Premiere of the e-book "Ecologies of the Culture"

PREMIERE of the e-book "Ecologies of the Culture” | Poland 

Authors: Janusz Adam Biedrzycki, Paweł Błęcki, Małgorzata Ćwikła, Diana Lelonek, Zofia Smolarska, Wacław Sobaszek, Joanna Tabaka

Editing: Zofia Smolarska

Idea and coordination: Janusz Adam Biedrzycki

Graphic design: Filip Appel / Dobry Format

Cooperation: Cecylia Trafas (transcription)

Publication created in terms of Przestrzenie Sztu­ki Łódź - Te­atr 2023 program

Date: 26.08.2023 / Saturday

Time: 10 am - 2 pm

Place: Room C_101, Art_Inkubator in Art Factory in Lodz

Admission: free / prior booking and collection of free tickets is required

Booking of free tickets: from July 21, 2023 / via the online BOOKING FORM

Collection of free tickets: from July 21, 2023 / at the festival office  

INTRODUCTION TO THE E_BOOK

The first "Eco­lo­gies of the Cul­tu­re" discussion meeting focused on the issue of how art and institutions of culture can join the pro-climate and pro-ecological activities.

The reality around us radically changes, and the climate surrounding us is in a critical condition. Ruined ecosystems, ecological instability, species extinction, excessive exploitation of natural resources, these are undeniable facts based on the results of scientific research. We are at standstill even when the situation requires immediate solutions. The climate crisis carries severe economic, social and political problems. What concrete actions can be taken by people of culture to achieve a real change for the better? What role do the cultural institutions can take in those actions? How can culture contribute to the shaping of the new ways of thinking about the climate and ecology?

We assume that the role of the modern culture is to seek for new solutions and to inspire to oppose the capitalistic economic mechanisms that are based on excessive exploitation of natural resources. We believe that the people of culture should activate and inspire communities to take care of the relationship between a human and nature. We see an urgent need for reflection on why the institutions of culture should act for the environment protection and how to build and develop consciousness and pro-ecological postures among both employees of the institutions and the viewers of their actions. We hope that this publication will be a source for practical solutions and an inspiration for a wide range of people acting in the institutions in favour of culture, including management, to broaden and deepen the actions for the climate.

E-book is an edited and supplemented transcript of a panel discussion from 21 August 2022, which was a part of the XI edition of the International Theatre Festival Retroperspektywy, in The Art Factory in Lodz. We have invited practitioners from different scientific and artistic communities, who act in favour of changing the ecological paradigm in institutions of culture, to present their own work: Paweł Błęcki, Małgorzata Ćwikła, Diana Lelonek, Wacław Sobaszek and Joanna Tabaka. The curator of the work Janusz Adam Biedrzycki also participated in the discussion, and Zofia Smolarska moderated the panel. We plan to further discuss these topics during the following editions of the RPS Festival. 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Zo­fia Smo­lar­ska - the­atro­lo­gist and so­cial re­se­ar­cher. The au­thor of "Ri­mi­ni Pro­to­koll. Blind Al­leys of Par­ti­ci­pa­to­ry The­atre" (2017). In her do­cto­ral the­sis (2020) di­scus­ses the to­pic of so­cial eco­lo­gy in the­atre, ana­ly­sing the cre­ati­ve pro­cess from the per­spec­ti­ve of the­atre cra­ft­smen. In the years 2016-2022 she was a lec­tu­rer at the Alek­san­der Ze­lwe­ro­wicz The­atre Aca­de­my in War­saw. Cur­ren­tly she works for the In­sti­tu­te of Art of the Po­lish Aca­de­my of Scien­ces. Among her re­se­arch the­re are or­ga­ni­sa­tio­nal aspects of cre­ati­vi­ty, cre­ati­ve pro­ces­ses ana­ly­sis, par­ti­ci­pa­to­ry art, so­cio­lo­gy of art and ar­ti­stic edu­ca­tion as well as eco­lo­gy of cul­tu­re. As an as­si­stant of di­rec­tors she wor­ked i.a. with the Ri­mi­ni Pro­to­koll col­lec­ti­ve and Edith Kal­dor.

