THE METHOD OF NATIONAL CONSTELLATIONS

by MICHA STANKIEWICZ

_CONCEPT / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 4
_GAME / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 5
_HISTORY / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 7
_TEASER / SOURCE MATERIALS / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 12
_EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 16
_CURATORS NOTE / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 19
_AUTHORS / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 23
_CONTACT / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 26

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+CONCEPT

The Method of National Constellations is a theatre game, during

which the audience set out on a journey to the Structure. The
Structure translates history to personal relations, to the closest
micro-world, to intimate intentions and choices, while intuition,
dream and imagination all do well in there.

We fancy the word experience, from the verb to experience,

try out, explore, try on, practice. Sociologists describe the social
structure as a system of connections between social positions,
places we occupy in the social space, and not between specific
individuals. If we take the social world into such a perspective,
our imagination will inevitably hint at the idea of taking someone
In the game-journey, spectators become Users of the Situation: elses place. Hence, let yourself experience. Let your imagination
they make use of, perform, oppose, comprehend, familiarize, try take you over. Become your own spectator. Discover.
out, and eventually, try on the situation. How would you look in
a strangers shoes, someone elses coat, in an abandoned flat, in Within a documentary framework, the project refers to the issue of
another persons choice to rescue their son or daughter? What the memory of interethnic relations in the Polish-Belarusian bormeaning does it bring to you? What is the relationship between derland during World War II, among others, the case of Romuald
you and the event/phenomenon/situation?
Rajs, also known as Bury. The content of source materials concer-

ning authentic events is translated into the language of drama

in the form of documentary performances which engage the
audience as the immediate participants. Each event assumes the
convention of a game, allowing its players for taking a closer look
on their reactions in complex, contentious social situations.

Premiere: 05.06.2015, 30th Modern Art Days,

Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, Biaystok
Duration: 75 minutes (no interval)

+GAME

Ten participants take part in one event. Each gets a

headphone set, through which they hear the voice of
the Narrator, Dobromir Dymecki, and music played
live by Kajetan ukomski. Each participant is called
the User of the Situation, and as the performance
goes on, assumes several designated roles.

Each User of the Situation draws their own, separate

number. They are also provided with a security
password that they can use at any time to withdraw
from the game.

The Users join the game only when requested by the

Narrator. The playing space consists of 33 positions
Authentic events make the basis of the game. projected on a special field. With regard to the speciHowever, it is not aimed at reconstruction of those ficity and adaptive possibilities of particular spaces,
events, but rather at creating a new, present situ- the performance may exceed the playfield.
ation, a here and now. Neither do we attempt
to give participants an illusion of reality. Partici- The game is void of any stage props. The participants
pants are not expected to pretend that the scenes are also requested not to use imagined requisites or
happen for real. We want them to use their intuition, alter the storyline.
complete the situations, search for hidden traces
and meanings. We want to turn the spectator not
only into a participant, but also into a co-author of
the sketched scenes.
There are no winners or losers to this game. There
is neither any element of rivalry. The function of the
game is to guide the participants through the narration. This also means that there is no single best
way of playing. You can laugh, treat it as a war play,
you can choose to be serious, focused, you can play
as an actor, as a bad actor, you may not wish to play
at all but to feel, experience, observe and discover
yourself (with varied connotations of this word in
mind).

Scenography:
Karolina Maksimowicz

+HISTORY

The great fear, described by Marcin Zaremba, comes

out of not only but perhaps even mostly the experience of wartime violence, the one that touches us
and others. The great fear occurs when vindictive
drives crawl out to the surface. When, out of a sudden, they become the reality, as if on their own. The
most dreadful, expected in the most hidden way
though so far impossible, not even to be thought of
clearly they began to happen.
Andrzej Leder, Przeniona rewolucja [Over-dreamt
Revolution]

In September 1945, after the Home Army was dissolved, a division within the National Military Union
(NZW) is formed. Romuald Bury Rajs becomes its
commander. The division, comprised of 200 soldiers,
takes on the name of the 3rd Vilnius Brigade of the
NZW.
Between 29th January and 2nd February 1946, the
division pacifies villages of Zaleszany, Wlka Wygonowska, wirydy, Szpaki, Zanie. Among the 79 victims there are the elderly, women and children. All
of them are Belarusian and Orthodox. The division
leaves the locals a note to immediately depart from
Poland.
The narrative of the game focuses on two days of the
so-called Burys Raid: the execution of the Belarusian
wagon drivers in the forest near the village Puchay
Stare and the pacification of the villages Zanie and
Szpaki on 2nd February, the day of the Feast of Our
Lady of the Thunder Candle.

+TEASER
https://vimeo.com/142395193
password: muneng
+SOURCE MATERIALS
// The Institute of National Remembrance:
Information on the final findings of the investigation S 28/02/Zi on the killings of 79 persons inhabitants of the county
Bielsk Podlaski, including 30 persons, so-called wagon drivers in the forest near Puchay Stare, in the period from 29th January 1949 to 2nd February 1946
+PARTICIPANTS VOICES
// Polish Radio Biaystok
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3vJ_1SOug5ubHVUY2JLXzB3bDg/view?usp=sharing

+EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS

________________________________

This spectacle was an experience so grand, powerful, cathartic and yes, I

admit, also risky, thrusting you out of your psychic comfort.
I will put a personal perspective to this. It is easiest to become a victim. You
empathise, look at the picture of pine trees in a forest, think what they thought
and felt, if they said goodbye reminiscing, praying, or if they greedily took the
last look of the birch trunks. I dont know, I cry and glance for the last time. I
am Joanna, who is taking part in an artistic project, consciously analysing the
concept, the form and the direction work, great visualisations, space arrangement, very well lead narration in the headphones, music (which later turns
out to be played live), and recordings of witnesses of the events. But I am also
Joanna, who has come here to test herself, to experiment. In accordance with
the instructions, but also subduing myself to what I am experiencing, I allow
myself for emotions, let them lead me, I shall see where to.
And one more thing. There were tears, first tears at a spectacle for many years.

/ Joanna Dolecka, Arsenal Gallery in Biaystok

________________________________

The performance by Micha Stankiewicz arouses controversy. It poses questions about the limits of manipulating the audience, the right to interfere in
their emotions and experiences, about the responsibility for the participants.
Everyone has their own answer to these.
However, another question is worth being asked what kind of art do we want
and need today? The one that will improve the way we feel about ourselves,
provide entertainment, confirm our beliefs about the world? Or the one that
has the power to shake our world view, provokes to think, releases emotions,
unnerves, allows for transgression, for touching the unpresent?

/ dr Katarzyna Sawicka-Mierzyska
Institute of Polish Philology, University of Bialystok

________________________________

I had an impression that, through us reacting to dramatically difficult instructions given by the director and creating situations difficult both for ourselves,
and the co-participants the fact of remembering those villages and events is
being realized.
To touch the past is the impossible dream of anyone who deals with history,
but this dream cannot be fulfilled by all the more numerous reconstructions
being made recently. The method of constellations, when referred to the socio-historical reality, makes it possible to experience the past both physically,
and emotionally, by taking the place of those whom history deprived of voice.

/ dr hab. Elbieta Konoczuk

Institute of Polish Philology, University of Bialystok

+AUTHORS

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

MICHA STANKIEWICZ

PIOTR SUKOWSKI

DOBROMIR DYMECKI

Graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of Warsaw, specialisation: Reportage. He also completed theatre and
playwriting studies. A participant of drama writing and dramaturgy workshops conducted by Marek Koterski, Ivan Vyrypaev,
Fritz Kater, and of an artistic residence during Sopot Non-Fiction
Festival. He works at the crossroads of reportage, theatre and video. He describes his art as sensitive brutalism. A director of
plays Import/Export (2013), mier wrogom ojczyzny [Death
to the Enemies of Our Homeland] (2014), Metoda ustawie narodowych [The Method of National Constellations] (2014). A grant
holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. A laureate of a competition Dolina Kreatywna [Creative Valley], organised by the Polish Television, the 1st Artistic Observatory Entre
(Teatr Rozrywki, Chorzw), and the Artistic Award of the Mayor of
Biaystok (2015).

