Is the real world locked within a word?
/exhibition, discussion
December 16th, 2016, 6 – 8 PM
hosts: Katarzyna Niziołek PhD, Michał Stankiewicz
exhibition open until December 31st, 2016
The works of Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian Nobel Prize winner, became the inspiration for the project “Prayer. Universal Theatre”, carried out in 2016 by the University of Białystok Foundation in Gródek, Czeremcha, Sopot, Warsaw, and Białystok. In each of these places a presentation of the extraordinary performance took place. The performance was based on the book “Chernobyl Prayer” by Svetlana Alexievich. The extraordinariness came from the form of the event and its participants: the people, who appeared on stage were not professional actors. Instead of playing scenes they read excerpts from the book. They talked about their emotions, experiences, and inspirations associated with it and the event described by the reporter, the Chernobyl disaster.
Each performance was different because different people were involved and each of them chose a different fragment of the book to present in front of the audience.
We invite you to the exhibition and discussion with the creators. They will summarize the project, create the context - a set of references - necessary to understand the performance.
The project initiators, participants, and invited reporters will participate in the discussion. The issues of the contemporary condition of reportage and theatre will be discussed.
The discussion is connected with the exhibition vernissage. The exhibition consists of the documentation of the performances (video, photographs) and photo portraits of the participants along with their statements about specific fragments from Alexievich’ works.
The project “Prayer. Universal Theatre” was carried out by the University of Białystok Foundation Universitas Bialostocensis, thanks to the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Marshal Office of Podlaskie Voivodeship.
Partners:
University of Białystok / University Cultural Centre
Ludwik Zamenhof Centre
Municipal Cultural Center in Czeremcha
Municipal Cultural Center in Gródek
Sopot Non-Fiction Festival/ Boto Theatre
Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute
Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art
