Gdańsk: the art of solidarity – the solidarity of arts

The third annual Solidarity of Arts festival opens on 12 August 2011. Over the past two summers the cultural institutions of the Pomorskie province, together with the City of Gdańsk and the Polish Film Institute have managed to make Solidarity of Arts a flagship event of high culture in northern Poland. This year, together with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the organizers have made sure that Gdańsk continues to be the most exciting place to visit for arts enthusiasts from Poland and abroad.

The simple idea of bringing together world-class artists to a place as important to European values and history as Gdańsk has worked extremely well so far. Making art of highest quality happen on-site (which is what Solidarity of Arts is all about), is proving to be infinitely more powerful than 1000 political conferences or rallies on togetherness and freedom brought together. In Gdańsk we create new things that remain in people’s memories long after the festival.

Our selection of artists and venues ensures that we stay true to two important ideas on which our event is built. Firstly, there is the goal of promoting top-class art and cultural institutions of the Tricity and of the entire Pomorze region. Secondly, there is the commitment to take our events out to the public spaces of the city.

The biggest highlight on this year’s agenda is undoubtly Marcus+. The legendary bass guitarist Marcus Miller, who was guest of Leszek Możdżer at last year’s Możdżer+, returns as host of his own spectacle on three stages. He has invited a string of incredible musicians (they include Polish jazz icons Możdżer and Stańko, as well as Sinfonia Varsovia) for what will be Poland’s biggest jazz show of the year.

Solidarity of Arts 2011 is also home to the opening concert of the I, CULTURE orchestra, the official orchestra of the Polish EU Presidency. This Adam Mickiewicz Institute project features 107 of the best young musicians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Poland.

Grzech Piotrowski’s World Orchestra (they are one of the opening acts of the festival, performing at the Polish Baltic Philharmonic on 13 August 2011) is another prime example of world artists coming to work together to Pomorze to leave it a richer place. It is good news (and by no means a coincidence) that, right at the very outset of our Presidency, right here in Gdańsk, people of amazing musical talents are proving Polish EU Eastern policy to be more than just a lot of high minded aspirations.

In order not to end with a high minded aspiration of our own, let us just say this: we feel humbled by the success of the past two years, so this year we are planning to use the same battle-tested practice of showing respect to the Tricity audience: offering, instead of pomp – a commitment to uncompromising artistic quality for each event. We look forward to welcoming you in Gdańsk.

Solidarity of Arts festival board.