The main festival program runs until Sunday, bringing artists from more than a dozen countries to venues across the city.
This year's festival has adopted an extended format, with events running from April to November. The four-day September program is its most concentrated part.
Organized by the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center, the festival draws on Łódź’s long multicultural history and more than two decades of events focusing on intercultural dialogue.
'Different perspectives and stories from around the world'
Łódź Deputy Mayor Małgorzata Moskwa-Wodnicka said this year's edition focuses on solidarity, human rights and opposition to violence, while giving residents access to "different perspectives and stories from around the world."
The event opens on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center with Współgłosy, a 16-member ensemble led by pianist and composer Marcel Baliński.
The group combines a jazz trio with a choir of people with intellectual disabilities.
Actors Magdalena Koleśnik and Bartosz Bielenia will appear alongside guest performers Błażej Król and Tomasz Kot.
On Sunday, director Maja Kleczewska will premiere Pola Nireńska: Open Rehearsal, inspired by Weronika Kostyrko’s biography of the Polish dancer and choreographer Pola Nireńska.
Nireńska, who survived the Holocaust and later lived in the United States, was married to Jan Karski, the Łódź-born Polish resistance courier who carried eyewitness reports of the Holocaust to Allied leaders during World War II.
Agnieszka Przepiórska plays the title role. A second performance on Monday will be interpreted into Polish sign language.
Survivors’ Park will become the festival's main outdoor site on Saturday and Sunday, with concerts, workshops, activities for children and presentations by local community groups and craftspeople.
Performers will include Polish-Yemeni singer Rasm Almashan, Palestinian rock artist Rasha Nahas and Hamburg-based German-Syrian group Shkoon.
Brazilian dancer Neemias Santana will lead a public dance event, while Victor Guerithault’s Kites for Peace installation will provide the setting for intergenerational workshops.
Deaf culture is another strand of this year’s program.
Visual artist and performer Daniel Kotowski will present the video performance Crying/Trying and a performative lecture at the YMCA building on Friday.
His work examines sign language, the body and forms of communication outside spoken language.
The visual arts program includes Gesture and Facial Expression of the Deaf by Marek Krzysztof Lasecki at Bałucka Gallery and Tomasz Grabowski’s Instructions for Normality at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center.
The Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź will open the group exhibition On the Edge of Chaos on Friday.
Featuring artists connected with Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lebanon and Palestine, the exhibition examines war, climate change, forced migration and social crisis through video, installation, sculpture and textile works.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP