The leitmotif of the 15th edition of the Wierszowisko Festival, which ended recently, was “Fifteen years of telling stories”. What did children tell you about?
This year’s edition was very ambitious because apart from children’s poetry, the festival participants also presented a poem entitled “Nothing twice” by Wisława Szymborska and “To linden” by Jan Kochanowski. I think it was the best edition I have seen so far, although I’m not very objective in my opinion. There were many well-known and liked authors presented, including Tuwim and Brzechwa who are continuously most popular. This year group performances – schools preparing mini etudes – were dominated by the jubilee theme. There were performances based on the works of the most popular Polish poets but also many own texts, written by teachers and parents of children who performed on stage. Łukasz Dębski, a well-known author of children books, who was a jury member this year, told me he was impressed by the subject matter of these short theatre forms. I am proud that Wierszowisko finds so many talented children and gives them a chance to present their skills. All the laureates received beautiful books, including the ones by Aneta Noworyta, a writer who made her debut at the Wierszowisko Festival in Schiedam with her school, writing children’s plays for future editions of the festival.
For many years I also had the honour to watch development of our talented schoolchildren, amazing contribution of parents and great commitment of teachers from schools associated in the Forum of Polish Schools in the Netherlands. If it was up to me, I would give gold medals to all of them!
Let’s go back to the beginnings of Wierszowisko. How did it all start?
In 1999 I joined the management of Polish Schools in the Netherlands, when its make-up was changing. It was the time when Dorota Perłowska was leaving. Dorota dreamt about organising a meeting for children from different Polish schools that would be combined with reciting poems. She had a general idea and she was not sure how to bring it into effect. When she was leaving, she gave me a general outline written down and I promised her I would think about it. After some time I thought we could organise a declamatory competition for children. Dorota liked the idea and we arranged the first edition of Wierszowisko together. It was in the autumn of 2000 at the Het Klein Theatre in Eindhoven. The owner of this theatre at that time was a Polish woman, Halina Witek, who let us use it for free. We sent invitations and to our surprise we received applications from about 60 children.
We had lots of doubts about the first Wierszowisko Festival – we didn’t know what to expect and what would come out of this. We decided that all children would receive diplomas, which I printed in black and white on ordinary paper. It was a nightmare! (laughing)
But something amazing happened when the auditorium filled with people, children finally came and started to perform… They were so much involved and tried to recite poems the best way they could. It was incredibly touching. We have to remember it was 16 years ago when there weren’t so many Polish people and Polish stores in the Netherlands yet and schools functioned in a slightly different way. Therefore, children reciting poems by Tuwim were very moving. It was an incredible thing!
Children liked it so much that after the competition had ended they asked me: “What are we going to recite next year? What should we prepare?” We didn’t plan a regular event. It was intended as one-off but I thought that if children asked me about it and wanted to do it again they must have liked it and that it should be repeated.
After three years there were so many people coming, both children and adults, that the theatre in Eindhoven was too small and we had to look for another place. This is how we found the Maldenstijn Community Centre in Malden.
We also introduced limits for the number of participants – there is a specific number of children who can represent a given school in individual and group (mini etudes)
performances. This is the most important element of Wierszowisko – for some reason children liked the group competition between schools from the beginning and they want to win the trophy. The most important question every year is: “Who will win the Wierszowisko Trophy this time?” This year the unquestionable winner was the Polish school in Tilburg.
In the first four years it was us who chose authors whose poetry was recited by children during Wierszowisko. Later we started to choose a theme that children’s performances were to refer to, which still continues. Together with their teachers, children select poems they present as individuals. Some of them write their own scenarios based on various texts and create performances or theatre etudes. The subjects we suggest are very diverse and general so it’s easy to find a matching repertoire.
There are usually 6 or 7 schools competing. They prepare mini performances called etudes. Every year there are different schools apart from one, which has been with us for 15 years – the school in Tilburg. Everyone usually impatiently waits for the moment when the trophy winner is announced. What happens after the results are announced is something incredible. It’s a total outbreak of joy! It’s amazing but seeing losers’ tears can break your heart…
During all these years Wierszowisko has become very popular and it arouses lots of interest also outside the Netherlands. Who has visited you so far?
Our first guest was a school from Lublewo near Gdańsk. It cooperates with a school in Nijmegen, which had a very good school theatre and performed at our festival. The second guest was a school from Malbork and then one from Dusseldorf. At first they came as guests and a year later – as competitors.
One of the greatest successes of Wierszowisko is the fact that the festival is also organised outside the Netherlands. For three years the Children’s Polish Poetry Festival has been also taking place in London. Since its first edition it has been as successful as the one in the Netherlands! We hope that other countries will follow. It seems we have the key to success!
Ania and Łukasz Dębski have been also visiting us for a few years. They organise workshops for children and they sit on a jury. Since 2005, thanks to Ania Wierszowisko has its own logo – a sun. Ania and Łukasz organised workshops also this year and Łukasz sat on a jury.
This year the media patron of Wierszowisko was TVP Polonia. By courtesy of its director, Łukasz Kardas. Additionally, the host of our festival was a TV Polonia presenter, Magda Emilianowicz. There was also a representative of TVP Polonia, Katarzyna Karapyta, present. She could see the size of the event with her own eyes.
One of our guests was also Małgorzata Małyska from ORPEG – Polish Teachers’ Association in Lublin, which has been cooperating with the Forum of Polish Schools in the Netherlands for nearly 20 years. She took part in Wierszowisko for the first time (as a juror). She was leaving excited with the amount of materials that she got for future workshops for teachers working in Polish communities!
