11th-13th September 09
Rolling out the red & white carpet as Southend-on-Sea celebrates its Polish connections in style.

A massive Polski Picnic in the park, a mobile Polish Club, art exhibitions, film screenings, theatre & dance performances, workshops and football, are just some of the things on the menu for Southend’s very first Polish Arts Festival due to take place across the city this September.

Hungry Arts, a not-for-profit arts organisation, has been funded by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Arts Council England, and the Polish Cultural Institute, to produce a unique arts festival in Southend that celebrates existing links between the city and its Polish Twin Sopot, a coastal spa town near Gdansk, and the Polish community living in Southend. In the words of Councillor John Lamb, Executive Councillor for Enterprise and the Environment: “Southend-on-Sea is twinned with the Polish resort of Sopot. We are therefore delighted to further develop our links through this Polish Arts Festival, which fits well in this year's development of events and our "Feast of Festivals."

The Polski Picnic
Hungry Arts Festival Director, Douglas Hunter, who’s responsible for pulling the programme together, explains the thinking behind the Polish Arts Festival: “The main idea is to have a big celebration that brings everyone together in a fun and creative environment. That’s why we’ve built everything around a massive Polski Picnic in Priory Park on Sunday 13th September. There’s going to be a rolling programme of events: everything from traditional Polish Highland dancers, including The Poise Rite, Aleksandra Kwaswiewska, The Mazury Dance Company, the UK’s largest Polish dance company, to young Polish bands and youth theatre groups; art and circus skills workshops; craft stalls selling Polish ceramics, jewellery etc. All washed down with a selection of Polish beers and sausages. The really good news is the Polski Picnic is free except for then beer and sausages so there’s no excuse for joining in the fun.”

The Polski Picnic is only part of a festival that hopes to become an integral part of Southend’s annual festival calendar.

Highlights include: -

Chodzenie - 30 Bird Productions
The award-winning performance company 30 Bird Productions is developing a new piece of work for Southend-on-Sea as part of the Polish Arts Festival: Chodzenie. 
A citywide project, Chodzenie will take place on different sites within the city of Southend with the collaboration of performers, visual artists, dancers, architects, the British army and the Polish community.  Chodzenie explores the relationship between Polish and Iranian cultures.

In 1941, after the invasion of The Soviet Union by Nazi Germany, Stalin released 1.5 million Polish citizens who were captives in Siberia. They were told to make their way to Tehran, recently invaded by the allies, and to enlist in the free Polish army. Hundreds of thousands of Poles perished on route. Of those who made it, 150,000 were allowed into Iran, 18,000 of who were children. A love affair then developed between the Iranians and the Poles.

Chodzenie has been developed by 30-Bird Productions’ Artistic Director Tehran-born Mehrdad Seyf, himself an Iranian exile following his controversial award-winning production of Plastic at last year’s Edinburgh Festival. For more information about Chodzenie click on www.30birdproductions.org

Sounds of the Sea and Shops
Focal Point Gallery Artist-in-Residence New York born Erik Blinderman's new exhibition ‘"Sounds of the Sea and Shops"’ at Focal Point Gallery based in Southend Library will run alongside a community-based workshop developed in partnership with Hungry Arts as part of the Polish Arts Festival.

Sounds of the Sea and Shops’ explores personal, historical and cultural narratives relevant to Southend-on-Sea’s expanding Polish community and the relationship between Southend and it’s twin Sopot, the Polish coastal spa town near Gdansk. Blinderman is keen to examine Southend’s historic links to the printing industry and most particularly the involvement of South Essex printers with the Solidarity movement during the 1980s.

The print workshop will take place in the centre of Southend-on-Sea during the Polish Arts Festival, accompanied by a screening of a film by Polish filmmaker Kryzstof Kieslowski. To find out more, click on www.polishartsfestival.co.uk.

With plenty to tickle everyone’s fancy: whether it’s a picnic in the park, a print workshop, traditional Polish dancing Mazury style, or a promenade performance with 30-Bird Productions, the message is loud and clear: Make sure you end your summer in style – Polish Style!