The Street Art Festival is an international artistic event that has been organised in Warsaw public space since 1993. Every year it attracts hundreds of artists and several thousand spectators both from Poland and abroad. Varied performance art spectacles, particularly theatre, dance and circus shows create a vivid, bright kaleidoscope of artistic thought and experience on the open stages of our city streets, squares, and parks.
For a few days Warsaw will become a place where art and culture is presented in new, dynamic forms outside of box theatres, galleries and museums. All the festival events are free and open to several thousand regular spectators and passersby.
This year during the Festival you will see artists from Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Ukraine. The Ukrainian Highlits Street Theatre will present „Dance Parade”, while Cirq’ulation Locale from Belgium will jump up high in „Trampoline Mission 3”. Festival’s audience already knows both of these companies. On the other hand, the Czech Squadra SUA Theatre will be new this year, and we will see them in „Bomberos”.
Among Polish theatre groups that will come to the Festival there will be our old friends who have performed here in previous years, as well as new guests. Jarosław Paczkowski’s Te-O-Ka Theatre Group from Wrocław will come again, this time with „Saga”, and Józef Markocki’s Teatr „Formy” with this year’s premiere of „Master and Margarita”.
Gliwice will be represented again by the professional, religious off theatre Teatr „A” with the performance of „Giants”, while Gdańsk by Teatr „Snów” with their new production of „Rudiments”. The company from Pomorze (the seaside region) will show us something elusive and complicated — a dream.
Poznań will be strongly represented by „Circus Ferus” Theatre Company, who come here for the first time, with „FREAK SHOW”, and our old friends: Teatr „Porywacze Ciał” with „Cyclists”, Teatr „Fuzja” with „Alice”, Teatr „Biuro Podróży” with „Carmen Funabre”. Teatr „Strefa Ciszy” will come again, also from Poznań. The artists from this off theatre specialising in open air spectacles, street events and happenings will present „Salto Mortale”.
During the Festival we will also see artists from Warsaw: Teatr „Makata” — an experimental interdisciplinary creative group that will present „The Wedding” and Teatr „Akt” pantomime theatre with „Chick-Stick”. Teatr „3A” will come again from Policzna in Podlasie. This dramatic panopticon will present a show of „Punch and Judy”. A wandering village theatre company Teatr „Klinika Lalek” from Wolimierz in Lower Silesia will come with their premiere of „Circus without Violence”.
Organisers would also like to draw your attention to Ernest Zawada’s „Cocoons” project, a visual spatial installation set up as an unconventional fashion show. Unique clothing items will be made by WST students from Katowice.
The Street Art Festival is organised by Stowarzyszenie Scena 96. The Festival is financed by the Office of the Capital City of Warsaw.
More detailed information about the Festival you can find on: Sztuka Ulicy website.
Photo © Kasia Chmura-Cegiełkowska