Events and Places

Events

Poetry Unites, My Favourite Poem 
Films by Ewa Zadrzyńska shown on July 5-7, 2007 

The international project, which springs from the universal appeal of Poetry, introduces the medium as an instrument of mutual understanding in a newly united Europe. The project's goal is to promote poetry and poetry readers, in the hope that their enthusiasm will be contagious to thousands, if not millions, of their fellow European citizens. In each of this series of 5-minute films, shown on TV, internet and at cinemas, a particular poetry lover speaks about his or her life in the context of presenting a favourite poem. 

These short testimonials are intimate and often very moving, as average people in the limelight of their sensitivities take a star-like glow. Poetry Unites hopes to create a constellation of such stars, promoting the otherwise unassuming poetry lovers as role models for the citizen of the united Europe.

The films by Ewa Zadrzyńska shown at the Symposium were produced for the Evens Foundation project: Poetry Unites, My Favourite Poem. 
See the films Poetry Unites, My favourite Poem by Ewa Zadrzyńska

Concert at the White Stork Synagogue on July 6, 2007

The White Stork Synagogue Choir in Wrocław is the only synagogical choir in Poland. It was founded in April 1996 as an initiative of Stanislaw Rybarczyk as well as students and graduates of the Music Academy in Wroclaw, supported by the Board of The Jewish Community in Wroclaw. 

Since then the choir has given many concerts in many Polish and foreign cities. It took part in Jewish Culture Festival in Cracow, "Wratislavia Cantans" Festival in Wroclaw, Religious Music Festival in Szczecin, "The End of the Millenium Meetings” - organized in many Polish cities, "The Oratorio Music Festival" in Przemysl, "Music in Sandomierz" Festival, Meetings with Jewish Culture "SIMCHA" in Wroclaw, "The Sacral Music Festival" in Gdynia, "The Three Cultures Festival" in Wlodawa, "The International Festival Of the Organ Music" in Jelenia Gora, "Wroclaw on Rhenium" Festival, "The Stage Songs Competitions" at the show entitled "Aklimaja" and in "Tumskie Evenings" in Wroclaw. 

It gave concerts at The International Book Fair in Frankfurt on Main. It participated in commemoration of The "Kristal Nacht" victims in Hanover, Braunschweig, Berlin, Hamburg and Görlitz. It performs at the Wroclaw's "koncerty Hawdalowe" in the White Stork Synagogue, with, among, with others, Leopod Kozłowski - "the last klezmer of the Republic".


The White Stork Synagogue Choir co-operates with splendid Jewish artists: Bente Kahan, Leopold Kozlowski - "the last Klezmer in the Republic of Poland and cantor - Simaha Keller. It performed also with the world's most famous cantors: Joseph Malovany from New York, Moshe Schulhof from Miami, Roslyn Barak from San Francisco, Shmuelem Barzilaiem from Vienna, Moshe Stern from Jerusalem (the cantor of The Great Synagogue), Laszlo Fekete from Budapest. 

The Band accompanies synagogue services in the Jewish Commune in Wroclaw on Jewish holidays and other occasions. It co-operates also with The European Center of The Jewish Music in Hanover directed by Andor Izsak. 

In 1998 the White Stork Synagogue Choir first CD album titled "Shalom" was released by the record label Koch International. The Choir has also recorded an album released in Germany titled "Das erstummte Lied - die Musik der zerstörten Synagogen" ("The Silenced Song - the Music of the Ruined Synagogues"). In February 2001 the Choir took part in the recording of the album "Alkmija" together with Justyna Steczkowska, Mateusz Pospieszalski and his orchestra, and the Roman Kołakowski and Chamber Orchestra "Leopoldinum". THe album contains traditional Jewish songs adapted by Roman Kołakowski and Mateusz Pospieszalski.

