From October 2019 to June 2020 music, visual art and theater activities are organised by the Strefa Wolnosłowa for young artists of different cultural backgrounds willing to work with migrant communities living in Warsaw, as well for all those interested in participatory and community arts. The workshops are taking place in Warsaw in various neighbourhoods, including Teatr Powszechny's cultural space Stół Powszechny, the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Curie City Artivism Gallery.
The first preparatory activities concluded with a performative installation on the 30 and 31 November presenting pieces of work of different artists from migrant communities and minorities. The preparatory period and workshops aim in the creation of a huge community of non-professional actors and musicians as well as young artists (around 80 people) leading to an intensive and final workshop period from January to June 2020, which will end with an interactive performance.
The Intercultural Moving Choir
This workshop led by Alicja Borkowska and Łukasz Wójcicki can be the opportunity to personally experience creative work in a multicultural group of people. It is based on methods of work with the body as well as on verbal and movement improvisation, allowing for creative transformation of actual events and pieces of biographies into interesting performative materials. Participants form a chorus of voices and bodies using tools such as animal flow, natural movement, and experimental choreography. Questions are asked about our place in space and in the world, going down to the memory lane, recalling events, movements, and actions. The workshop is inspired by Georges Perec’s works; methods of workshop work with multicultural groups of Strefa WolnoSłowa as well as choreographic experiences of Grupa Ruchoma are used.
photo credits: Magdalena Duszyńska-Sasin, Alicja Borkowska, Karolina Gembara