Projekt Ginczanka

 

Zuzanna Ginczanka, born Sara Polina Gincburg (born in 1917 in Kiev; killed in Krakow in 1944), was a visionary and a poetess who loved life and found joy in words. A true star of interwar bohemian circles, she was feted by the likes of Julian Tuwim and Witold Gombrowicz. An emancipated and charismatic woman, she spent her entire life challenging stereotypes. Her Jewish appearance was both a blessing and a curse. Forced into of constant hiding and escape during World War II, Ginczanka was the victim of persecution and betrayal. Eventually, she was arrested, tortured and killed by the Gestapo, only weeks before the Red Army entered Kraków.

Ginczanka. Zar-Ptak is a live musical performance which involves vocals, instruments and stunning visuals.
The creators of this project are inspired by the timeless poetry of Zuzanna Ginczanka, which is here combined with Paweł Szamburski's innovative compositions and Dorota Jarema's shamanic voice. Both musicians are widely known and admired, in Poland and increasingly abroad.
With musical improvisation and vocals, whispers, murmurs, steps and animal sounds, the two musicians weave a dreamlike tale which includes prophecies about the light and dark aspects of love and life, written by Ginczanka in a language which still rings true today.
The visual projections were formed of images shot during Ginczanka's time, a video-collage cut of experimental films, avant-garde footage and amateur clips, inspired and relating to Ginczanka's verses. The film fragments add to the emotional and visual experience of the show.
Ginczanka tells the tales of an Emancipated Woman, a Poet and a Jewess. It is a story of instincts, senses, physiology and emotions. Omnipresent love and the wonder of life mixed with irony, betrayal and fear are the heroes of this narrative. Wasps, lynxes, wild cats, pumas and foxes make their appearance, as does the legendary Fire-bird, a spirit of magical powers.
The Fire-bird becomes a Phoenix on the stage, the mythical symbol of rebirth and immortality. Similarly, more than seventy years after her death, the fragmentary memory of Ginczanka and her words are evoked.
The poet's words find completion: “and I, fragmented, here now myself must find”

Dorota Jarema: music, vocals, improvisation
Kamilla Baar-Kochańska: staging, acting
SzaZa (Paweł Szamburski, Patryk Zakrocki): music,improvisation
Gabi von Seltmann: artistic concept, staging