Performer
In the Performer 5, you can read papers in English: results of the 2011 Summer Seminars led by Ian Watson:
- A Brief Introduction by Ian Watson
- Katyń Memorial. Light and Dark: a performance (re)presentation
- The Panorama Racławicka: a Battleground for Identity
- The White Stork Synagogue Project: Visible and invisible barriers/borders
- The Labyrinth. In Search of the Grotowski Institute (an exercise in applying performance analysis)
About Performer
Performer is an online research journal published by the Grotowski Institute. The basic aim of the project is to present the results of research conducted, initiated and supported by the Institute and its partner organizations and researchers. This basic aim, however, is not our primary objective. The journal is not intended to be a platform to showcase what we do. Rather, we want it to enliven and enhance the thinking practices inspired by a vast and multi-hued constellation known by the name of Grotowski. We would like it to be a focal and reference point in a global communication network, open to anyone associated with this constellation or wishing to make contact with it. Seeking to make sure that this space is prepared and fully accepted by all ‘known friends’, our dream is that it will shine brightly enough to attract ‘unknown friends’ and help them find their own paths to the flame we all want to keep alive in response to the call ‘Keep the fire burning!’, issued by Jairo Cuesta and Jim Slowiak in the introduction to their book about Grotowski:
The journal addresses all topics that constitute the focus of the Grotowski Institute, namely the work, biography, contexts and tradition of the Institute’s patron, his collaborators and associates, as well as a vast domain of artistic practice and research lying between theatre, other kinds of cultural performance and the performative aspects of collective and individual life. Because of these two fundamental, but not exclusive, areas of focus, we decided to call the journal Performer, a word that lies at the heart of the vocabulary and reflection of the diverse fields of performance studies and anthropology of performance, and one that Grotowski reinterpreted in the final phase of his work and used as a title in one of his key texts. We realize that by using this word we make a certain commitment and subject ourselves, and all our authors, to certain requirements. We hope that future issues of the journal prove we can rise to the challenge, and that Performer is not a usurper.
The journal will be published exclusively online, but it will be organized along traditional lines. The title page, list of contents and, above all, a fairly traditional format of numbered pages are all intended to give the project a structure reflecting the values represented by academies and libraries. This structure is further reinforced by a regular set of sections:
1. Source Tales
Source materials, historical and contemporary, including texts and recordings of speeches, talks, interviews and conversations. This section will also include historiographic studies presenting and organizing factual material.
2. Conquering with Thought
The central section, featuring analyses, interpretations, essays and sketches which are, if possible, thematically linked and which form central theme of each issue.
3. Responses
Reviews and polemics.
4. Briefly Recommended
Short recommendations of books, events, etc.
5. The Chronicle
The chronicle of the Institute’s activities during the period since the previous issue.
Though the journal has a relatively conservative format, we want to make the best possible use of electronic technology by publishing audio recordings and film footage alongside images and photographs. To a certain extent, the recordings will serve as illustration to written content, but we also want them to form a relatively autonomous narrative, or even, where appropriate, to replace text as a more efficient means of sharing knowledge. Stand-alone audio recordings and videos are already featured in the first issue.
We want Perfomer to be a platform for exchanging knowledge and ideas which cuts across multiple boundaries (cultural, national, linguistic, milieu-related, generational, etc.) dividing the Grotowski constellation along variable lines. We are open to a plurality of voices, including the ones that remain unheard. We encourage anyone who wants to share their ideas and research to contact our editorial team. Please send your views and opinions, including critical ones, to kosinski [at] performer [dot] art [dot] pl