Ja­nusz Adam Bie­drzyc­ki - cu­ra­tor of the me­eting. Ac­tor, dan­cer, cho­re­ogra­pher, the­atre in­struc­tor, di­rec­tor. Gra­du­ate of Hu­ma­ni­ties De­part­ment, ma­jor in: Cul­tu­re stu­dies, Folk­lo­re and eth­no­lo­gy, The­atre and Film Stu­dies at Ma­ria Cu­rie Skło­dow­ska Uni­ver­si­ty in Lu­blin. Gra­du­ate of Cul­tu­re Ma­na­ge­ment on Li­te­ra­tu­re The­ory, The­atre and Au­dio­vi­su­al Art In­sti­tu­te of Uni­ver­si­ty of Lodz. "Pe­da­go­gue in The­atre" co­ur­se par­ti­ci­pant or­ga­ni­sed by The­atre In­sti­tu­te in War­saw. Co-fo­un­der and mem­ber of CHO­REA The­atre. Mi­ni­stry of Cul­tu­re and Na­tio­nal He­ri­ta­ge scho­lar­ship hol­der in: 2010 and 2014, and City Hall of Lodz scho­lar­ship hol­der in: 2013, 2017 and 2022. Co-cre­ator of a ma­nu­al "Phy­si­cal ac­tor tra­ining - from in­di­vi­du­al to gro­up ac­tions" (2015), cre­ated in col­la­bo­ra­tion with PWS­FTViT and with sup­port of NI­MiT. Sin­ce 2007 an in­struc­tor and edu­ca­tor in Art Fac­to­ry, au­thor of se­ve­ral work­shops and edu­ca­tio­nal pro­jects for chil­dren, youth and adults. The ori­gi­na­tor and pro­du­cer of in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry work­shops cyc­le "La­bo­ra­to­ry of Cre­ati­ve Ac­tions" (edi­tions: 2019, 2020, 2021). Fo­un­der and le­ader of Se­nior-Youth The­atre Gro­up CHO­REA. From 2022 mem­ber of Po­lish Ac­tors As­so­cia­tion. Cu­ra­tor of di­scus­sion me­etings: "The Eco­lo­gy of Cul­tu­re" in 2022 and "The Eco­lo­gy of Cul­tu­re II. Edu­ca­tion" in 2023.