Graduate of the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology

at the University of Warsaw. A student of Film Direction at the Polish National Film School in d, where so far, he has made 10 feature films presented at festivals in over 100 cities in Poland and
abroad. Films Patrz na mnie [Look at Me] (2009), Pobaw si ze
mn [Play with Me] (2010), Szczeg [The Detail] (2011), Rozmowa [The Conversation] (2011) were presented, i.a. in Brazil,
India, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Africa, Turkey, Cyprus, and Georgia,
where the author was awarded for Best Direction. His latest feature Miruna [The Blue Grenadier], starring Andrzej Chyra, had
its first night at Warsaw Film Festival in 2013. In December 2013,
he received an Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for outstanding accomplishments for students of artistic
schools. In 2015, he completed his diploma film Play, starring
Adam Woronowicz and Joanna Kulig. A grant holder of the Moda Polska [Young Poland] programme (2015). www.sulkowskipiotr.art.pl

Graduate of the Acting Department at the Polish National Film

School in d (2009). In the years 20072009, he cooperated with
Stefan Jaracz Theatre in d (i.a. Osaczeni [Trapped] dir. Magorzata Bogajewska, Stara kobieta wysiaduje [The Old Woman
Hatches] dir. Marek Fiedor, Sowo [The Word] dir. Mariusz Grzegorzek). In the years 20102012, a member of the cast at the Drama Theatre in Warsaw (i.a. Don Kiszot [Don Kichot] and Krety i
rajskie ptaki [Moles and Birds of Paradise] dir. Maciej Podstawny,
W imi Jakuba S. [In the Name of Jacob S.] dir. Monika Strzpka,
Kto zabi Alon Iwanown [Who Kkilled Alona Ivanovna] dir. Micha Kmiecik, Madame Bovary and Powstanie [The Uprising]
dir. Radek Rychcik). In the years 20122014, on the cast of the
National Theatre in Warsaw (Krlowa Margot [Queen Margot]
dir. Grzegorz Winiewski and Ld [The Ice] dir. Konstantin Bogomolov). He also cooperates with Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw
(Wojna i pokj [War and Peace] dir. Marcin Liber), Theatre IMKA
(Kltwa, odcinki czasu beznadziei [Dont Mess With Jesus] dir.
Monika Strzpka), ania Nowa Theatre in Cracow, and Wojciech
Bogusawski Theatre in Kalisz.

DIRECTOR, DRAMATIST

2nd DIRECTOR, DRAMATIST

NARRATOR

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

KAJETAN UKOMSKI (AVTOMAT)

KATARZYNA NIZIOEK

MUSIC LIVE ACT

CURATOR

DRAMATIST

Musician, DJ, graphic designer. Originally from Toru, a graduate

of graphic design (specialisation: typography) at the University of
Dundee in Scotland and of sound engineering in Warsaw. For nearly 10 years, he has been creating music as a solo project AVTOMAT. He started with small concerts in Great Britain. He played at
festivals, i.a. Audioriver, Coke Live Fresh Noise, Totifest Festival,
and in clubs Cucumber, Jazzdze, Saturator. In the meantime, he
worked on remixes, i.a. Ryksopp (according to the website last.
fm most frequently played remix of the duo in 2012), French SomethingALaMode and Polish Kamp! and SoundQ. After releasing
his single Pizzabrain in 2012, he diverted his interests towards
combining electronic fascinations with traditional music, which
resulted in the creation of the project Pleni [Moulds]. The single Iszo Brat [There Went Brother] has been released by Fonografika this year (together with, i.a. Baasch, Pysh, DreamChach
remixes) and got a video clip by Black Oak Studio.

