These intros are just a brief roundup of what's happening this Autumn - for a full, day by day calendar, please click away on our events calendar.!
FESTIVALS
International Festival Of Ancient Music In Cracow
First half of October
Take a trip back into the distant past with a number of specialist ensembles from around the globe. Cracow's churches and a handful of other specially selected venues will reverberate with sounds that you certainly won't hear every day on the radio. The ensembles play oft neglected instruments with great verve. Could be a refreshing change from hearing Beethoven for the umpteenth time.
Bajit Chadasz (6th October - 30th November)
Centre of Jewish Culture, ul. R. Meiselsa
An established fixture in Cracow's cultural calendar, Bajit Chadasz ushers in the Jewish New Year with a rich variety of cultural events. The Centre on Meiselsa Street (which is based in a former synagogue off Plac Nowy) will be hosting exhibitions, lectures, film-screenings and much more. Many of these events are in English. Check the Centre's website for more details:
www.judaica.pl
40th Organ Festival
Second half of October
The glory of Cracow's churches needs no introduction. By the seventeenth century, writers were talking of the city as 'a second Rome', such was the variety of houses of worship and pilgrimage sites. This much-loved festival is in fact the oldest musical event in Cracow. Savour some celestial sounds as performed by local and international maestros.
Krakow Independent Film Festival: KRAKFFA
27th-30th October
Who's going to step up and seize the mantle of Kieslowski, Wajda, Polanski and co? Perhaps the bright young hope of Polish cinema is about to unveil his genius at this encounter.... KRAKFFA (it has nothing to do with narcotics anonymous) is more modest than the summertime Krakow Film Festival, but it's still a key fixture in Poland's cinematic calendar.
www.krakffa.filmforum.pl/
Month Of Photography
Late October/Early November
This event, now entering its fourth year, has proved to be a runaway hit. It's a must for culture vultures, replete with copious beer drinking and wonky slide show escapades. Scores of galleries, bars and cafes will be putting on shows - you'll be able to pick up a complete programme nearer the time from the cultural office at ul. Sw. Jana 2. Cracow certainly shelters many more artists than Montmartre does on a particularly busy day. As always, the will also be joined by some international talents. Look out for shows at Camelot Gallery and Alchemia.
All Saints and All Souls
November 1st -2nd
Sweet melancholia is something that the Poles know all about. This two day holiday is a solemn yet magical tribute to the departed. Graveyards across the country will flicker with thousands of candles, and those travellers driving through the countryside will be confronted by seas of light. All Souls provides an echo of the an ancient Slavic tradition that was once practised at this time of year, 'Dziady' (Forefathers). It was a communion with departed souls, later enshrined by national bard Adam Mickiewicz in his Romantic play of the same name. Cracow's two most beautiful cemeteries (both founded in the nineteenth century) are the hilltop enclosure at Salwator and the gothic necropolis of Rakowicki. A wander through either by night provides a truly unforgettable experience.
Zaduszki: All Souls Jazz Jazz Festival
Early November
This longstanding festival adds a dash of jollity to the All Souls melancholia. Venerable jazzers will be doing there stuff at some of the top venues in town. Piec Art Club usually manages the show, and you can discover more about what's planned on their website http://www.piec.krakow.pl/
13th Audio Art Festival 2005
Bunkier Sztuki & Co.
An opportunity to trip the light fantastic with a colourful cast of musically gifted computer boffins. The hip Bunkier Sztuki Gallery will be hosting the show in tandem with the Academy of Music, Rotunda and Krzysztofory. They'll be drawing the curtain back on what's going on in the experimental music scene, and performers will be coming from as far afield as Seoul and Singapore. Treats in store include Anton Nikla's 'Laptop Noise' and Parisian Dj Milosh's intriguingly titled 'Sensetropique fooc'. All in all, plenty of weirdness - rather not for traditionalists!
http://www.audio.art.pl/
EXHIBITIONS
Wawel Motifs in Polish Art: 1800-1939
Until 9th October
Wawel Royal Castle, Upper Floor
For Poles, Wawel Hill has a mythical status that's something akin to King Arthur's Camelot. This new exhibition is one of a series of shows that celebrates the centenary of the return of the castle to the nation, as for much of the nineteenth century, Wawel was little more than an Austrian army barracks. 'Wawel Motifs in Polish Art' shows how the citadel was romanticized by Polish artists, and there are plenty of sentimental nineteenth oil-paintings on show, as well as a good deal of Wawel-related paraphernalia. The exhibits have been elegantly presented, and whilst this is no sensation, the exhibition is pleasant enough. The most cherished work is the romantic painting by Jozef Simmler; 'The Death of Barbara Radziwillowna''. Here the forlorn King Sigismund Augustus sits at the bedside of his beloved wife, who (or so later historians insisted) was poisoned by the dastardly Queen Bona, the King's meddling mother.
