Jan Nowara, director of the Festival

TRANS/MISJE – ”1918. The beginning and the end”
FESTIVAL WITH A SOUL

My idea for launching an International Festival of Arts representing our boarder areas of Europe, from the start was based on a deep conviction that art builds bridges and opens doors, and all types of artists share a language most effectively appealing to imagination and touching people’s hearts. Even though it is universal, the language of arts does not have anything in common with globalisation; it does not require uniforms, or political correctness. On the contrary – it is honest, personal and it allows us to preserve our identity and diversity. And this is how I understand the concept of our Festival – an honest conversation, where we all, Poles, Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians, remain true to ourselves, and at the same time we open up and connect. This is possible because of the favourable circumstances: our common roots, similar history and the fact we are close neighbours. The first edition of our festival takes place at a time of great historical significance for Poland, the centenary of the country’s independence. But it is also 100 years from the date when profound geopolitical changes occurred in Central and Eastern Europe. We decided, however, that we would not want the festival to be an illustration for historical theories, or a dialogue about history only. Well, in fact TRANS/MISJE opens in Łańcut with a vernissage of the exhibition entitled “Contesting Art”, which shows artists’ role in building national identity, in all the Partner countries participating in the project. In the festival program, history is also depicted in films shown in the series entitled “Projections of Freedom”. Yet, the title of the festival links the flow of past events and breakthroughs to a metaphor of the ending and the beginning, this way opening for artists and the festival audiences a vast area for associations and interpretation.

I am really happy that during the Festival, which we have conceived, our beautiful languages are going to be heard – all of them! – rather than the one today imposed by servers of global information and business. Our reality is more and more like a virtual network or a massive shopping mall, with the stunning and never-ending selection of material goods. It is easy to choke on that. This is a world which sucks you in and intoxicates. But artists can also act in a “network-like”, complex way, in solidarity – and diverse arts, which will open up new worlds in our imagination, may be presented during a joint celebration.
TRANS/MISJE is a meeting of artists, who – as it has been  said – operate in borderlands, so their outlook conveys neither omniscience nor centrism. In borderlands artists are immersed in cultures of various nations, with their diverse traditions and histories merging for centuries. Borderland location produces movement in culture, protecting it against sterility and drying out. On the other hand the principle of limitations brings an idea to leave the confines of artistic institutions and take advantage of the final days of summer holidays when we still enjoy the blessings of nature, but the seasonal appetite for art is on the rise. We want to reach out to the public with diverse options. Theatre plays, outdoor performances, literary events, concerts – as varied as oratorio, folk and jazz, and then films, photography, painting, theatre presented in industrial scenery, and pantomime performance in the street as well as theatre for children. All these events (over forty!) make an exciting week of diverse arts, open and accessible to the public – free admission or tickets for a symbolic price of a few zloty.

TRANS/MISJE means movement and sharing of ideas and values. We know that today art faces huge challenges connected with mass culture, mass media and the virtual network. To build and maintain connection with the public, artists must open up. Our festival takes on a mission for that opening, and for a movement over cultural and political borders; an idea for connecting and merging. While discussing the name for the Festival, we first considered literary metaphors for borders, bridges or doors. The name finally selected, Trans/misje, is certainly a modern-style, concise wording for our idea, comprehensible in various languages.

I expect the festival will lead to opening up, to better understanding of our neighbours, and to greater awareness related to Central and Eastern Europe. TRANS/MISJE Festival will be on the move. Next year it will be hosted by Košice, and then in sequence by Ostrava, Debrecen, Trakai and Lviv. In a few years it will return to Rzeszów. I deeply believe that during that period we will make new contacts and build new ties. The global mediasphere, into which the world is being transformed, highlights conflicts and competition. However, the point of arts is about a coexistence rather than about one doctrine winning over another. Our Festival stands against standardisation, automation and mechanisation of life. If some people want to build cross-border sameness, we want to cross borders in order to build uniqueness and specificity, so that we become curious of others; and curious for ourselves. And so that we can give something to Europe, today challenged by spiritual weakness.

Jan Nowara
director of the Festival