jazzahead 2018 :: Kultura Polska

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"Ciepłe powitanie w Bremie kocham Polskę!" - A warm welcome in Bremen, dear Polish!
This year's partner country of the jazzahead Poland presents itself in many ways both at the international trade fair and with a varied cultural program in the city. At the "Polish Night" on the 18th of April, 8 bands will be performing representing the neighboring country of Germany.


Organized by the deserving "Adam Mickiewisz Institute" through its so-called POLSKA 100 cultural program (launched on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the regained independence of the state of Poland) and selected by an international jury of experts, the multifaceted Polish jazz and music scene will be presented at the Bremen slaughterhouse. Internationally known jazz greats such as the Marcin Wasilewski Trio or Atom String Quartet are on the program as well as representatives of the youngest generation whose names will be new to the audience. Kamil Piotrowicz, Kuba Więcek and High Definition Quartet are pleased to announce that Karolina Juzwa, also a member of the jury, is particularly pleased: it is her turn to be the motor of the current scene and deserve to make an international start. "And there are two female bandleaders - Monika Borzym, praised by the jury for their vocal charisma and professionalism, and Joanna Duda for her highly original and stylistically experimental project that shows the avant-garde side of the scene." organized by the jazzahead-makers, on the 20th of April in the bell, is the highlight of the program: With Anna Maria Jopek one of the most famous singers of Poland with the pianist Leszek Możdżer comes to Bremen. This concert is a special premiere, a tribute to all the masters and styles of Polish music that have shaped their artistic personalities. As the first band of the evening, the international quartet of saxophonist Maciej Obara will be performing on stage: four talents, who have earned an excellent reputation, especially in worldwide live performances, and have recently released their new CD on the well-known ECM label.

In addition, high-profile literary evenings and Polish films will be performed as part of the Polish cultural festival program. A four-star constellation of Polish literature promises April 11 at the Bremen Theater: Olga Tokarczuk, the Grande Dame of Polish literature, feminist Sylwia Chutnik, Jacek Dehnel, the Polish Oscar Wilde, and Dariusz Muszer, a provocateur par excellence, read in the night of Polish literature. Further literary evenings in the program are "Kosmopolen" on April 10th in the noon at the Theater Bremen with Artur Becker and guitarist Krzysztof Jaworski (admission free!) As well as a reading with Susanne Fritz on 16th April in the bookstore Storm. There is an extensive Polish film program in the City 46 with works u.a. by Roman Polański and film scores by Krzysztof Komeda. "Polish films and literature are internationally significant and strongly represented in our festival program. The whole program will be informative, surprising and curious beyond clichés, "says jazzahead! Project manager Sybille Kornitschky.

Insights into Polish cultural landscape
At the half-time meeting on April 12th, the Bremische Bürgerschaft deals with the question: What does art and culture production and its framework conditions look like with our eastern neighbors? A talk about the current cultural scene in Poland with experts from different subject areas. Among others, Stefan Chwin, a Gdańsk novelist and literary historian, meets his Warsaw colleague Bogusław Chrabota, the editor-in-chief of Rzeczpospolita, one of Poland's most important newspapers.

Performances & Dance
The dance performances of the Komuna Warszawa are moving: Make Yourself on April 8 at the Bremen Theater leads to a utopian location and takes the audience on an experimental self-exploration trip. In Cezary Goes to War on April 18 and 20 in Schwankhalle, director Cezary Tomaszweski re-enacts his biography of four actors and a pianist as a grotesque revue. With biting humor, the evening negotiates masculinity and the access of state politics to the body.

Exhibitions
The six by three meter light installation terminal lights up from April, 6-22, 2018 in front of the Kunsthalle Bremen. It is the first artwork of the Polish artist Karolina Halatek in Germany. As early as 16 March, the Museum Weserburg is hosting the exhibition Where Does Your Heart Belong? to see: A pointed selection of Polish contemporary art, extended to international positions. The works come from the renowned Signum Foundation in Poznań and can be seen in this form for the first time in Germany. The Bremen Center for Building Culture presents architecturally ambitious Polish single-family homes of recent times.

The jazzahead! and this year's partner country focus is just one facet of what is now the twelfth edition of this unique international trade fair for the globally ramified jazz scene. It is a hub and giant meeting for the makers of jazz concerts, festivals, club organizers, musicians, agencies, record labels, media representatives and fans of the genre, who often meet only once a year in Bremen and talk face to face. And of course, make new contacts. The city and the state of Bremen benefit enormously from this fair. After all, people from the most remote corners of the world come to the Wesermetropole, book hotel rooms and guest apartments, can be hosted and generally spend a lot of money in the city. Through years of effort and efforts, jazzahead has been able to secure its funding through federal funds and from the European Cultural Fund. Interim sponsorship by the car company Skoda was unfortunately discontinued by the company. In Bremen and its local politicians, it is only slowly becoming clear that the jazzahead is now a driving force for the image of Bremen. One wishes the creators around the project manager, Mrs. Sybille Kornitschky finally also the long-deserved acknowledgment and a financially good support of the country Bremen and the Bremen senate with regard to the coming years.

Further information on all concerts, tickets, etc. can be found on the jazzahead websites at: www.jazzahead.de