The Genial Epoch

The Genial Epoch International Touring Art Festival

The next action:

2012. 02. 16 18.00 Bruno Schulz performance and workshop, MDK, Opole, Poland

2012. 02. 17 20.00 Palimpsest Multicultural Music Project concert at Opole, Poland

Picture selection of the opening ceremony at Fogasház, Hungary

The Genial Epoch International Touring Art Festival is a 3 stage event series inspired by Bruno Schulz’s work, consisting of Photo application and exhibition, theatre performance and follow-up initiatory theatre workshop.

The genial epoch is the age of childlike wholeness, in which miracles are natural; the period when we have the most active attitude to the world that surrounds us. The project aims to re-search this creative dynamic viewpoint, and raise the understanding and the openness towards other cultures.

Project description

The main theme of the 2011/2012 Genial Epoch International Touring Art Festival is openness and creative imagination, that makes up the study field of the project in V4 countries, and takes various forms: theatre performance, follow-up initiatory theatre workshop, and a photo application dealing with the main theme, the result of which will be shown within the frame of an international Exhibition to be opened by the Palimpsest music band consisting of musicians of V4 countries.

The genial epoch, or the return to childhood, does not try to get back to the past time, but the active, dynamic recognition, to re-gain that kind of prejudice-free sight, which helps to build a bridge over barriers and differences betwixt cultures .What is the genial epoch? What can we present from a man, as objective truth? A possible variant? Rumour or prejudice? A family legend? Do we dispose of something at all? The reason of choosing The Nobel-prize novel of Bruno Schulz was, that despite its themes and characters belong to the East-European, Hasid Jewish folk life and custom, the ideas reflect the milieu of Central Europe.

Bruno Schulz: The Treatise on Mannequins

The international production entitled The Treatise on Mannequins inspired by Shculz’s artwork containing vivid fine arts and visual elements was born in 2010,as the result of common studio work of (PL) One Poem Theatre,(HU) Kompánia Theatre Studio,(CZ) Tomás Soldan dramaturgist,(PL) Krzysztof Zylinski director,(SK) Soňa Bellérová set designer,(HU) Börcsök Anna, Lukács Máté,and Lili Zsabokorszky fine artist,(PL)Michał Wawrzyniak and (HU)Miklós Heppes composers, and László Lukács(HU) director assistant. The follow-up initiatory theatre workshop is built on the methods of drama pedagogy. Instead of offering a conventional, passive reception standpoint, it activates the participants using experience-centred techniques.

Target groups

The V4 partners’ own hosting facilities help the International Touring Art Festival in organising their existing audience, and thus the project can count with theatre-goers (mainly university students). Moreover, our goal is to reach the theatre non-goer audience as well, with the goal of theatre education, to help enliven the communication between cultures, for neither the performance and theatre workshop, nor the exhibition require the understanding of the given language or artistic savvy. The international photo application forming the starting point of the project intends to address wide audiences of V4 countries’ artists/art lovers and encourage them to creation, in accordance with the realisation of the project and project objectives.

Phases of the Project


	11/2011	1st International Art Touring Festival in Budapest
	01/2012	"The genial epoch" exhibition in Fogasház
	02/2012	2nd International Art Touring Festival in CZ and PL and "The genial epoch" exhibition in D'EPOG Theatre and MDK
	03/2012	3th International ArtTouring Fesztival in Slovakia and "The genial epoch" exhibition in Theatre Poton and Old Theatre of Karol Spišák
	04/2012	4th International Art Touring Fesztival in Zsámbék and "The genial epoch" exhibition in Theatre Base
	04/2012	"The genial epoch" exhibition in Artkatakomba