PASSPORTS OF POLITICS

Once again, we awarded the Special Prize and the title of Culture Creator. We want to express our recognition for the masters of the older generation, who have been a model for many of our laureates. This year, our symbolic award went to – Jerzy Jarocki – one of the most outstanding Polish theater directors, an intellectual in theater, whose productions are characterized by mathematical precision of thought and execution. He has mentored many generations of actors and directors, has been a long-time lecturer at the Krakow PWST, and is a laureate of many awards, including the Grand Prize of the Culture Foundation, awarded the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture 'Gloria Artis'.

LAUREATES OF THE PASSPORTS OF POLITICS 2011:

LAUREATE IN THE CATEGORY: FILM

Rafael Lewandowski
Award for the film 'The Mole', original and avoiding the schematics of trying to confront the theme of Polish lustration and the evil that passes from generation to generation. For a brave look from a distance at the legend of 'Solidarity' and excellent work with actors.

He was born in 1969 in Reims, in a Polish-French family. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in film studies, and then graduated from the directing department of the French state film school Le Femis. He is the author of many documentaries, including: 'Cell' (1996), 'A Pain in the Soul' (1998), 'Audiences' (2000), and 'Song and Life' (2006) – a film telling the story of the children of Solidarity activists, including the son of a shipyard worker and the daughter of a miner killed in the Wujek mine. 'The Mole' is his feature film debut.

LAUREATE IN THE CATEGORY: THEATER

Krzysztof Garbaczewski
Award for the non-obvious manipulation of stage material, for a sense of adventure, improvisation, and teamwork. For the ambition to explore the forms and boundaries of humanity through theater in the age of technological and media development.

He was born in 1983 in Bialystok. A theater director, a graduate of the Krakow PWST. His performances are essentially multimedia installations, combining elements of theater, performance, concert, and visual arts. He debuted in 2008 with 'Sporting Chore' by Elfriede Jelinek at the Kochanowski Theater in Opole, where he also staged 'The Odyssey' by Homer in an adaptation by Marcin Cecki. At the Szaniawski Theater in Walbrzych, he staged 'Possessed' based on Gombrowicz's story and 'The Star of Death' inspired by George Lucas's 'Star Wars'. At the Polish Theater in Wroclaw, he directed 'Nirvana' (based on 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead') and 'Demons' by Dostoevsky. His latest performance is 'The Sexual Life of Savages' (New Theater in Warsaw), with a text by Marcin Cecki, inspired by the work of anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski.

LAUREATE IN THE CATEGORY: VISUAL ARTS

Nicolas Grospierre
Award for creating his own original language of artistic photography. For works in which he finds new intellectual and emotional values in the surrounding world.

He was born in 1975 in Geneva. By education a sociologist, he studied in Paris and London, and has lived in Warsaw since 1999. He is engaged in photography. He is particularly interested in architecture, especially in its socialist, modernist form. Considered one of the so-called new documentarians, he prefers to create extensive series of photographs, coldly analyzing specific issues. He has documented, among others, Lithuanian bus stops, the aging Polish modernism, the interiors of the defunct Hotel Europejski in Warsaw, and a hospital in Druskienniki. In 2008, he (along with Grzegorz Piątek, Jarosław Trybusiem, and Kobas Laksa) was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture.

For the winner, Samsung Poland will finance a publication presenting his work.

LAUREATE IN THE CATEGORY: CLASSICAL MUSIC

Aleksandra Kuls
Award for sincerity and joy of making music, for the natural emotions expressed in her playing. For the skills she demonstrated during the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition.

She was born in 1991 in Warsaw. She graduated from the Warsaw State Music High School named after Zenon Brzewski under Professor Magdalena Szczepanowska, and is currently studying in her first year at the Music Academy in Krakow under Professor Kai Danczowska. She is a laureate of national and international violin competitions. She is also interested in musical creativity: she has presented her compositions both in Poland and abroad. For six years, she was the leader of the string quartet Qualitá, with which she won the first prize and the Grand Prix at the 'Talents for Europe' competition in Slovakia (2008); she also performs in a duo with Marcin Koziak and Justyna Danczowska. At this year's International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań, she received the Critics' Chapter Award.

LAUREATE IN THE CATEGORY: POPULAR MUSIC

Julia Marcell

Award for proving that a career in pop music can be built independently and on one's own terms. For a fully authorial and modern approach to music creation.

Actually Julia Górniewicz, she was born in 1982 in Olsztyn. A singer, pianist, violinist, and composer. She lives in Germany. She first gained attention in 2007 when, with the help of internet users, she raised $50,000 to release her first album recorded in Berlin and produced by Moses Schneider. In November 2011, her second album 'June' was released. The music she creates and performs is sometimes called lyrical punk, although it defies any rigid classifications.

Maciej Szajkowski

Award for ideas that refresh Polish tradition in the best possible ways. For the exceptional combination of musical energy and musicological ambition and for finding through the activities of the R.U.T.A. ensemble illustrations of contemporary problems in historical texts.

He was born in 1975 in Warsaw. A musician, journalist, and cultural animator. Associated with several musical formations (including Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa, Masala, Antidotum). A collaborator of the IV Program of Polish Radio, president of the Association of Ethnic Art 'Transetnika'. With Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa, he released five studio albums, and the album R.U.T.A. 'Gore – Songs of Rebellion and Suffering from the 15th to the 20th Century' became one of the most important Polish musical and cultural events of 2011.