Researcher and teacher for the Institute of Sociology at the University of Biaystok. An author of a Ph.D. dissertation Social Art.
The Civil Aspects of Socio-Artistic Activities (2015). In connection with the Ph.D. thesis, in the years 20112013, she conducted
a research project Sztuka spoeczna w Polsce. Badanie jakociowe [Social Art in Poland. A Qualitative Research], financed by
the National Science Centre. A scholarship holder of The Clifford
and Mary Corbridge Trust (University of Cambridge, 2009) and
the Podlaskie Scholarship Fund (2012/13). An author of articles
published in, i.a. Pogranicze [Borderland], Trzeci Sektor [The
Third Sector], Przegld Socjologii Jakociowej [Qualitative Sociology Review], Rocznik Biaostocki [The Biaystok Yearly], Dekada Literacka [Literary Decade], and Limes. Cultural Regionalistics. Since 2005, involved in the activities of the University of
Biaystok Foundation (since 2008, as its president). She is also
a member of the Polish Sociological Association and the European Sociological Association. Socially engaged within the areas
of cultural animation, non-formal education and popularization
of local history and cultural heritage. A co-author of the Jewish
Heritage Trail in Biaystok. She also developed and coordinated
projects dedicated to the architecture of the Polish Peoples Republic (PRL) and to the post-PRL transformations of city spaces:
adniej? PRL w przestrzeni miasta [Prettier? PRL in the citys
space], 35 lat pniej [35 Years Later], Biaostocka architektura modernizmu [Modernism Architecture of Biaystok]. She cooperates with a number of non-governmental organisations and
cultural institutions, i.a. Bialystok Cultural Centre, within the programmes New Horizons of Film Education and Planete+ Doc Academy. In 2009, she was awarded by Biaystok Gazeta Wyborcza
in the Przystanek Modzi [The Young Stop] action for discussions on multiculturalism and tolerance, and for promotion of
local history. An initiator and coordinator of the Social Art Workshop.

Anthropologist. A graduate of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Warsaw. In his daily research work he focuses on the structure of the self-indulgent and comfort-oriented
human being.

___________________________
PAWE SZARZYSKI (KILKU.COM)
VIDEO

Graphic designer, programmer. Areas of activity: animation, film,

theatre, TV and film postproduction, visual arts, visual programming and design. Since 2010, he has been a member of a collective kilku.com. An author of visualisations for, i.a. Theatre Confrontations, T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, Malabar Hotel
Theatre.

KAROL DWORAKOWSKI

___________________________
KAROLINA MAKSIMOWICZ

SCENOGRAPHER, SPACE DESIGNER

Graduate of Architecture and Urban Development at Bialystok

University of Technology. An author and designer of visual identification, scenographies and space design of Up To Date Festival. She works under the name Przetwrnia Meblowa Biaystok
[Furniture Manufacture Biaystok]. On a daily basis, she designs
interiors, furniture, lamps, everyday objects, based on recycling
and renovation, and with the use of traditional methods of production. An author of theatre scenographies and installations
in the city space. A laureate of Gazeta Wyborcza competition
Przystanek Modzi [The Young Stop] (2013), and a scholarship
holder of the Mayor of the City of Biaystok (2014).

___________________________
VIDMO GROUP

PROJECTIONS, MAPPING

Originate from Warsaw and Cracow artistic underground. For

many years, they have acquired experience, ideas and business
contacts to finally enter the market as VIDMO in 2012. They managed to gather a team of trustworthy people: artists, graphic
designers, film makers, photographers and event industry professionals. They play with technologies, creating new concepts
of using multimedia in business, marketing and entertainment.

+CONTACT

KATARZYNA NIZIOEK
katarzyna.niziolek@gmail.com
0048 668028759

___________________________
facebook.com/metoda.ustawien.narodowych

The project is conducted by the University of Biaystok Foundation within Social Art Workshop, thanks to the scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2014) won by the director, and co-financing by the City of Biaystok (2014) and the Marshal Office of Podlaskie Voivodeship (20142015).