Marta Górnicka
Multitude
12.09.–08.11.2020
Gallery Weekend Berlin
Ebensperger ⅋ Luxoom Lab
Magnificat
2012
Video
37’
Produced by Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, Warsaw
In MAGNIFICAT, THE CHORUS OF WOMEN is confronted with the most sacred image of femininity within the Church – that of the Blessed Virgin Mary. With its ideological and aesthetic power. With the magnetic force of this sacred icon of femininity. Bible passages, food recipes, texts by Elfriede Jelinek and Adam Mickiewicz, and fragments of Euripides’ Bacchae are mixed by the choir with computer sounds, the clicks of shutters and flashes, and quotes from the press. Rhythmic speech and pop culture one-liners intertwine with traditional forms of sacral music. Notes of the Magnificat are sampled and serve as a soundtrack for cultural texts and commercials. An ideological-sonic remix is created. The Virgin Mary descends from holy paintings.
MAGNIFICAT premiered in 2011. It was Marta Górnicka’s second performance with THE CHORUS OF WOMEN, the all-female ensemble established in order to form a modern choral theatre and to regain the female voice for the theatre at the same time. Both had been forgotten and buried in the androcentric form and conventions of modern drama theatre. The revival of women’s collective voice in relation to the ancient idea of the chorus as a political body was a strong aesthetic and political act, especially in the context of the strengthening conservative forces in Polish society.
Artist Statement
MAGNIFICAT is a statement about the woman in the Church's system of power, made without the use of sacred or non-sacred words. It is a post-opera form which gives rise to the polyphonic, pop-cultural MAGNIFICAT.
Cast
Justyna Chaberek, Ewa Chomicka, Alina Czyżewska, Paulina Drzastwa, Alicja Herod, Anna Jagłowska, Katarzyna Jaźnicka, Ewa Konstanciak , Ewa Kossak, Katarzyna Lalik, Agnieszka Makowska, Kamila Michalska,Katarzyna Migdalska, Jolanta Nałęcz-Jawecka, Natalia Obrębska, Anna Rączkowska, Anna Rusiecka, Monika Sadkowska, Kaja Stępkowska, Karolina Szulejewska, Iwona Tołbińska, Agata Wencel, Karolina Więch, Anna Wodzyńska, Anna Wojnarowska
Credits
Concept, libretto, director: Marta Górnicka. Score: IEN. Choreography: Anna Godowska. Literary advisor: Agata Adamiecka. Conducting consultant: Marta Szeliga. Stage design cooperation: Anna Maria Karczmarska. Costume design collaboration: Aleksandra Harasimowicz. Light design: Tomasz Sierotko. Stage management: Marek Susdorf, director of video: Kasia Adamik, director of photography: Mateusz Wołoczka, camera operators: Kasia Adamik, Mateusz Wołoczko, Michał Żuberek, editing: Kasia Adamik, Hubert Komerski, sound design and editing: Adam Wilk, color correction: Raman Kriszna Moorti, production: Paulina Drzastwa, Anna Galas
Image
© Krzysztof Krzysztofiak, Courtesy Warsaw Theatre Institute
