Playing with Kantor

Between 2018 and 2022, the project took the form of a series of screenings of theater productions by some of the world’s most important directors, whose work engages in an artistic dialogue with the legacy of Tadeusz Kantor. The project was originally conceived and curated by Anna Róża Burzyńska, who in 2020 was joined by co-curators Małgorzata Jabłońska, Tadeusz Kornaś, and Dariusz Kosiński. During that time, we showcased the work of directors such as Pina Bausch, Robert Wilson, Romeo Castellucci, Reza Abdoh, Jan Lauwers, Gisèle Vienne, William Kentridge, and Pippo Delbono. Each screening was preceded by a short introductory talk. The selected performances constituted a review of avant-garde trends in contemporary theater and mapped out recurring themes shared with Kantor – theatrical techniques, forms, and symbols, as well as an interest in similar topics: the experience of war trauma, the passage of bodies, objects, and ideas, memory and post-memory, ghosts and specters of the past, and the question of the meaning of making art.

In 2023, the program was transformed into an annual, two-week festival, with each edition focused on a specific country or cultural region. At the same time, Playing with Kantor expanded in its interdisciplinarity and variety of presentation formats – in addition to screenings, the program now includes live performances, exhibitions, performative readings, lectures, and meetings with artists and researchers. The new festival format – developed in collaboration with international institutions and art academies – was designed by Magdalena Link-Lenczowska, curator of the first, Spanish edition. From then on, Playing with Kantor adopted a dual perspective – examining both the impact that Cricot 2 had on the global art scene during its time of activity, and how elements of Kantor’s imagination have resonated with the newest generation of artists from geographically, politically, and culturally diverse backgrounds. In both formal and thematic terms, the project poses questions about how Kantor’s ideas can be translated today through the language of art, and which of today’s civilizational challenges – from new wars and conflicts to ongoing crises – they might speak to. Conversely, it also asks what elements of contemporary artistic practice might inspire Tadeusz Kantor were he working today.