wedo2021

Contemporary Polish Arts & Culture Festival We Do – 4th Edition

14 – 18.09.2022

For the 4th time, We Do Festival of Polish Contemporary Polish Arts & Culture will take place in Oslo! Once again, it will offer a dazzling variety of experiences – participatory workshops, live performances and documentary film screenings. Join us for five days of Polish cultural experiences, without any entrance fee!

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The Festival is an expression of Polish culture that is open, inclusive and diverse. With a goal to reach out to the broad international audience, We Do creates a space for shared experiences and international dialogue between cultures and borders. One of the main goals of this year’s edition is to share how we can take care of ourselves and our inner balance.

As an act of solidarity with our neighbouring land, some elements of Ukrainian culture were included in the program.

About the project

PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SPACE  

September 4th, 16.00–17.00 Edvard Munchs plass, Bjørvika, Oslo

(RE)CONSTRUCTION:
Body as a transformational landscape

The performance is an outcome of a collaboration between Deep Control Collective with a group of artists consisting of a music composer, fashion designer, photographer and video maker.

In this piece 3 performers embody the aspects of change, constancy, and the reflection of the environment and architecture in the body. The subject of this piece is the positioning of the body in relationship with architecture, landscapes and private & public space.

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We look into how these aspects influence our psychophysics and how they are being reflected in us through our life stories, memories and symbols. How these different surroundings influence the forming of the sense of physical self.

(RE)CONSTRUCTION will take you on a journey with movement, live music and visual impressions. Performance will take place in the public space in Bjørvika and during the closing ceremony of We Do Festival in Høymagasinet.

Choreography and dance:
Monika Kochowicz, Ewelina Sobieraj, Angelika Lisowska
Music: Krzysztof Sedzik

Workshops (free entrance after registration)

Migrating voices

September 15–18th (4 days) 12.00–18.00 Herslebs gate 43, Oslo A vocal performer and musical therapist Paulina Miu will take you on a journey to Ukraine and Berlin with „Zelenaya Vyshnya” song. It is a very special Ukrainian song that Paulina learned in spring of 2021 which then, a year later, became a vocal manifest and was sung in streets of Berlin to show support for Ukraine when the war came.
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During the workshop we will activate breath, body and voice. We will build the technical base entering the process of recognizing our own voice in the context of group sound and also during work “in the field” to get to know and listen to ourselves in relation to the given Environment. All discoveries, reflections and insights will be discussed in a circle situation, embracing the diversity of individual and collective experiences in the voice matter. This vocal workshop is suitable for everyone regardless of any previous singing experience and finishes with an outcome of a collective singing performance.

This vocal workshop is suitable for everyone regardless of any previous singing experience and finishes with an outcome of a collective singing performance.

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Picture book

September 14–18th (5 days) 13.00–18.00 Rådhusgata 19, Oslo A visual artist, art historian and lecturer Karol Krukowski will teach you how to tell a story in the form of a picture book – a combination of text and image. In this workshop we will search for the identity of the city and its inhabitants in order to find a new quality born between words and pictures.
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The text does not describe what the image does, and the image does not illustrate the text. It is precisely in the combination of these two seemingly separate narratives where the tension and the meaning arise.
Geographical places will become the subject of the story and they tell their own story, the story of the city and its inhabitants. To build collective awareness of what a city is, safe solutions are often used in the form of monuments or memorial posters.

The workshop concludes with a presentation of picture book mockups.

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Sound therapy

September 14–18th (5 days) 2 groups: 10.00–12.30 & 15.30–18.00 Uranienborg terrasse 11, Oslo Sound therapy – health awareness workshop led by musician and music therapist Kasia Szymków offers exploration of how sound vibrations affect our health and body. You will explore the vibration at the bottom of various instruments by touching, playing and feeling them.
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This workshop is aimed at those who want to either start discovering how sound vibrations affect our health or learn how to create relaxation sessions and sound meditation in terapeutic work. It consists of the theory part, relaxation concerts with tibetan gongs and masses, dance meditation, singing and humming practice and much more. You will have a chance to practice playing on instruments, improvise, listen and relax. Kasia is an educated cello player and a certified sound therapist. She plays concerts, writes film scores and conducts therapeutic sessions. She is the author of a workshop series combining ancient eastern knowledge with modern western psychology.

