Scripto do pdf 1.p65

A bout the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre,
the publisher of “Scriptores”
The Centre is an independent cultural institution engaged in fostering an awareness of Lublin's rich multicultural history and at developing a deeper sense of
local identity and tolerance for other cultures. In its activities the Centre refers to
the symbolic and historical significance of its residence – the Grodzka Gate –
which was once a passage from the Christian to the Jewish part of the city, as well
as to the locality of Lublin as a place where various cultures, traditions and religions once met.
The NN Theatre (from Latin nomen nescio, “name unknown”) was founded in
1990. Initially its activities focused on theatrical performances, but gradually its
creators realised the historical significance of its location and the richness of Lublin's past. They started to open up to other types of activities such as social,
cultural and educational initiatives. The Centre restored its residence, the 14th
century Grodzka Gate and the adjoining houses, bringing back to life an important part of Lublin's neglected Old Town. One of the most important programmes
run at that time was called “Encounters of Cultures”, where artists from Western
and East Central Europe performed and presented their work. Since then the activities of the Centre have been focused on reviving the memory of Lublin's Jewish
section. The Centre achieves this aim through artistic activities, exhibitions, interactive meetings, film screenings, concerts, outdoor events, promotion of books
and magazines and its own publications (books, “Scriptores”). Since 1998 information about all these activites can found on web sites. In 1998 the Centre started
its programme “The Great Book of the City”. Within this framework archival
materials connected with the history of Polish-Jewish Lublin, such as photographs, oral testimonies and documents are collected. Some of these materials have
been assembled into a documentary exhibition of two-cultural Lublin.
ARTISTIC PROJECTS
In the years 1990-1996 five premieres of the NN Theatre took place: “Heavenly Wanderings”, “Earthly Foods”, “Invocation”, “Too Loud a Solitude” and “Moby
Dick”. In its performances the NN Theatre has created an original theatrical language which is close to a dream poetics. Working on documentary materials (photographs, maps, oral testimonies) has become an inspiration for undertaking artistic activities of other kinds. Among others, those included documentary exhibitions forming a specific “theatre of memory”. Exceptional significance is given to
“Memory Mysteries” – artistic activities taking place in the city's spaces, connected with their symbolic meaning directed at restoring their lost past. The Mysteries which have been realised so far include: “One World – Two Temples”, “Day
of Five Prayers” (in the former concentration camp in Majdanek near Lublin),
“Mystery of the Szeroka Street”, “Mystery of the Bell” and “Mystery of Light
and Darkness”. Altogether several thousand people took part in those events.
Another project with symbolic meaning was undertaken by the Centre on the
anniversary of the liquidation of the Lublin ghetto by sending letters addressed to
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About the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre
former inhabitants of the non-existent Jewish town. It is an attempt to “touch” the
vast emptiness which came into being after the extermination of the Jews of Lublin. In 2001 the NN Theatre started preparing a new series of theatrical performances inspired by Jewish folklore and Hassidic stories.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES
From the very beginning, cultural education played an important role in the
NN Theatre's programmes. Projects connected with media education became increasingly important. Their aim was to teach how to use modern media consciously and critically, how to reach the sources of information and how to prepare
oneself for the challenges accompanying life in the global village. Within the
framework of that programme, among others, a series “Encounters with Documentaries” was organised. It consisted in screenings of documentary films and
presentations of radio broadcasts as well as in holding meetings with their authors. Since 1999 the Centre has been organising classes for students in the realm
of multicultural education as well as workshops for teachers and cultural leaders.
The basis of these initiatives is a documentary exhibition of the Centre's materials
called “A Portrait of the Place”. The exhibition has been visited by young people
from around the world including Germany and Israel. In 2001 in co-operation
with the Carnegie Council (New York) and Jagiellonian University (Cracow) the
Centre organised an international conference “Education for Reconciliation”. In
the same year the Centre held a seminar called “Cultural Heritage of Jews in the
Lublin Region” in co-operation with the Centre for Jewish Studies at Maria Curie-Sk³odowska University and Project Guggenheim. The seminar was attended
by a considerable number of teachers from Lublin and the surrounding region
whom the Centre co-operates with. In 2002 the Centre initiated a new programme
addressed to the whole Lublin region: “The Forgotten Past – Multicultural Traditions of the Lublin Region”. One of the aims of this programme is designing an
Internet educational web site which will contain information about the multireligious and multiethnic history of the region.
“THE GREAT BOOK OF THE CITY”
Within the framework of a programme called “The Great Book of the City”,
ongoing since 1997, an archive of documentary materials such as photographs,
oral testimonies (interviews with pre-war citizens), literary texts, documents showing everyday life of pre-war Lublin, is being created. The collected materials
serve as a basis for artistic and educational activities. Among others, two documentary exhibitions serving as the interior arrangement of the Centre have been
organised. The artistic form of those exhibitions has developed from the experience of the theatre and is strongly rooted in the theatrical imagination and expression. An important part of the exhibition is a model of the pre-war Old Town
District decreased to the scale of 1:250, encompassing the non-existent Jewish
town. The model emphasises the scope of destruction caused by World War II.
The collected documentation allowed us to reconstruct the old structure of the
town's centre, to recreate non-existent streets or squares, and to give viewers an
idea of the character of the buildings. Some houses or premises are documented in
a particularly detailed way to capture the history of specific buildings through
archival materials as well as through the history of the people who lived there.
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About the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre
The „Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre – programmes and their managers:
Oral History – Marta Kubiszyn ([email protected])
Forgotten Past – Multicultural Traditions of the Lublin Region –
Joanna Zêtar ([email protected])
Internet – Krzysztof Wojteczko ([email protected])
“Scriptores” – Marcin Skrzypek ([email protected])
Education – Grzegorz ¯uk ([email protected])
Photography Archive – Beata Markiewicz ([email protected].),
Agnieszka Wiœniewska ([email protected])
Tomasz Pietrasiewicz – director of the Centre, artistic director of the NN Theatre,
coordinator of all programmes ([email protected])
Witold D¹browski – vice director ([email protected])
Contact and address:
Oœrodek “Brama Grodzka – Teatr NN”
20-112 Lublin, Grodzka 21, Poland
(48-81) 532-58-67, fax. 534-61-10
[email protected]
www.tnn.lublin.pl
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