Curator: Klaudiusz Grabowski
Collaboration: Andrzej Zagrobelny
Spatial arrangement: Alicja Wódecka
Painting: Anna Kołodziejczyk
Graphic identity: Ania Witkowska
Coordination: Magdalena Makowska
Event partner: Baltic Opera
Venue: GCSW Powroźnicza 13/15
Opening: 06.07, 2:00 PM (as part of the Baltic Opera Festival) | ul. Powroźnicza 13/15
Curatorial tour: 03.07, 6:00 PM | Powroźnicza 13/15
Duration: 03.07–04.10.202
The exhibition presents objects from the collections of:
the Archives of Modern Records, State Archives in Gdańsk, Archive of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Gdańsk City Hall, the Baltic Digital Library, the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Mazovian Digital Library, the Museum of Gdańsk, Gdańsk National Museum in Gdańsk, the National Digital Archives, the Baltic Opera, the Gdańsk Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Pomeranian Digital Library,Social Committee for the Support of the Construction of the Metropolitan Baltic Opera, the Association of Polish Architects, the Wybrzeże Theatre, and the Olędzki family collection.
architectural designs by:
Daniel Olędzki, Władysław Czerny, Adam Kühnel, Tomasz Kempski, Tadeusz Lepczak, Adam Matoń, Witold Wierzbicki, Tomasz Ciołek, Stefan Kuryłowicz, Andrzej Nasfeter, Tadeusz Nasfeter, Danuta Olędzka, Włodzimierz Prochaska, Ernst Schade, Adolf Stahl, Peter Jurgensen, Jürgen Bachman, Franz Josef Weiss, Rudolf Jacobs, H. Beck, Herbert Strumpff, Oskar Grothe, Johannes Grothe, Kurt Hempel, Paul Kadereit, Otto Frick, Gustav Patzwaldt
and original works by:
Olga Siemaszko, Janusz Adam Krassowski, Andrzej Sadowski, Marian Kołodziej, Marcin Dymiter, Max Kohyt, and Tadeusz Link
The patron of the Tadeusz Link Theatre Photography Collection is Gdańsk Airport.
We would like to thank the management and staff of all the institutions for their assistance with research. Special thanks go to Jan Olędzki, Piotr Stasiowski, Director of the National Museum in Gdańsk, Zbigniew Canowiecki, Chairman of the Social Committee for the Support of the Construction of the Metropolitan Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, and Romuald Wicz-Pokojski, Director of the Baltic Opera.
Opera is a total art form, bringing together music, theatre, literature, dance and the visual arts. As a genre, it is relatively young: it emerged in Italy just over 400 years ago. Opera reached Gdańsk remarkably early, in 1646, when Marco Scacchi’s Le nozze d’Amore e di Psiche was staged in the city to mark the visit of Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga. This was done at the request of King Władysław IV, Gonzaga’s newly wedded husband and a great admirer of opera, who had brought this lavish art form to Poland. Therefore, Gdańsk and Warsaw can claim to have the longest operatic traditions in the country.
Yet the magnificent performance in honour of the Queen had little impact on the development of opera in Gdańsk. As the city lacked a suitable venue, the audience had to crowd into the local fencing school, which served as a makeshift stage for various plays, as well as for circus entertainment, including tightrope walking and baiting of wild animals. Construction of the theatre th on Targ Węglowy did not begin until the end of the 18 century, when the people of Gdańsk initiated the project and funded th it through their own contributions. However, as the 19 century saw Gdańsk decline into an impoverished provincial centre, the modestly sized theatre building had to function also as an opera house.
Things changed towards the end of the 19th century when the city began to recover from its economic losses. New court buildings, schools and public institutions gradually appeared. Culture, however, had to wait – and, in a sense, it is still waiting. Although numerous designs for imposing theatre buildings and auditoria have since been proposed, each capable of accom?modating even the most demanding operatic productions, none of these plans was realised. The Baltic Opera in Gdańsk currently occupies a building erected in 1915 as a horse-riding arena and has the smallest opera auditorium in Poland. Will the twenty first century bring a change?
Klaudiusz Grabowski
Media patrons: HUS Magazine, NN6T, SZUM, gdansk.pl, Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto, Teraz!, Prestiż Magazyn Trójmiejski, Radio Gdańsk, trojmiasto.pl
Event partner: Opera Bałtycka
