Promotion of Polish culture in Korea 2012

With the aim of promoting Polish culture in Asia, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute carries out several projects in China, Korea and Japan inviting internationally renowned Polish artists to participate.

The primary focus of this year’s campaign is the Republic of Korea. Our aim is to popularise Polish culture and establish long-lasting cooperation between Poland and Korea through presenting Polish artists at distinguished Korean festivals, performing arts trade shows and other art events. Among the projects organised by the Institute are Polish theatre performances, film shows and workshops, presentations of Polish contemporary dance, concerts of Polish classical musicians and jazz bands, exhibitions of Polish art and design as well as other presentations, lectures and discussion panels. As part of the Institute’s campaign in Korea in 2012 Poland will participate in the following well-established artistic events: Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF), Performing Arts Market in Seoul (PAMS), Seoul International Dance Festival (SIDance), Jarasum International Jazz Festival, Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). Modern Polish design will also be presented at the Korea Foundation Gallery, among other projects.

With the aim of promoting Polish culture in Asia and Korea, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute will take part in SPAF, a festival presenting contemporary performing arts including theatre, dance, music and multidisciplinary arts. As one of the most prestigious world events of Korean art and culture, each year the festival gathers world famous directors, artists and theatre experts. Highly popular with Korean and foreign media, SPAF is considered one of the best festivals of performing arts in Asia due to the fine choice of performances and artists it presents each year. At the same time, it is also perceived as the venue where it is an imperative to keep up with new standards in the world’s contemporary performing arts, with many people seeing it as the most important event on the artistic map of Korea. As part of SPAF 2012 we will present two outstanding theatre productions, "(A)pollonia" by Nowy Teatr in Warsaw, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski (3 performances on 5 – 7 October, at the Arko Main Hall Theatre) and "Odyssey" by the Jan Kochanowski Theatre in Opole , directed by Krzysztof Garbaczewski (3 performances on 13 – 15 October, at the Daehakro Main Theatre). "(A)pollonia" will open this year’s edition of the festival. Moreover,  the two authors of "Odyssey", Krzysztof Garbaczewski and Marcin Cecko, will also take part in the reading of Polish plays by Korean theatre actors.

Participants the Budapest meeting: Martina Černá, Martin Bernátek (Arts and Theatre Institute, Praga), Dáša Čiripová (Theatre Institute, Bratysława), Attila Szabó, Sylvia Huszár (Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute, Budapeszt), Joanna Klass i Marcin Jacoby (IAM) source: IAM

Between 8 – 12 October the Adam Mickiewicz Institute will again participate in PAMS - Performing Arts Market in Seoul, in which it took part for the first time in 2011, promoting Polish theatre and dance on its own exhibition stand.  As part of the PACE.V4 Performing Arts Central Europe – Visegrad Countries Focus, the year's joint platform established by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Czech Arts and Theatre Institute, the Slovak Theatre Institute and the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute will present a showcase, a display stand as well as a series of talks and discussion panels. The showcase will present "In the Solitude of Cotton Fields", a performance by the Stefan Żeromski Theatre in Kielce directed by Radosław Rychcik, will take part in the showcase. The “Visegrad Night”, a joint event of the four Central European countries, will be  the final night of the event involving the concert of Natural Born Chillers, Pompons (Mike Polarny, DJ Hory) and Polish jazz musicians. PAMS is one of the biggest and most recognisable trade shows for performing arts in Asia organised annually by the Korea Arts Management Service. The main theme of this year’s PAMS is Central-Eastern Europe.

Another event co-organised by the Institute is Polish participation in the SIDance festival (Seoul International Dance Festival), the biggest contemporary dance festival in Asia established by CID-UNESCO (Conseil International de la Danse) in 1998. The festival is popular not only with professionals, but also with a broader audience. Every year it attracts contemporary dance lovers from Korea. The festival, accompanied by workshops and meetings with artists and choreographers from around the globe, is a great venue for sharing common experiences and seeking new inspirations. This year's Polish presence has already been preceded by a performance of the Silesian Dance Theatre hosted in October 2011 in Korea. This year SIDance will welcome Dada von Bzdulow Theatre, an awarded company run by Leszek Bzdyl and Katarzyna Chmielewska, which will make its Asian debut with the performance entitled "Invisible Duets".

5 x POLAND Polish cinema at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is an extensive presentation of Polish cinema at this key film festival in Korea. BIFF, this year to be held on 4 – 13 October, is visited by thousands of viewers, critics and filmmakers from around the world (in 2011 the festival was attended by almost 200 000 participants, including 11 300 festival guests and 2500 media representatives). At BIFF 2012 the audience will have the opportunity to watch numerous Polish films. The programme is divided into several parts: a retrospective of the most famous Polish films, with a special focus on the work of Andrzej Wajda, new Polish films selected by BIFF at the recently held Gdynia Film Festival, master-classes given by renowned Polish documentary filmmakers, and the promotion of the Korean edition of the book "Polish Cinema Now!" (a review of Polish cinema since 1989) published by Communication Books. The presentation of Polish cinema at BIFF is organised in collaboration with the Polish Embassy in Seoul and the Polish Film Institute.

The presence of Polish music will also be highlighted at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival. This project is co-organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Wrocław jazz festival JAZZTOPAD and is coordinated by the festival’s Artistic Director, Piotr Turkiewicz. Taking place on the beautiful island Jara, this annual festival has a relaxed atmosphere of an outdoor picnic and is the most appreciated jazz festival in Korea. In 2010 it gathered 50 Korean and 27 foreign groups (440 artists altogether), and was attended by an impressive number of 168,000 of spectators. During the festival artists from around the world perform on several stages simultaneously, competing for a prize of $8,800. A special prize for the winner is the honour to open the festival the following year. Four Polish jazz bands will perform at Jarasum 2012, including: Maciej Obara Quartet, Nikola Kołodziejczyk Trio, and Cinq G.

All Korean design lovers will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the most recent works of Polish designers at the exhibition entitled "Unpolished – Young Design from Poland" at the Korea Foundation Gallery in Seoul between 8th – 30th August. The exhibition, created by Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka and Paweł Grobelny has already been presented abroad at such prestigious events as Design Trade Show in Milan, Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen, Helsinki and, Hong Kong. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola. The exhibition will be hosted by the Korea Foundation, an independent, yet highly prominent organisation that cooperates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea. It was founded in 1991 by the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea with the aim of promoting Korea internationally, as well as supporting international exchange programmes for academics and artists from around the world. Polish – Korean collaboration in this field started in the 1990s and continues until today. The Korea Foundation has a gallery specialising in exhibitions of design from partner countries.

The project that has already been completed is a series of concerts by outstanding Polish classical musicians at the prestigious Sejong Center in the very heart of Seoul, where the Royal String Quartet played three concerts between 10 and 12 of April together with the renowned solo pianists, Ingolf Wunder (Austria) and William Youn (Korea).

More projects are being planned for the end of the year.