of chance.

 

Partners