We invite you to an open-air performance of “Still Standing” by Monika Szpunar and Weronika Pelczyńska.
It is a performative action in which the body is treated as a carrier of memory and a living sculpture created in relation to the place – in this case, the area of the former KL Plaszow Concentration Camp. The action enters into a dialogue with a historical choreography by Israeli choreographer Noa Eshkol, prepared by her especially for the 10th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and presented in 1953 at the Lohamei Hageta’ot (Ghetto Fighters’ kibbutz) in Israel.
Using movement, choreography, and story, “Still Standing” asks the question of care as a possible attitude toward what is left of history – care that directs us not only towards the past, but also towards the present and future. Physical action through the bodies in motion also provokes questions about how such ephemeral forms such as this one can be used as strategies of commemoration, especially in sites associated with difficult memory? What can movement extract from a given space and its history?
By placing bodies in a particular space – along with all its layers – “Still Standing” experiments with creating images and subjecting them to observers’ interpretations. By exploring relationships transformed into physical action, it seeks to be in constant motion from the past to the present, from the individual to the collective.
The choreographic component of the performance will be accompanied by an autonomous audio (optional). Those who would like to listen to it during the event are asked to bring their own phones and headphones. If you do not have such a possibility, please contact us: info@festivalt.com, we will help you.
The performance will be presented on the fourth day of the Sukkot Holiday, called the Festival of Tents. It is a joyful Jewish celebration commemorating the time of residing in sukkahs and tents during the escape of the Israelites from Egypt. We encourage you to meet us in plain air on this day, among the greenery on grounds of the former KL Plaszow.
Concept: Aleksandra Janus, Weronika Pelczyńska
Lecture/Voice: Aleksandra Janus
Performance: Monika Szpunar, Weronika Pelczyńska
The performance is a part of "Places of Remembering and Forgetting" project. City of Kraków is a partner of the project. The project is implemented from the Norwegian Funds from the grant of the Active Citizens - National Fund program financed from the EEA Funds.
The performance was created in 2020 in cooperation with FestivALT and has since been presented in various scenes in Warsaw and Lublin. Further work on it and this September presentation is possible thanks to the support of Allianz Kulturstiftung, Concordia University and Paidea Institute for Jewish Studies.
This project draws on research supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The event is part of the Thinking Through the Museum project. This September presentation is possible thanks to the support of the Allianz Kulturstiftung, and Paidea Institute for Jewish Studies.
