The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, in cooperation with the Polish Embassy in Morocco, will organize the "Days of Polish Culture in Morroco" programme in Rabat (May 25th – 31st 2007). The Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Morocco will host the project.

Schedule:

Friday, May 25th
Official opening at the Mohammed V National Theatre, Rabat.

19.30 Opening of the exhibition "Ceramics and glassware" prepared by the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw.
Opening of the archaeological exhibition "The Fragile Heritage".
The exhibitions will be on view until May 31st.
20.00 Recital by Jacek Kortus.

Monday, May 28th
National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage, Rabat.

09.30 Lecture "The plan for the conservation of historical monuments in Poland, its historical basis and the present day", Marek Baranski, doctor of engineering.
11.00 Lecture "The achievements of the Polish archaeologists in the Mediterranean Sea", Michal Gawlikowski, professor.
15.00 Lecture "Conservation and restoration of ceramics", Piotr Rominski, MA.

Mohammed V National Theatre, Rabat.
20.00 Concert of the Zakopower band.


THE "Ceramics and glassware" EXHIBITION

The exhibition features works by educators from the Glassware and Ceramics Department at the Wroclaw Academy of Fine Arts. The ancient and ongoing process of improving glassware and ceramics production and manufacture has aimed to adapt these products to the ever-growing demands of the people. Pottery and glassware has satisfied not only the practical needs but, due to the refining of form and perfecting the details, also provided their users with aesthetic experience. This several-centuries-long dialogue between form and function has determined the way we currently perceive ceramic and glass objects.




Contemporary glassware and ceramics can thus be seen as innovative – as while employing a traditional medium (clay, glass), the artist works toward his or her own formal solutions, essential in order to accentuate the individual aspect of a given object.




The participating artists have consciously refused to give function to the presented glass and ceramic works – thus removing an element which is crucial to the way that ceramics and glassware are traditionally perceived. In doing so, they encourage the viewer to establish a more direct dialogue with the object, to some extent similar to studying a painting or a sculpture.




It is precisely due to the fact that the ceramic or glass objects have been freed from the function, which had determined their shape, that the artists were able to invest them with character according to their own expression.

JACEK KORTUS CONCERT

Jacek Kortus, born in 1988 in Poznan. He is a student at the H. Wieniawski Music High School in Poznan, in the class of Waldemar Andrzejewski. Kortus won numerous awards at international and national piano competitions, among them: 1st prize and the “Grand Prix” award at the Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition in Antonin (2005), 1st prize at the Professor Ludwik Stefanski National Competition in Plock (2002), 2nd prize at the National Competition in Zagan as well as others.



Jacek Kortus

In 2002 Jacek Kortus was awarded the scholarship of the Jolanta and Alexander Kwasniewski Foundation "Help for Young Talents" [Pomoc Mlodym Talentom]. He received the Minister of Culture Scholarship twice (in 2002 and 2005). He was the Stephan Seiler International Piano Competition finalist (Kitzingen, 2003) and, in April 2004, he won the special prize at the 6th International "Arthur Rubinstein In Memoriam" Competition for Young Pianists in Bydgoszcz. In November 2004, he participated in the "Week of Talent" [Tydzien Talentow] in Kasna Dolna. In October 2005, he entered the finals and won a honourable mention at the Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. Last year, he was awarded the Young Art Medal for young artists with outstanding achievements as well as the Hipolit Cegielski Young Positivist Medal for positivist labour. Bank Zachodni WBK awarded Jacek Kortus the "Usmiechy Dzieciece" scholarship and Gazeta Wyborcza the Biala Pyra statuette. The National Centre for Culture has offered Jacek Kortus the Mloda Polska scholarship in order to record an album.

LECTURES

Piotr Rominski is a tutor at the Glassware and Ceramics Renovation and Reconstruction Studio of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw. He works with artistic and industrial ceramics as well as drawings, he reconstructs old processes of ceramic production such as rack oven, paper oven or Hungarian oven. Rominski has participated in more that 80 exhibitions in Poland and aboard, including 11 solo shows. His works can be found in both private and museum collections in Poland and abroad.

Marek Baranski, doctor of engineering, architect, archaeologist, conservator of historical monuments – works in Poland as well as in Egypt, Syria and Macedonia. Authored numerous papers and articles on research and conservation of historical monuments. President of the Polish Workshops for the Conservation of Monuments, an enterprise devoted to preservation and conservation of monuments since 1950s.

CONCERT OF THE ZAKOPOWER BAND

ZAKOPOWER is currently the best-known band in Poland which successfully managed to combine traditional music of the Podhale region with fresh tunes and rock aesthetics. Zakopower had their Polish musical debut with the album "Music Hal", released in May 2005. Pieces written by Mateusz Pospieszalski and performed by the band in an innovative and energetic manner quickly met with enthusiastic response on the part of the audience and were appreciated by jury members at numerous music festivals.


Zakopower

Their first single "Kiebys ty" won the Jury Award at the Concert of Premieres during the 42nd Opole Song Festival in 2005 and won the Top Trendy 2005 festival. The band also received a nomination for MTV Europe Music Awards 2005 in the "Best Polish Act" category, and for the Yach Film award at the 14th Polish Video Clip Festival in the "Best Editing" and the "Best Artistic Set Design" categories. Zakopower was also appreciated by the Polish Phonographic Academy, as their album "Music Hal" received nominations for the Fryderyk 2005 award in as many as six categories. Zakopower performed at prestigious European festivals in Ostrava, Rudolstadt and the Hungarian Sziget Festival. The band became a musical success in Poland and participated in all television festivals (Opole - TVP, Sopot -TVP, TopTrendy - Polsat, Sopot - TVN). In January this year, Zakopower and Mateusz Pospieszalski began work on their second album scheduled for May 2007. The record will feature pieces with the world-famous violin player Nigel Kennedy.