Costume / Sculpture / Body. Kantor’s theatrical objects – National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest

“These works did not arise from an immediate and passing need of a particular production. They are intimately linked with the ideas that define my work. […] Their inner tension and self-containedness are sufficient for them to be autonomous works of art.” – Tadeusz Kantor.

The exhibition takes as its point of departure the idea of costumes as autonomous works of art with adequate tension, a biography and materiality of their own, while being at the same time an extension of space and the actor’s body. The weight of materiality in Kantor’s work is singular. The objects on stage are not just “rests” or “shreds,” as he often said, they also tell a story about the human condition, transience and presence. Theatrical objects and costumes have become sculptural forms, balancing on the border between body and space, idea and physicality, collective memory and individuality. Costumes, those losing their human form and those imitating it, transform into full-fledged works. These are peculiar body-sculptures which deserve to be seen as sculptures, at the same time being inextricably tied to the actor’s corporeality. Comprising intense images, metaphorical objects and living bodies, the stage matter has transformed into an area in which to experiment, and to contemplate transience, memory and death.

The objects to be seen at the exhibition illustrate the artist’s exceptional ability to create his own theatrical language: inimitable, deeply rooted in Polish history and the experience of the 20th century. They also show Kantor’s sensitivity to global artistic trends – Dadaism, Art Informel and Constructivism. A direct reference to Romanian culture is made by Kantor in his revision of materiality as he designed four costumes for a production of Rhinoceros (1961), based on Eugène Ionesco’s play, directed by Piotr Pawłowski for the Stary Theatre in Kraków. These multicoloured, visually rich costumes are accompanied by more personal projects – from those inspired by Witkacy, to costumes made of paper for the cricotage Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear, to installations from Kantor’s last productions in the Theatre of Death period: The Dead Class and Today is My Birthday. Included in the presentation are also objects that break away from the traditional idea of costume – an authorial reconstruction of Goplana from Balladyna or Underaged on a frame.

Intended to stimulate an interest in the history of Tadeusz Kantor’s theatre, the exhibition also retraces the ideas, influences and fascinations behind it. It provides an arena in which to reflect on his approach to building tension, to matter and form, and on his theatre metamorphosing into something that has come to exist beyond time – as a collection of art objects that keeps pulsating and reverberates to this day. It is there – between active imagination and the body – that Kantor’s theatre is born: a visionary synthesis of form, emotion and space. A theatre that does not end once the stage is empty, but goes on – within matter, memory, the imagination of future generations.

Curators

Justyna Droń, Bogdan Renczyński

Coordination

Justyna Droń, Sandra Demetrescu, Nicoleta Coman

Translations

Sabra Daici, Monika Ujma

Accompanying programme

Justyna Droń, Mădălina Tichie

Lighting

Mariusz Gąsior

Graphic design  

Bogdan Ceaușescu

Promotion

Mădălina Tichie, Małgorzata Kmita-Fugiel, Zofia Mikołajska, Andrea Nikolov

 Cooperation

Călin Dan, Joanna Geroch, Joanna Gorzałczany, Magdalena Link-Lenczowska, Kateryna Marchenko, Aldona Mikulska, Agnieszka Oprządek, Małgorzata Paluch-Cybulska, Tomek Pietrucha, Paweł Rutkowski, Luna Sawka, Ionuț Sociu, Natalia Zarzecka

Organizers
Cricoteka, MNAC

Media Patrons

scena.ro, TVP3 Kraków, Radio Kraków, Radio Kraków Kultura, Niezła Sztuka, Black Rhino Radio, Curatorial.ro, Empower Artists Magazine, GoKid.ro, Igloo Media, Propagarta, Radio Guerrilla, Revista Arhitectura, Revista ARTA, Revista Matca, Revista Zeppelin, RFI România, Supereroi printre noi, The Institute, Ziarul Metropolis, Zile și Nopți București

Co-financed from the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

The partners of the event are the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland – the organizers of the Poland–Romania Cultural Season 2024–2025.

The honorary patronage of “110/70/50/35 – Tadeusz Kantor’s Jubilee Year” has been taken on by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

Co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion