Directed by ECC Performing Arts Curator Chris Baldwin and staged at the Centennial Hall, "Heaven" is a multiple arts show that also serves as a closing ceremony for the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016. The show will be staged on 17 December at 2.30 pm and 7 pm and on 16 December during an open dress rehearsal.
"Two hundred artists will be involved, including Polish and Israeli orchestras. The youngest artist is only two years old, the eldest is eighty-seven," says Chris Baldwin. "What I like most about the show is that it features the ordinary residents of Wrocław," he says. "We are going to tell a story of 20th-century Wrocław with a variety of lights and sounds," he adds.
Free tickets to the show are available as of 17 November in six different places throughout the town: Barbara (daily, from 8 am to 8 pm), Impart in ul Mazowiecka 17 (Monday-Friday, from 12 pm to 6 pm), Culture and Arts Centre in Rynek24 (Monday-Sunday, from 9 am to 5 pm), Tourist Information Centre in Rynek 14 (Monday-Sunday, from 9 am to 7 pm), ODT Światowid in ul Sempołowska 54 (Monday-Friday, from 9.30 am to 7 pm), the Współczesny Theatre in ul Rzeźnicza 12 (Tuesday-Saturday, from 12 pm to 7 pm).
"Il Trovatore" and Open Doors to Arts
You can also bid farewell to the European Capital of Culture with the Wrocław Opera House, which is going to stage "Il Trovatore" by Giuseppe Verdi (on 16–18 December, directed by Latvian artist Andrejs Žagars from the Latvian National Opera) to celebrate the ECC closing weekend. "The show is symbolic in a sense because it marks the beginning of collaboration between the Wrocław Opera House and its partners. Riga, mind you, held the title of the European Capital of Culture in 2014 and this is when the première of "Il Trovatore" was staged," says Ewa Filip from the Wrocław Opera House.
The closing weekend also brings the Open Doors to Arts programme. You can visit "Photography Never Dies" at the Main Railway Station, a permanent exhibition at the Zajezdnia History Centre and "Lviv. 24 June 1939. City, Architecture, Modernism" at the Architecture Museum. For a nominal fee you can also see a contemporary art exhibition called "Summer Rental" at the Four Domes' Pavilion.
Musical finale
The weekend also brings two musical festivals: Friendship Festival and WROsound.
"We're going to celebrate our fifteenth anniversary during the festival, so feel free to join and enjoy our show," says Maciek Wasio, the front man of OCN (formerly Ocean). The band's anniversary brings a number of celebrated musicians to the Orbita Hall. "We are all friends, but we also like the same kind of music," says Maciek Wasio. The Orbita Hall will be resounding with the music of Happysad, Raz Dwa Trzy and Muchy. "Special guests will also be invited, including Lech Janerka, Monika Borzym, Olaf Deriglasoff and Jamal's leader Tomasz "Miodu" Mioduszewski," says Maciek Wasio. The Friendship Festival will be held on 15 December at the Orbita Hall in Wrocław.
The ECC closing weekend also brings the WROsound Festival at Impart (15-17 December). Apart from young and promising artists from Wrocław, Germany and the Czech Republic, this year's edition also brings Pink Freud, Christain Loffer& Moha, legendary Afrojax and We Draw A. "WROSound is a festival for those who are on the lookout for new experiences," says Łukasz Głośny from WROSound.
The closing weekend also features the A-I-R Wro performance and exhibition, a show from the Choir of Wrocław Commentators (18 December at 6 pm at the Capitol Music Theatre), street theatres and workshops for children.
