"Dream Museum" for ECC Wroclaw 2016 Opening [PHOTO]

The authors of the project, director Jacqueline Kornmüller and producer Peter Wolf have come up with a simple and original formula to invite eight celebrated writers and composers to contribute literary and musical compositions inspired by selected artworks from the collection of the National Museum in Wroclaw.

Mikołaj Łoziński selected "The Encounter" by Władysław Podkowiński, Joanna Bator "Evening" by Wassily Kandinsky, Martin Pollack "Saint Barbara" by Thomas Weissfeldt, Jacek Dehnel "Holy Family Triptych", Julia Fiedorczuk "Jacob's Dream" by Johann Twenger, and the Austrian writer of Korean extraction Milena Michiko Flasar "Portrait of Julia Gerard de Festenburg with her Daughter Karolina" by Marcin Jabłoński. Two composers involved in the project, namely Emmanuel Obeya, a singer from Austria-based Sofa Surfers ensemble, and Johanna Doderer were inspired by "Flight into Egypt" by Martin Johann Schmidt and "Flagellation" from 1486–1487, respectively.

Eight intimate performances were created starring Joanna Szczepkowska, Bartosz Porczyk, Helena Sujecka, Hanna Konarowska, Adam Graczyk and Marta Zięba. The remaining two feature Jarosław Głuszka on accordion and dancers Bożena Bukowska and Brian Wimpel.

"We are particularly keen to work with authors whose focus is on the contemporary," says Jacqueline Kornmüller, the director of the "Dream Museum". "We are not commissioning texts on the subjects of our choice. Writers themselves are touching upon latest issues," she replies. Thus, the programme features a performance focusing on migration called "Lampedusa", while Martin Pollack explored the archetype of a Russian man epitomised by Vladimir Putin. Joanna Bator devoted her text to the mother-daughter dynamic, Mikołaj Łoziński's focus was on the political, while Jacek Dehnel used the critique of Christ's family as a springboard to explore contemporary families.

"I am happy we have managed to find actors who are not afraid of spirituality and can delve deeply into their feelings," says Jacqueline Kornmüller.

Each performances will serve as a prelude to an artwork that inspired it. Visitors will be roaming the National Museum with a map and a small stool in their hands. The actors will be performing their scenes simultaneously and several times in a row so that everybody has the chance to enjoy each drama.

"The Dream Museum" is the second production from Jacqueline Kornmüller and Peter Wolf in Wroclaw. Co-produced with the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, their first project called "Ganymed Goes Europe" was created in 2013. Their latest project was created as part of the ECC Wroclaw 2016 visual arts programme curated by Michał Bieniek.

No tickets are available to "The Dream Museum" première (16 January, 4 pm), but more performances are expected to come in January and February and in October.