New Media Society in Collaboration with Kandovan Art Residency & Pejman Foundation
Artist talk by Wojtek Blecharz and Zorka Wollny
Part of a curatorial research trip organized by Kasia Sobucka, Arts Territory and artistic residency at Kandovan, Pejman Foundation
During her talk, Zorka Wollny’s will focus on the subject of choreographing music. She will discuss what kind of work it is to create acoustic compositions for institutions, factories, and empty buildings. Her work functions at the boundary between the theatre and visual arts and are strictly related to the architecture. She collaborates—in a director-like mode—with musicians, actors and dancers and, every time with members of local communities too. Zorka will also look at the importance of preparation, collaborations, topics, and audience.
Wojtek Blecharz will give a presentation on his 3 operas-installations: “Transcryptum”, “Park-Opera” and “Body-Opera”. He will discuss the new approach to the libretto in his works, the role of sound as well as the participation of the audience.
New Media Projects: No. 3, Araabi 3 Alley, N. Kheradmand St, Karimkhan Ave. Tehran – Iran
@newmediasociety
ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES
Wojtek Blecharz was born in Gdynia (Poland) in 1981, in 2006 he graduated with honors from Frederic Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw (Master of Arts), in 2015 received a Ph. D. in music composition at University of California San Diego. Since 2012 Blecharz has been curating the Instalakcje music festival at Warsaw’s Nowy Theater, featuring non-concert music: sound installations, performance installations, sound sculptures, music videos, music theater, and Blecharz has also directed both of his opera-installations Transcryptum (2013) commissioned by Grand Theater-National Opera in Warsaw and Park-Opera (2016) commissioned by Theater Powszechny in Warsaw. Currently preparing the third opera installation Body-Opera commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (premiere November 2016).In 2013 he was selected as one of the winners of the IMPLUS International Composition Competition in Graz. In 2015 a theater/choir piece with Blecharz’s music Mutter Courage und ihre Hunden directed by Marta Górnicka, commissioned by Staadtstheater Bruswick was acclaimed as one of the best 60 performances in Germany.
Recently Blecharz premiered his new installation Axis commissioned by Goethe Institute in Warsaw and Polish Institute in Berlin; composed and directed a new theater piece SOUNDWORK for 8 actors, commissioned by TR Warszawa; new piece for Syrian and western instruments Music for invisible places, commissioned by International Contemporary Ensemble to celebrate to 50th anniversary of Lincoln Center in New York. In October 2016 Blecharz will be participating in Ari Benjamin Meyers’ 15-day installation at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin composing daily for 4 hours at the museum.
Zorka Wollny was born 1980 in Krakow, Poland. Lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Her works function at the boundary between the theatre and visual arts and are strictly related to the architecture. She collaborates—in a director-like mode—with musicians, actors and dancers and, every time with members of local communities too. Her works have been exhibited at the most prestigious contemporary art institutions in Poland: Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Museum Sztuki in Łódź, Wyspa Institute of Art in Gdańsk, National Museum in Krakow, National Museum in Gdańsk, National Museum in Szczecin, Wrocław Contemporary Museum – and form part of their art collections. Most recently her works have been presented at: the Hebbel am Ufer Theatre in Berlin (2018), CTM Festival in Berlin (2018, 2015), Savvy Contemporary in Berlin (2017, 2016), De Appel in Amsterdam (2017), Heroines of Sound Festival in Berlin (2017), International Studio&Curatorial Program in New York (2017), Tartu Museum of Art (2017), Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst in Oldenburg (2016), Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London (2014), Jazz and Experimental Music Festival in Istanbul (2014), Akademie der Künste in Berlin (2013.
She works as an associate professor at Stettin Art Academy.
Arts Territory is a London based non-profit arts organization. Initiated as a vehicle to develop creative links between Polish and UK artists and to provide a support network for international creatives interested in engaging with Polish arts, Arts Territory has developed into wider territories of investigation. Our current artistic programming is dedicated to new commissions and cross-border collaborations, development of politically informed, critical discourses that explore issues of cultural identity in a contemporary art context. We hope to inspire new, challenging art and facilitate dialogue between artists internationally. We are also dedicated to bridging the gap between what is considered music and art by giving space and attention to both mediums equally. Arts Territory fulfills its mission in a variety of ways including exhibitions, festival, through commissioning, research projects, and publications. Through meaningful dialogue with a wide range of venues and collaborators, we present projects across the UK and internationally.
New Media Projects: No. 3, Araabi 3 Alley, N. Kheradmand St, Karimkhan Ave. Tehran – Iran
Supported by the Arts Council England’s Artists International Development Fund granted to Kasia Sobucka.