In years 2002-2005 the Choir performed with such artists as the jazz saxophonist Piotr Baron, with the Norwegian artist Benthe Kaha, with the actors of Teatr Polski in Wroclaw. In 2005 the White Stork Synagogue Choir in Wroclaw, together with the Polish-German Young Philharmonic Lower Silesia and the cantor Joseph Malovany, performes on Parieserplatz in Berlin at the unveiling oh the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. 

It also performed the piece "World Song" by Hadrian Filim Tabęcki at the opening of the Polish-German Year in Wroclaw. In 2006 the Choir celebrated its 10th birthday jubilee. For this occasion it prepared fascinating programs in which it performed together with outstanding Jewish artists. 

Musical critics remark with enthusiasm on the Choir's performance, emphasising the superb skills of the Band as well as the unique climate of the concerts. 

The White Stork Synagogue Choir performs works by Jewish composers, mainly synagogue music. It popularizes songs by Wroclaw's distinguished cantor, the lecturer at Wroclaw Rabbinate Seminar in years 1844 to 1889, Moritz Deutsch. 

More information and exemplarily records of the White Stork Synagogue Choir in Wroclaw 
Listen to the Concert at the White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw on July 6, 2007 

Tight Rope Walking on July 7, 2007
Performance by Mirosław Bałka and Ante Ursić

On July 7 all the participants of New Agora Symposium in Wroclaw took part in a performance by Mirosław Bałka and Ante Ursić. The performance was about tight rope walking...


Mirosław Bałka (born 1958 in Warsaw) - artist, sculptor. Began his career with figurative sculpture. Since the start of the 1990s his work has concentrated on geometric installations. He has represented Poland at the Venice Biennial (1990 and 1995), the Sao Paulo Biennial (1998), the Liverpool Biennial (1999). His works such as "A First Holy Communion souvenir" or "The soap corridor", tend to stir up a great deal of discussion, and he is a rather controversial figure himself . Bałka's work is found in the biggest world collections. 
More on Mirosław Bałka

Ante Ursić - Chroatian artist, juggler, tight rope walker. 
More on Ante Ursić 

See the Tight Rope Walking Performance at the New Agora Symposium in Wroclaw 
See the photos from the Tight Rope Walking Performance at the New Agora Symposium in Wroclaw 
Brendan Jackson about tight rope walking at the New Agora Symposium in Wroclaw

Places

Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

Poland`s only Museum of Architecture is located In a post-Bernardine complex dating from the 15th Century which is composed of the St. Bernardine of Sienna Church and a monastic quadrangle surrounding a pleasure garden. As one of the few preserved mediaeval buildings of this kind in Silesia it belongs to the most precious monuments of Wroclaw. 

The Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw is a founder-member of the International Federation of Architectural Museums (ICAM). The museum plays an important role as a cultural institutions where – apart from exhibitions – festivals, concerts, theatrical performances and promotions of the latest technology connected with architecture are held. 

More information on the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

Centennial Hall in Wroclaw

The Centennial Hall, a landmark in the history of reinforced concrete architecture, was erected in 1911-1913 by the architect Max Berg as a multi-purpose recreational building, situated in the Exhibition Grounds. In form it is a symmetrical quatrefoil with a vast circular central space that can seat some 6,000 persons. The 23m-high dome is topped with a lantern in steel and glass. The Centennial Hall is a pioneering work of modern engineering and architecture, which exhibits an important interchange of influences in the early 20th century, becoming a key reference in the later development of reinforced concrete structures. 

Centennial Hall is a vital component to Wrocław’s congress infrastructure. With a capacity of 7,000 under one roof, this multifunctional facility is ideally suited to satisfy the needs of the most demanding organizers of large, high-profile events. 

In 2006, the hall was added to UNESCO’s prestigious list of World Heritage Sites as one of the most important achievements in 20th Century architecture. Official dedication ceremonies with the participation of UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura took place in June 2007 in Wrocław.

