Filip Pawlak

I am currently finishing two fields of study - Film production at the film school in Katowice and Mediation of contemporary art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, and from February I will begin theater studies in Budapest (Erasmus).

In my professional activity, I tried in several places / roles. I tried the forces as a journalist, perfomer, executive producer, marketer or initiator of cultural activities. For 2 years, I collaborated collectively with Rafał Urbacki on theater and dance projects, as well as leading a participatory project for the former mining district of Bytom - Rozbark. We have created performances with people with disabilities: Protected Species, Niech Nigdy w tym dniu słońce nie świeci and Serce Robotnika Napędza Praca of which I am particularly proud because they were a response to the real need of the community in this district. The theater that was just starting in this place did not even ask residents what they need / expect.

In later institutional work, I tried to use these experiences. I worked in a dance theater as a producer, at the Academy of Theater Arts, I was in the student government, I run a Discussive Theater Club at the Silesian Theater - in each of these places I tried to focus on the viewer - his needs, expectations, context. I tried to look for common roads, to meet them. Unfortunately, I almost always faced management's resistance.

I am interested in how often the institutions and artists themselves forget about the recipient. While working at an art school, I observed how to become a threat and even an enemy instead of a partner. Initiatives were employed in isolation from reality, place and people increasingly away from the public, but also their own ideals.