MP Ligia Krajewska helped us talk with the Ministry of National Education, which became an honorary patron of Wierszowisko in 2015. She brought us a letter from Anna Komorowska addressed to all the festival participants. It was read before the competition. The fact that our efforts are appreciated in Poland is a huge honour for the organisers especially that it was done in such a distinct way. Senator Barbara Borys-Damięcka, who has been involved in Wierszowisko since 2010, brought a special award: a medal coined for the 25th anniversary of Polish Senate, presented to the festival organisers by the Marshall of the Senate, Bogdan Borusewicz. When I was given the medal, I felt really appreciated.
Apart from that, Wierszowisko also has its Guardian Angels, without whom it could never been organised. For 10 years our posters, diplomas, all the graphic materials and multimedia have been prepared by Tomek Karawajczyk. He designs them, prints them and delivers them to the festival. For 10 years Tomasz was my right and left hand, my support and bedrock, director and host, a person responsible for catering, a driver and an indispensable element of the festival. Jack of all trades! Due to the fact that, despite the festival being so popular, we receive less and less money from official institutions, we had to look for sponsors. Joanna Hoppe – the owner of JManager in the Netherlands, assumed this very difficult task. She turned out to be very efficient! She managed to convince many Polish companies operating in the Netherlands to invest in our festival. It’s Joanna’s great success and I will always be grateful to her.
What does Wierszowisko give you personally?
I wouldn’t do it if I thought it didn’t mean anything for children. They cannot be lied to. If there is something wrong, they will always tell you about it. They will say or show what they think. Children don’t care about convention or subtleties. The fact that they want to come, perform and watch others on stage means that they need it, that they want to do it and that it makes them happy. It’s the only reason why I have done this for so many years. But it’s time for changes. This edition had a special meaning for me because it was a goodbye. After 16 years of organising Wierszowisko it’s time to pass it on to the next generation of parents. It was one of the most difficult decisions in my life but I decided I was ready for new challenges. Tomasz, who has also decided to give up his involvement in Wierszowisko, and I reserve the right to be the Festival ambassadors if other countries would like to organise it.
You are a laureate of the last year’s Polonus Award in the culture category. Has it changed anything in your life?
It was only three months ago and I haven’t seen any changes so far (laughing). But seriously speaking, it is a great honour and I accepted it on behalf of Wierszowisko – in the context of 15 years of work, preparations and children’s creative commitment. It was a very important distinction for us. I hope that my efforts to popularise Polish jazz music in the Netherlands and Dutch music in Poland were also appreciated. I’m just starting in this area, blazing a trail and I’m proud of what I have managed to achieve in such a short period of time.
I was asked to join the Polonus Chapter in 2015 and on 21st November I will present the statue to my successor.
How was MMusic Foundation created?
In 2009 at the Jazz Cafe in Łomianki I organised a concert to celebrate 20 years of Czarek Konrad’s artistic work. It was attended by the best Polish jazz musicians including Włodek Pawlik, Ania Jopek, Filip Wojciechowski, Henryk Miśkiewicz and much regretted Zbyszek Wegehoupt. Everything went well, also regarding the logistics, which encouraged me to organise more concerts. Besides, since 2006 I have been developing Czareka Konrad’s website and I managed to offer a few photos of my friends-photographers, including fantastic Lech Basel from Wrocław, for the Włodek Pawlik Trio’s record. These are my small successes that I’m very proud of.
After this first jubilee concert I decided that it would be great if I formalise this passion of mine, take another step and become more professional about it. This is how one-woman MMusic Foundation was set up. Of course, it wouldn’t be possible without the help of my friends and musicians I know. I’m very grateful to all of them. First of all, for the trust they put in me. It was a great honour. At the moment the MMusic Polish-Dutch Concert Agency represents the following artists and bands: Acquaphonica, Franz von Choosy, Cezary Konrad, Dorota Miśkiewicz, Włodek Pawlik Trio, Łukasz Pawlik, Maurits Roes and Filip Wojciechowski.
It started with the organisation of small concerts. MMusic’s duo, Agnieszka Kiepuszewska and Maurits Roes, performed at the local Jazzy Tiel Festival in 2011. The organisers heard that the concert was very well received by the festival audience. Therefore, in 2013 we started talking about organising the main concert of the festival. In this way Anna Maria Jopek and her band became the star of Jazzy Tiel 2013 Festival. Apparently people said that these were the best musicians that have ever performed on that stage! (laughing) Thanks to my previous contacts with the Dutch NTR radio station, Ania and her band took part in a live programme broadcast in the studio in Hilversum. Since then, one of Dutch TV stations, DJAZZ.tv, has been playing Anna Maria Jopek’s videos.
I also believe that the fact that I have been organising a Dutch band tour in Poland for the second time is also my success. In 2014 these were concerts of a jazz quintet from Amsterdam, Acquaphonica. They performed in such places as Stary Theatre in Lublin, PiecArt in Kraków, Harenda Club in Warsaw and OdNowa Club in Toruń.
In June 2015 I’m going on a similar tour with Tango Extremo from The Hague. We start in Germany and then we have concerts in Szczecin, Łodź, Warsaw and Elbląg. After the Polish tour the band is going to play in Lithuania. I would like to invite everyone to a special concert in Warsaw. On 27th June Tango Extremo will play in the Na Skwerze Club with a special guest – Włodek Pawlik! Our (also MMusic’s!) most titled jazz musician will make everyone tango!
We are planning a revisit but it’s still something I’m working on. (laughing)
Photo © Gosia Lubbers-Dąbrowska