48th World Press Photo Winners
Until October 19th
Bunkier Sztuki, Pl. Szczepanski 3a
You're unlikely to leave this exhibition feeling full of the joys of spring. Nevertheless, it's is an edifying experience. This gallery is something of a must for culture vultures, and their cafe is also a pleasant port of call.
Michelangelo
Czartoryski Museum (Arsenal), ul. sw. Jana 19
Until 23rd October
OK, it's not a major retrospective - there are in fact no more than half a dozen drawings on display...
However, what makes this show interesting is the range of exhibits by later Polish artists. Michelangelo's influence was phenomenal, and here you can catch a glimpse of how his innovations inspired his Polish peers.
Meanwhile, the master's own sketches hint at the sheer breadth of the Italian genius's pre-occupations, from city fortification to church planning.
Art By The Handicapped
Until October 9th
International Cultural Centre, Main Market Square 25
A stunning exhibition that gives many contemporary artists a run for their money. As it is, the International Cultural Centre is often missed by travellers and Cracovians alike. This is a great shame, as it's the finest exhibition space in the city. Go!
'Expeditions to the ends of the Earth'
October 6th - November 9th
Manggha Centre, ul. Konopnickiej 26
A lavish exhibition under the aegis of National Geographic Poland. The always welcoming Manggha Centre will be unveiling 100 photographs from the NG archives, focusing on expeditions made by members of the society over the last hundred years.The show also includes work by Polish photographers on one of the most recent expeditions - the exploration of WWII ship Steuben, which was torpedoed off the Baltic coast in 1945.
'Legends and Mysteries of Cracow'
Until November 13th
The Historical Museum of the City of Cracow
Main Market Square 35
If ever there was a city of folklore then it is Cracow. Maiden-chomping dragons, enchanted pigeons, sorcerers who fly about on giant cockerels - they're all there, not forgetting a panoply of saints to match. This historic exhibition opens the festivities that will commemorate the 750th Anniversary of the Act of Location of Cracow. It's being hosted by the Museum of the History of Cracow, right on the square. Priceless old woodcuts, oil-paintings and relics will bring to life the magic of the former capital, with everyone from legendary founder of the city Prince Krak to the gallant 'hejnal' trumpeter getting their dues. The lack of English tags is a minus, but you can pick up a pocket guide to the legends at the Hetmanska bookshop, or grab the lavish full catalogue at the museum itself.
On The Threshold of Freedom: Nowa Huta 1979-89
Until 15th January
Nowa Huta Historical Museum, os. Sloneczne 16
It's the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Solidarity Trade Union, the fabled movement that's credited as being fundamental in the breakdown of the Communist regime, not only in Poland but across Eastern Europe.
The newly opened Nowa Huta branch of the Historical Museum of Cracow is launching a special exhibition to tie in with the anniversary. Nowa Huta itself, the communist 'ideal city' that backfired, became an important hotbed of reaction to 'the Party'. This exhibition draws on a plethora of different materials, bringing out the highs and lows of the struggle for freedom in Nowa Huta.
Exhibition: 'Traces of Memory'
Throughout October & November
The Galicia Museum, ul. Dajwor 18
If you're in Cracow on a Monday you'll find that a lot of museums tend to shut up shop. However, all is not lost if you're in search of something that's top notch. The Galicia Museum has some of the most customer friendly hours in town (9am - 8pm 7 days a week), and it also happens to be one of the best. This fresh new Kazimierz enterprise is helping to resurrect the region's Jewish legacy, and it brings it to life through a host of lively concerts, seminars, exhibitions and more. This Autumn you'll find two tremendous exhibitions running side by side. The first is 'Traces of Memory', a stunning photographic display that draws back the curtain on the lost world. The second is an affectionate series of caricatures of artists and cultural luminaries who were persecuted by the Nazis, The latter, 'Hitler's List', was created by British artist John Minnion, and it includes everyone from Marc Chagall to Cracow scion Roman Polanski.
20th Birthday Of Galeria Zderzak
Assorted Events
Galeria Zderzak, ul. Florianska 3 & Elsewhere
Leading gallery of contemporary art celebrates 20 with a colourful bang. Between 28th October and 6th November you can enjoy the 'Breakfast of Masters', a specially birthday exhibition that is being organised in tandem with the National Museum. The show is being held at the Arsenal of the Czartoryski Museum (ul. Pijarska 8) and it will boast works by talents such as Stefan Gierowski, Zbigniew Makowski and Andrzej Wroblewski.
On the same day an exhibition titled 'NATURMUSEUM', will open at Zderzak's home on Florianska (between 28th October - 30th November). This one will draw the curtain on some of the lesser known sides of the gallery's activity....
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