LAUREATE IN THE CATEGORY: LITERATURE

Mikołaj Łoziński

Award for the book titled 'The Book', for excellently telling a small story against the backdrop of a larger history. For its original form and for reminding us that there is no better literary subject than family.

He was born in 1980 in Warsaw. A writer and photographer, a graduate of sociology in Paris. He debuted with the novel 'Reisefieber' (Znak 2006), for which he received the Koźmian Foundation Award in 2007. He is a recipient of the second literary prize in the Young Creators Competition of the Warsaw Culture Foundation (2006), and was also a scholarship holder of the Institute of Books and the Willa Decjusza Association for writers and translators Homines Urbani (autumn 2007). He also published 'Tales for Ida' (Znak 2008). In September 2011, his 'The Book' (Literary Publishing House) was named Krakow's Book of the Month.

Culture Creator
Special award of 'Polityka'

Jerzy Jarocki
Award for consistently creating theater that believes in the word of drama and the intelligence of the audience, a theater that reflects the most important problems of our times. For the realization of the greatest works of Polish and world drama that have entered the history of theater. For creating a model of directing in which rare intellectual and formal discipline is valued on Polish stages. For shaping the acting talents and careers without which the Polish stage would be poorer.
He was born in 1929 in Warsaw. One of the most outstanding Polish theater directors, a graduate of the acting department of the Krakow PWST and the directing department of the Moscow GITIS. An intellectual in theater, his productions (he mainly realized contemporary drama) are characterized by mathematical precision of thought and execution. He debuted in 1957 with 'The Ball of Mannequins' by Bruno Jasieński at the Silesian Theater in Katowice. He was associated with three stages: the Krakow Old Theater (1962 - 1998), the Wroclaw Polish Theater (1998 - 2000), and, since 2000, the National Theater in Warsaw. Throughout his career, he returned many times to the works of Polish classics of the 20th century: Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Witold Gombrowicz, Sławomir Mrożek, and Tadeusz Różewicz, as well as the plays of Anton Chekhov. Many of his productions have been hailed as masterpieces and have gone down in history, including: 'Mother' by Witkacy, 'Life is a Dream' by Calderón, and 'The Wedding' by Gombrowicz (Krakow Old Theater), 'Platonov' and 'Platonov – The Omitted Act' and 'Uncle Vanya' by Chekhov, 'Kasia from Heilbronn or the Trial of Fire' by Heinrich von Kleist, and 'The Trap' by Różewicz (Wroclaw Polish Theater), as well as the latest: 'The Blindness' and 'Cosmos' based on Gombrowicz, 'Tango' by Mrożek, and 'The Case' based on 'Samuel Zborowski' by Juliusz Słowacki (National Theater). A mentor to many generations of actors and directors, a long-time lecturer at the Krakow PWST. A laureate of many awards, including the Grand Prize of the Culture Foundation, awarded the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture 'Gloria Artis'.

During the PASSPORTS OF POLITICS award gala on January 17, 2012, for the first time together on stage appeared:

MAŁGORZATA WALEWSKA, a world-renowned outstanding Polish singer, mezzo-soprano.
Since 1991, associated with the Grand Theater – National Opera in Warsaw. She has performed on the stages of the Vienna Staatsoper, where she sang alongside such artists as: Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Simon Estes, Luis Lima, Bernhard Weikl, Thomas Hampson, Edita Gruberová. And also in many opera theaters in Europe and the United States.
In a ranking by the British weekly Time in 1999, she was listed among the ten most famous Poles, as 'one of the stars that will illuminate Poland's path in the next millennium.' In the Polish Economy Pearls competition in 2008, she was awarded the Honorary Pearl for promoting Polish culture worldwide.

L.U.C. (actually Łukasz Rostkowski) - a Polish director, rapper, composer, and producer, by education a lawyer. Founder, vocalist, and co-producer of the musical project Kanał Audytywny. A member of the ZPAV Recording Academy.
A creative ADHD-affected vocalist, music producer, and composer, author of lyrics, director of music videos and concerts,
perturbator of gas stoves. Łukasz L.U.C Rostkowski creates at the intersection of nu jazz, trip-hop, hip-hop, electronics, classical music, and film music. He has recorded a total of 8 albums, including 5 conceptual ones (including one of the first in Poland albums recorded entirely with the help of voice), has staged many performances and short video forms. He is the author and proponent of the concept of 4 Galaxies of Art, which assumes creating a message through the smoothly connected entirety of four fields of art - music, word, film, and graphics. For the scope, courage, and consistency in his creativity, as well as for eclecticism and unconventional musical, film, and textual ideas, he received the Passport of Politics (2009), many other awards and nominations, and the respect of the media. Listeners love him for his charisma and extremely elaborate concerts, where he performs with a mini-orchestra, sometimes with chickens, gardening equipment, and an Arab fortune teller.
He has collaborated with Zbigniew Namysłowski, Michał Urbaniak, Rahim, Fokus, Leszek Możdżer, Maria Peszek, Urszula Dudziak, Andrzej Smolik, and also within the promoted idea 'Pass It On' with many young producers, whom he helped to debut - Ćemy, Pmx.