Pa­weł Błęc­ki - born in Gdańsk. A pho­to­gra­pher, sculp­tor, the cre­ator of ob­jects and in­stal­la­tions. A Ph.D stu­dent at the Aca­de­my of Fine Arts in Cra­cow (the de­part­ment run by Iwo­na Dem­ko, the as­so­cia­te pro­fes­sor). A gra­du­ate of the In­ter­me­dia De­part­ment at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Arts in Po­znan (uni­ver­si­ty de­gree from Piotr Kur­ka) and the Pho­to­gra­phy De­part­ment Aca­de­my of Fine Arts in Gdansk. He stu­died ar­cha­eolo­gy and cul­tu­ral stu­dies at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Gdansk and pho­to­gra­phy at FAMU In­ter­na­tio­nal film­ma­king scho­ol in Pra­gue. In his works he tac­kles the so­cial, eco­lo­gi­cal and po­li­ti­cal is­su­es of con­su­mer so­cie­ty, cra­ftwork and art the­ra­py. The in­i­tia­tor of work­shop and par­ti­ci­pa­ti­ve ac­ti­vi­ties whe­re you imi­ta­te tra­di­tio­nal cra­ftwork tech­ni­qu­es and pla­ce them in the mo­dern con­text. He used to be a mem­ber of Zbiór Pu­sty (An Emp­ty Set) who­se ac­ti­vi­ties re­vo­lved aro­und the mul­ti­di­rec­tio­nal re­la­tion­ship of a hu­man be­ing with na­tu­re. He is a cre­ati­ve mem­ber of Wspól­no­ta mię­dzy­ga­tun­ko­wa+ (in­ter-gen­re-com­mu­ni­ty+) who­se aim is to care abo­ut hu­mans and non-hu­man cre­atu­res. Along with Pa­me­la Bo­żek he par­ti­ci­pa­tes in the pro­ject of Biu­ro Wspól­nej Ak­tyw­no­ści (The Of­fi­ce for the Jo­int Ac­ti­vi­ty), de­aling with su­sta­ina­bi­li­ty of pro­duc­tion and art ava­ila­bi­li­ty. When pur­su­ing his ca­re­er of an ar­tist and a re­se­ar­cher he par­ti­ci­pa­ted in the men­tor­ship pro­ject of Stu­dio Mi­strzy­ni (Ma­sterc­lass Stu­dio) by Jo­an­na Raj­kow­ska, was an ar­tist-re­si­dent at Cen­trum Rzeź­by Pol­skiej (Po­lish Sculp­tu­re Cen­tre) in Orońsk and was one of the cu­ra­tors of the “Ma­gicz­ne za­aga­żo­wa­nie” exhi­bi­tion (“The ma­gi­cal in­vo­lve­ment”) at Ga­le­ria Miej­ska Ar­se­nał (the Ar­se­nal City Gal­le­ry) in Po­znan whe­re the­re has been the art and the ac­ti­vi­ty of se­ve­ral pe­ople de­aling with con­tem­po­ra­ry art pre­sen­ted with the aim to pro­tect the envi­ron­ment. His works have been pre­sen­ted at in­di­vi­du­al exhi­bi­tions in Cen­trum Sztu­ki Współ­cze­snej Łaź­nia (Łaź­nia Cen­tre for Con­tem­po­ra­ry Art) in Gdansk, Pań­stwo­wa Ga­le­ria Sztu­ki (the Na­tio­nal Art Ga­le­ry) in So­pot, Ga­le­ria Miej­ska BWA (City Of­fi­ce for Con­tem­po­ra­ry Art) in Byd­goszcz, Ga­le­ria EL (EL Gal­le­ry) in El­bląg and col­lec­ti­ve exhi­bi­tions e.g. in Cen­trum Rzeź­by Pol­skiej (Po­lish Sculp­tu­re Cen­tre) in Oronsk, at the Of­fi­ce for Con­tem­po­ra­ry Art in Zie­lo­na Gora, at the Of­fi­ce for Con­tem­po­ra­ry Art in Tar­now, at the Of­fi­ce for Con­tem­po­ra­ry Art in Wroc­law, in Ga­le­ria La­bi­rynt (the La­by­rinth Gal­le­ry) in Lu­blin.

Jo­an­na Ta­ba­ka - eco-edu­ca­tor, tra­iner, blog­ger as well as expert in pro­mo­tion, vo­lun­ta­ry work and au­dien­ce de­ve­lop­ment in cul­tu­re. She co­ope­ra­ted with the Ca­pi­tal City of War­saw Mu­ni­ci­pal Of­fi­ce in terms of com­mu­ni­ca­tion of the of­fer ad­dres­sed to re­si­dents 60+. Do­uble scho­lar­ship hol­der of the Mi­ni­ster of Cul­tu­re and Na­tio­nal He­ri­ta­ge. The au­thor of, among others, the pu­bli­ca­tion "Zie­lo­na In­sty­tu­cja Kul­tu­ry" abo­ut how to be­co­me an envi­ron­men­tal­ly frien­dly pla­ce of cul­tu­re. A lo­ver of bi­cyc­les, fo­cac­cia and sau­na. (more: jo­an­na­ta­ba­ka.pl, Fb and In­sta: @Zie­lo­na­In­sty­tu­cja­Kul­tu­ry)

