Description

Along with singer, music scholar and art therapist Agata Żelechowska we would like to invite you to an interactive experience of this literary work through reading, as well as sound, tactility, smell and art.

Olga Tokarczuk’s novel The Empusium can be regarded as a feminist response or a tender pastiche of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

In September 1913, a young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in the Silesian mountains. Every evening the residents gather to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur and debate the great issues of the day: monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women born inferior? War or peace? Meanwhile, disturbing things are happening in the guesthouse and the surrounding hills. Someone – or something – seems to be watching, attempting to infiltrate this cloistered world. Little does the newcomer realize, as he tries to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target.

1st part. 12.00:
Shared reading: The Empusium

Olga Tokarczuk’s Norwegian translator, Julia Aagenæs Wiedlocha, will lead a reading circle using the shared reading approach. You will receive the text when you arrive. No preparations are necessary. It is OK to only listen.

Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes.

2nd part. 13.30:
Song Between the Natural and the Supernatural – A Music Experience and Song Circle

This workshop consists of two parts. In the first part, you are invited to relax and listen to old Polish folk songs that tell stories set between the natural and supernatural worlds. Part performance and part ritual, this experience is designed to help you connect with the source of what is alive within you. In the second part, you will have the opportunity to learn some of the songs and experience the healing potential of singing.
No previous singing experience is required. If you prefer, you are welcome to remain silent and simply listen. The workshop will be held in English by Agata Żelechowska.

Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes.

3rd part. 15.15:
My Inner Health Resort

What does it mean to breathe fully? What does it take to heal? Inspired by themes from The Empusium, we will create artworks through art therapy exercises that invite you to explore topics such as healing, nature, breath, instinct, and magic. There will also be time for sharing and reflecting together.

No previous art experience is required. All art materials will be provided, and you are welcome to take your artwork home or present it at the final day of the festival in Høymagasinet on Sunday 25th of October. The workshop will be held in English by Agata Żelechowska.

Duration: 1 hours and 15 minutes.

Practical info

Feel free to bring lunch. We will serve coffee, tea and our version of Schwärmerei.
It is possible to attend one, two or all parts of the workshop.
Please bring a blanket or something comfortable to sit or lie on.

Polsk på norsk (Polish in Norwegian) is an organization founded by two translators of Polish literature, Agnes Banach and Julia Aagenæs Wiedlocha. We propagate Polish literature in Norwegian translation as well as the art of translation.