Genoa celebrates poet Wislawa Szymborska, 1996 Nobel laureate in literature, with a monograph

From June 16, 2023, the monographic exhibition Wislawa Szymborska. The Joy of Writing, curated by Sergio Maifredi and mounted by set designer Michal Jandura, with the scientific advice and collaboration of Andrea Ceccherelli and Luigi Marinelli. Produced by the City of Genoa and Teatro Pubblico Ligure, in co-production with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw, under the patronage of the Wislawa Szymborska Foundation in Krakow, in collaboration with the Polish Institute in Rome and the Goethe-Institut Genua, the exhibition is supported by IREN.

Wislawa Szymborska (Kórnik, 1923 - Krakow, 2012), the 1996 Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet for literature, was born 100 years ago. Her books are always best sellers. Mentioned in songs and films, many have written and told about her, from Woody Allen to Umberto Eco, from Roberto Saviano to Roberto Vecchioni, who dedicated a song to her.

The Genoa exhibition will be an opportunity to take an original, immersive and intimate journey into the life and creative universe of the great poet, including documents, photographs, correspondence, and graphic works. Szymborska had frequented the avant-garde, was friends with Tadeusz Kantor, and from a young age tried her hand at illustration, which later took a back seat to verse. Her passion for figuration, however, remained alive throughout her life, as evidenced by the collages she made and sent to friends at parties. Brilliant and curious inventions, of which the exhibition will feature many original examples from private collections, including Jaroslav Mikolajewski, poet and writer.
The centerpiece of the exhibition will be Wislawa Szymborska’s Art Workshop, in which collages and fragments from the poet’s notebook are connected.

The path will be punctuated by one hundred maxims of the poet, extracted from her poems. Woody Allen will also be virtually present: Szymborska gave him one of her collages, and director Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska filmed the moment of the delivery included in the film Life is Sometimes Bearable. Ironic Portrait of Wislawa Szymborska.
Documents, photographs, an English book illustrated in her youth by Szymborska will also be on display.

Sergio Maifredi ’s interest and knowledge of Polish culture dates back to his relationship with Pietro Marchesani, the scholar whose translation of the opera omnia published by Adelphi introduced Wislawa Szymborska to Italy. A professor of Polish Language and Literature at the University of Genoa, with this appointment he inaugurated a chair that until then did not exist, becoming a point of reference for generations of scholars, including Andrea Ceccherelli and Luigi Marinelli, professors of Slavistics at the Alma Mater University of Bologna and La Sapienza University of Rome, respectively.

The Polish poetess, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Literature, in the memorable 2009 conference in Bologna, addressing Pietro Marchesani said, “Without you, I would not exist in Italy.” The collaborative relationship soon turned into friendship, and in 2005 Szymborska came to visit the University of Genoa. Marchesani opened the door on the Polish world to Sergio Maifredi, who has never left it since. A resident director at PoznaÅ„’s Teatr Nowy in Poland from 2005 to 2014, in 2009 he curated the exhibition Poland 1989-2009 All Theatre in a Manifesto, and in 2012 he was awarded the Medal of Bene Merito by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland for his efforts in spreading Polish culture in Italy.

Alongside the exhibition, the run of the show directed by Sergio Maifredi from an idea and with the collaboration of Andrea Ceccherelli and Luigi Marinelli, Listen, how hard your heart beats for me. Poems, Letters and Other Junk by Wislawa Szymborska. Szymborska’s voice has been entrusted to Maddalena Crippa. At her side is Andrea Nicolini. Michele Sganga is the author of the music, which he performs live on stage. The performance offers an evocative journey of words and music, through poems known and some unpublished even in Poland, and recently discovered in archives.

Ascolta, come mi batte forte il tuo cuore debuted on March 27 at Teatro Vittoria in Rome, preceded by a preview on March 26 at Teatro Boni in Acquapendente (VT), and followed by a stop at Teatro Litta in Milan on April 4. It will be followed by performances at the 29th International Poetry Festival in Genoa (June 17), Legnago (Verona, Sept. 06), the 76th Estate Fiesolana in Fiesole (Sept. 9), Warsaw (Sept. 12), and Krakow (Sept. 13) The show is the brainchild of and with the collaboration of Andrea Ceccherelli and Luigi Marinelli, professors of Polish Language and Literature at the University of Bologna and Sapienza University of Rome, respectively. It is produced by Teatro Pubblico Ligure in co-production with Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw, under the patronage of the Wislawa Szymborska Foundation in Krakow, in collaboration with the Polish Institute in Rome.

For info: www.teatropubblicoligure.it

Image: Wislawa Szymborska, Krakow 1984 © Joanna Helander

Genoa celebrates poet Wislawa Szymborska, 1996 Nobel laureate in literature, with a monograph

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