Events

Join the workshops "Between Worlds: Performing Polish-Jewish Continuities and Encounters" organized in the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews that will take place on December 5-7. The Director of the Jewish Historical Institute, Monika Krawczyk, will give a lecture opening the second day of the workshop: The Polish-Jewish relations after 1989 - an overview, and Dr. Agnieszka Żółkiewska of the Institute's Research Department will talk about the Polish and Jewish Theatre Contacts in the Warsaw Ghetto and on the 'Aryan Side.'

Theatre is and has been an important site for Polish-Jewish encounters. This GEOP workshop will bring together scholars, artists and cultural actors to explore the characteristics, functions, and significance of the Jewish theatre by studying its activity in Poland and in the broader transnational contexts throughout Polish-Jewish diasporas. The sessions will focus on the intellectual, social, political, and cultural contexts of theatrical activities, the theatre’s role in stimulating intercultural Polish-Jewish dialogue, and its impact on the identity of the Jewish communities with Polish roots living in Australia and the Americas.

The organizers have posed several challenging questions: What is the role of Jewish theatre and its culture-creating potential in forging and maintaining Polish-Jewish identity? Is Jewish theatre important in navigating Polish-Jewish relations and Jewish ties with Poland? Can attention to theatre help scholars representing various academic disciplines expand the discussion on Polish-Jewish relations outside of the Holocaust narrative and redefine Polish-Jewish memory? This final question seems particularly important, since theatre can plausibly serve as a linkage across pre- and post-war eras and generations.