Dia­na Le­lo­nek - born in 1988. Gra­du­ated from the de­part­ment of Pho­to­gra­phy in the Fa­cul­ty of Mul­ti­me­dia Com­mu­ni­ca­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Art in Po­znan. Phd at In­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry PhD Stu­dies, Uni­ver­si­ty of Art in Po­znan. Dia­na Le­lo­nek explo­res re­la­tion­ships be­twe­en hu­mans and other spe­cies. Her pro­jects are cri­ti­cal re­spon­ses to the pro­ces­ses of over-pro­duc­tion, unli­mi­ted growth, and our ap­pro­ach to the envi­ron­ment. She uses pho­to­gra­phy, li­ving mat­ter, and fo­und ob­jects, cre­ating work that is in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry and often ap­pe­ars at the in­ter­fa­ce of art and scien­ce. She par­ti­ci­pa­ted in se­ve­ral in­ter­na­tio­nal bien­na­le, fe­sti­vals and gro­up shows at: Riga In­ter­na­tio­nal Bien­na­le of Con­tem­po­ra­ry Art RI­BO­CA; Edith-Russ-Haus for Me­dia Art, Ol­den­burg; Cen­ter of Con­tem­po­ra­ry Art, War­saw; Kun­straum Nie­de­ro­ster­riech, Vien­na; Tem­po­ra­ry Gal­le­ry, Co­lo­gne; Bal­la­rat Pho­to­gra­phy Bien­na­le, Au­stra­lia; Tal­linn Art Hall; Cul­tu­re­sca­pes Fe­sti­val, Ba­sel; Mu­see de l’Ely­see, Lau­san­ne.

Mał­go­rza­ta Ćwi­kła - PhD in hu­ma­ni­ties in the field of ma­na­ge­ment scien­ce. Pro­fes­sio­nal­ly as­so­cia­ted with the In­sti­tu­te of Cul­tu­re of the Ja­giel­lo­nian Uni­ver­si­ty. She spe­cia­li­zes in the de­sign of the cul­tu­ral sec­tor, the me­tho­do­lo­gy of qu­ali­ta­ti­ve re­se­arch in ma­na­ge­ment and the mis­sion of cul­tu­re in the pur­su­it of zero emis­sion. In re­cent years, she has wor­ked on re­se­arch pro­jects aimed at de­ter­mi­ning the car­bon fo­ot­print of the­atre per­for­man­ces, te­sting post-hu­ma­ni­stic me­tho­do­lo­gi­cal ap­pro­aches in cul­tu­re re­se­arch, and im­ple­men­ting bot­tom-up co-cre­ation ac­ti­vi­ties re­la­ted to cir­cu­lar orien­ta­tion in cul­tu­ral he­ri­ta­ge si­tes. Edi­tor-in-chief of the scien­ti­fic jo­ur­nal"Za­rzą­dza­nie w Kul­tu­rze".

Wa­cław So­ba­szek - co-fo­un­der of "Pra­cow­nia" in Olsz­tyn. Sin­ce 1982, at the the­atre farm in Wę­gaj­ty, he has been ma­king mu­sic, di­rec­ting, or­ga­ni­zing the Fe­sti­val The­atre Vil­la­ge, wri­ting songs, pu­bli­shing po­ems and jo­ur­nals. Co-au­thor of the pro­gram: "Żró­dła i przy­szłość 2010 - 2030".

The event takes place in terms of Przestrzenie Sztu­ki Łódź - Te­atr 2023 program.

Organizer: Art Factory in Lodz

Co-organizers: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, The Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, National Institute of Music and Dance, City Hall of Lodz

Partner: CHOREA Theatre

Przestrzenie Sztu­ki Łódź - Te­atr 2023 program is financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, realised by The Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute and the National Institute of Music and Dance.

The program is co-financed by the City of Lodz.