This workshop is suitable also for complete beginners and those who are just starting their adventure with meditation and sound therapy. Everyone is welcome!

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Documentary film screenings (free entrance)

September 14th and 17th
We Do – Film is organized in collaboration with the HER Docs Film Festival from Warsaw. For the second time we are happy to cooperate with the first Polish documentary film festival dedicated to female filmmakers. Both events share values of tolerance and equality which directly reflect in their programmes. HER Docs Film Festival focuses on promoting filmmaking and creativity of women and strives to create a space for engaging discussions about the challenges we’re facing today in Poland and in the world. As our tribute to Ukraine, we will present two documentaries produced by Ukrainian female filmmakers.
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HER Docs wants to draw attention to such topics as gender equality, fundamental human rights, body and sexuality, and together observe the dynamics of changing gender roles in society. As Agnieszka Jakimiak wrote in her article for dwutygodnik.com: „The series of narratives collected by the organizers of HER Docs reinforces one of the most important thoughts, driving every radically equitable change: people stand behind systems, algorithms, selections and programs, and they are able to make structures become more inclusive and fair.” Despite the fact that half of film students are women, the female representation in film festivals makes approximately only up to 30% of all the movie programs. Together with HER Docs we want to show that the female has moxie and courage to speak HERstories through skilled and talented filmmakers.

Boylesque (2022) and Q&A with director Bogna Kowalczyk

September 14th, 18.00
Frogner Kino, Frognerveien 30B, Oslo

Boylesque is a portrait of a young soul hidden in a mature body. Andrzej aka Lulla La Polaca is the oldest Polish drag queen. We meet him when he is preparing his extravagant burial - his ashes are to be buried in an elegant urn in the shape of a stiletto shoe. Although the passing of time makes him nostalgic and he misses his dead friend, he does not intend to give up his life show yet. Somewhat forgotten until now, he starts to shine his light on equality parades, private parties and nightclub scenes. Believing that he can still experience romantic love at the end of his life, Andrzej opens himself up to search for someone through a dating site.

The Wall of Shadows (2020) by Eliza Kubarska

September 17th, 17.00
Kunstnernes Hus, Wergelandsveien 17, Oslo

The Sherpa family break a taboo and take part in the Himalayan expedition to Kumbhakarna, the holiest of mountains, to earn money for their son's school and cut him from their tradition. They accompany the leading world class alpinists.

The Earth Is Blue as an Orange (2020) by Iryna Tsilyk

September 17th, 19.00
Kunstnernes Hus, Wergelandsveien 17, Oslo

To cope with the daily trauma of living in a war-zone, Anna and her children are making a film together about their life in the most surreal surroundings.

Concerts (free entrance)

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Artificialice

September 16th (Oslo kulturnatt), 20.00 Cosmopolite Scene, Vogts gate 64, Oslo

Alicja Sobstyl, who works under the moniker 'Artificialice’, is a composer, songwriter, vocalist, flutist (e.g. Klawo) and producer. The project is characterised by hypnotic vocals reminiscent of Bjork, others mention Hiatus Kaiyote-style arrangements and uncompromising electronic sounds inspired by Sophie or Arca. It’s a combination of dehumanised electronics and vocals saturated with human emotions. And it’s not worth having expectations. Link
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Safario

September 16th (Oslo kulturnatt), 20.00
Cosmopolite Scene, Vogts gate 64, Oslo

Safario is one of the hottest hips in Norway these days. A Polish rapper singing in English has gathered heaps of attention in the last few years. His synthesized music style finds its expression mainly in hip hop but we can also feel a pleasant bouncing vibe with some punk elements. His concerts are famous for a unique atmosphere where there is space not only for music but also for a true connection and conversations with fans.

Link

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Coals

September 18th closing concert at the Final Show, 16.00 Høymagasinet, Myntgata 7, Oslo

“Coals” is a duet from Silesia in Poland. This rapidly expanding collaboration will serve us dreamy ethereal pop with elements of electronics and folk music. Thanks to melancholic electric female vocals and original references to contemporary music, the band quickly became internationally famous. Link

Any questions? Contact us.

 

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