Night wake – Brezinka

image The forest base of Grotowski Institute in Brezinka

Night Wake is an intercultural artistic event made in nature, in the night, where the audience is involved in a different experience of the perception of nature, in a different experience of the time, of the listening, out of the ordinary. The international, migrant and local artists and local people, especially elderly, share songs and stories in the different languages. Listening to the voices of nature, to the singing and narrating voices, observing, living the dark side of nature, in a collective, immersive experience.

During the first week of the Eco-Arts Residence “Theatre and Conflict” in Poland, coordinated by Instytut im.Jerzego Grotowskiego (Grotowski Institute), the artists of the international project had the chance to live moments of conviviality and of cultural exchange with the people from the town of Olesnica. In specific, the first week of the Residence took place in the historical forest-based residence of Grotowski Institute in Brezinka, where Jerzy Grotowski and his company started to work in the early 70’s, focusing on the post-theatrical phase of his work.

In the eco-activity “Night Wake” that was realized on the night of 9th June, it was the first time that local people from Olesnica (some kilometers from Brezinka) had the chance to visit the historical forest studio of Grotowski and to meet the international group of Antigone’s Pride Performing Society project and to exchange ideas and thoughts about the place and their work in the project, the progress of the rehearsals. The cultural association Miejski Ośrodek Kultury i Sztuki w Oleśnicy, also helped with the organization of the event, thanks to Mira Sudecka’s wonderful knowledge of local legends and songs, got to know the multicultural history of Oleśnica. The group of artists had prepared a typical dinner from their homeland and the guests also had generously offered some sweets that they had prepared for this beautiful event. Moreover, the night continued with mutual singing of songs from all the motherlands of the participants (such as Spain, Italy, Poland, Greece, Albania, Iran, Ukraine, Finland) and dancing in a mood of joy for this great moment of sharing and living together. The guests of this event had also sung traditional songs from Olesnica and Poland and they shared important facts about the area and the history of this place.