  

More information and photos of the Centennial Hall in Wroclaw

Four Temples District in Wrocław

The Four Temple District is located in the Old Town in Wrocław in the quarter surrounded by four streets: Kazimierza Wielkiego, Św. Antoniego, Pawła Włodkowica, and św. Mikołaja. In this part of the Old Town in close proximity stand the synagogue, the Orthodox church, the Catholic and the Lutheran churches. It is exceptional for cities in the Polish lands to have temples of different religions in such a direct neighbourhood. 

In 1996, the representatives of four temples came to the conclusion that sharing physical space is a good reason to built together space for dialogue and co-operation. They proclaimed the place „Four Temples District”, and turned it into a centre of inter-faith initiatives. Since this moment, joint charitable, educational, and cultural events, aimed at deepening knowledge about each other religions, and promoting tolerance, are organised in the district. Other names are also used for the place: „Tolerance District”, „District of Mutual Respect”, „District of Reconciliation”. 

Wrocław is a city of multicultural, but complicated history. In the medival period it was ruled by the Polish Piast dynasty, later passed subsequently to the Czech, Habsburg, Prussian, and German states, still being an important political, economic, and cultural centre. Its habitants inluded Poles, Czechs, Germans, and Jews. After the WW2, when new boundaries were marked in the Central Europe, Wrocław was acquired by Poland. The city experienced dramatic population shifts: the Germans were expelled between 1945 and 1948, most of the Jews who survived the war emmigrated by the end of the 1960s, and the new inhabitants arrived from the eastern terrirories of pre-war Poland, now Ukraine. With almost complete population exchange, the city lost links with its own past, but gave shelter to those who came from many other places. Therefore, it is natural for contemporary Wrocław to continue its multicultural traditions in new circumstances. While it was not possible in the communist Poland, after 1989 Wrocław started to rediscover its historical diversity. Today's Wrocław is a borderland frontier city of the New Europe, and a dynamic, rapidly developing metropolitan center that takes advantage of its rich heritage.

The four temples of the district are:

Orthodox Church of the Birth of the Holy Mother of God – once a church used by the Catholics and later, by th WW2, by the Protestants. During the war the building was almost completely destroyed. After recontruction in the 1960s it was acquired by the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Catholic church of St. Anthony – built in the late 17th century in the style of Baroque. Its six altars are highly decorative, especially the main one, sculptured in 1725. The gate from the street where the church is located, opens to a yard with the building of the synagogue.

White Stork Synagogue - designed by the German architect Carl Ferdinand Langhans and built in 1829 as the first temple of liberal Judaism. The three-story neoclassical building is notable for its giant Corinthian pilasters on the east and west facades and other exterior classical detailing. During the WW2 the Nazis turned the synagogue into a car garage and a warehouse for stolen goods. After the war, the building was handed over to the University of Wroclaw and then the Academy of Music. Only in 1996 it was returned to the Jewish Community of Wrocław.

Lutheran church of Divine Providence – constructed in 1746-50 in neo-classical style but with the late-baroque interiors. The church is unique because of its organs of beautiful shape and sound, dating from 1752. The instrument is considered as the best one of this type in the whole region of Lower Silesia.

Website of the Four Temples District (only in Polish): http://www.miasto-dialogu.wroc.pl

Wroclaw Industrial Park

Wrocław Industrial Park covers almost 130 ha of industrial areas of Wroclaw, situated on the territory of the so-called industrial wedge. 

The main purpose of Wrocław Industrial Park creation is revitalisation of old industrial areas in Wrocław and improvement of technical and communication infrastructure. Wrocław Industrial Park is not a business entity, but it is an industrial area created to give a chance to entrepreneurs to do business in preferential environment. 

DOZAMEL Sp. z o.o. was established in a region, whose industrial tradition goes back to the Nineteenth Century.


Over the past centuries the territory of Lower Silesia was a birthplace for industrial operations, including metallurgical plants, mining, railway and in the early Twentieth Century - the military sector. 

The transformation process, which began in the 1990, finally led to changing from manufacturing operations to the provision of industrial services. 

More information on Wroclaw Industrial Park