In 2013, we are presenting above all the contemporary scene, both traditional and underground, from Israel, Poland, and many other corners of the Diaspora—even such exotic ones as Mexico.
The Festival has been changing constantly for 25 years. This year, the changes are especially visible. Times are changing, and so are the audiences. Tastes are changing, and Jewish culture itself is changing. Our public is now incredibly well educated, which means they set high standards; they know exactly what is happening with the newest trends in the arts—including the Jewish arts. We want to meet the expectations of the almost thirty thousand people who wait for the Festival each year. We will never stop cherishing those who have joined us in building the Festival over the last 25 years, but we also want to reach new, youthful fans. This year, everyone who comes to the Festival will get a particularly powerful taste of how lively and rich contemporary Jewish culture is around the world—and how hard it is to categorize.
Twenty-five years ago, the Jewish Culture Festival was the only event of its kind not only in Cracow, but anywhere in the world. Now there a great many similar festivals, but we still want to be exceptional and original. This is why we’re changing all the time—in terms of our program and artists—but also visually.
The main Festival poster presents the new JCF logo, alluding to the symbol of the Lion of Judah, which is also the emblem of Jerusalem.
We have divided the gigantic Festival schedule, which lists over 200 events per year, into six thematic parts: Classic, Fringe, Art, Ideas, Kids, and &Co.—the program of accompanying events. This is intended to make it easier to choose, but it will also challenge preconceptions about Jewish culture, especially where traditional elements enter into wild fusion with truly avant-garde elements, said the Deputy Director.
The first edition of JCF – Classic is aimed at audiences who prefer more traditional forms, although we hasten to note that what we call “classic” today was just recently “avant-garde.” The Classic schedule will be filled with religious ceremonies, cantorial and Hasidic—and also Sephardic—music, visits to synagogues, and workshops in traditional Jewish art. On the other hand, it also presents traditional klezmer music arranged for a big band, in a project prepared especially for the Jewish Culture Festival by Frank London and the Big Band of the Academy of Music in Cracow.
Fringe is a programming bloc for audiences unafraid of challenges. These concerts defy facile classification and often combine apparently unrelated musical genres like, for instance, Carlebach’s nigunim with Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, but they also venture into the club atmosphere, which is why this section includes DJ appearances. You can learn about Kabbalah on skateboards and the history of Jewish music during vinyl sessions in the Festival’s Cheder Cafe. Nor is there any lack of Jewish themes from contemporary pop-culture films, and concerts and workshops from the MuLaKuŻ series highlight the fact that contemporary, avant-garde Jewish music is also being made in Poland.
The Art section presents contemporary Jewish art from Magdalena Gross’s graffiti through murals by Israeli street-art guru Pil Peled, multimedia happenings, and audio installations to an exhibition of wooden figurines of Jews and photographs of children from the ultra-orthodox neighborhoods of Israel. Pil Peled can be observed at work in Kazimierz, and his hyper-realistic work, laced with black humor, will be exhibited at the Jewish Culture Center.
Lectures, workshops, discussions, and even cooking workshops make up the Ideas section, aimed at people who like discussing and learning, and who wish to understand the Jewish world—its values, history, and problems—and enjoy differing perspectives on the same issues.
JCF Kids, the special program for children, makes it possible for them to enter into the Jewish world through artistic and musical workshops, games, and happenings, all concluding with children and parents joining together at the Sabbath table.
“We have not been and never will be a klezmer festival. We are a festival of diverse worlds—the world of Askenazi, Sephardic, Oriental, and finally Israeli culture. Our spiritual capital is Yerushaláyim, and the center of all these worlds—the Land of Israel,” said the director.
The organizer of the Festival is the Jewish Culture Festival Association.
Detailed program: The Jewish Culture Festival
