Deaf Rebellion. Renewal, dir. Bogna Burska | performance

About the event

Deaf Rebellion. Renewal, dir. Bogna Burska | performance Zachęta | main hall 🎟️ Admission with ticket purchased online 📅 November 24 and 26, 2025, 8:00 PM Tickets available only for online purchase. 🎫 Tickets with PJM translation: https://bilety.zacheta.art.pl/rezerwacja/termin.html 🎫 Tickets | Zone I: https://bilety.zacheta.art.pl/rezerwacja/termin.html 🎫 Tickets | Zone II: https://bilety.zacheta.art.pl/rezerwacja/termin.html ⏱️ Duration: 40 minutes More information: https://zacheta.art.pl/pl/kalendarz/bunt-gluchych-odnowa-4 Event co-organizer: Institute of Linguistic Diversity of the Republic of Poland "Deaf Rebellion. Renewal" is a performance that, in its content and form, addresses themes of communication, language, and accessibility. The premiere of the original version of "Deaf Rebellion" took place in 2018 at Zachęta. Seven years later, we look at it enriched by experiences of co-creating events with the g/Deaf minority, developing projects, collaborating on various levels, and facing challenges related to the institutional circulation of art and academic development paths. The titular rebellion of the g/Deaf is just one of the threads contained in the plot of the performance about the social significance of language. It concerns a historical event from 1988—the protest of students at the American Gallaudet University in Washington, which led to the appointment of the first deaf rector in the history of higher education. However, the inspiration for the performance was another story: that of a Dutch artist, daughter of Chinese immigrants, born in Europe and raised without the use of her native language. The context of the performance is therefore broad, but undoubtedly the story of the protest at the university in Washington has a symbolic dimension. It is also the only story in the project that ends well. In the new version of the performance, the choir consists of hearing and g/Deaf people. The participation of the phonic-sign choir has the chance not only to become a new artistic proposal but also a foundation for building an equal space in culture, creating an inclusive artistic community, a collective based on mutual understanding, respect for needs, and subjectivity. Accessibility is a structural part of the formal aspect of the performance. On stage, there are hearing and hard-of-hearing actresses. Both spoken Polish and Polish Sign Language are present. Creators: - Text and direction: Bogna Burska - Actresses: Klara Bielawka, Ewelina Żak, Marta Kalinowska - Composer, conductor: Sean Palmer - Composer, vocal coach: Jakub Pałys - Sign choir coordinator: Daniel Kotowski - Choir in Motion curator: Ewa Chomicka - Choreographic consultations: Weronika Pelczyńska - Production: Katarzyna Tomczak-Wysocka, Dominika Wiśniowska - Accessibility coordination: Emilia Rudzka - Performance translation into Polish Sign Language: Katarzyna Głozak, Alicja Famulska Performing Choir in Motion, members: - Adrianna Kitkowska - Agata Dalecka - Aleksandra Olszowska - Aneta Rajca - Anna Wieczorek - Barbara Szymanowska - Barbara Walczak - Barbara Baranowska - Beata Akbaş - Bożena Reger - Dagmara Siwczyk - Dominika Jędrzejczak - Edyta Pawłowska - Elżbieta Balano - Elżbieta Jasińska - Ewa Chomicka - Irena Klein - Irena Wiesiołek - Julia Supeł - Justyna Orlińska - Kamila Nawrocka - Katarzyna Andrejczuk - Katarzyna Pawluk - Kinga Wołoszyn-Kowanda - Magdalena Zaczek - Maja Chomik - Małgorzata Janina Berwid - Małgorzata Kozek - Maria Gromadowska - Maria Jolanta Nałęcz-Jawecka - Maryja Krats - Monika Majer-Wasilewska - Natalia Lidwa - Natalia Pacyga - Natalia Strzeszewska - Natalia Trybuła - Urszula Iwińska - Urszula Strych - Viki Polazava - Weronika Jeżewska Choir in Motion is a social, experimental, new choir (with a history). For 9 years, it developed at one of Warsaw's museums, creating musical performances, activities accompanying exhibitions, artistic interventions, soundtracks for films and performances. During this time, it collaborated with outstanding artists, including Sean Palmer, Zorka Wollny, Bogna Burska, Wojtek Blecharz, Dominik Strycharski, Jaśmina Wójcik, Mikołaj Trzaska, Aleksandra Gryka. Thanks to these projects, an inclusive community was formed, bringing together people seeking unconventional means of expression, who want to continue (co-)acting and (co-)creating at the intersection of music, performance, visual arts, and working with space. Choir in Motion was established at the beginning of 2024 as a grassroots, itinerant initiative, open to new activities and possibilities. Since then, it has carried out projects with Komuna Warszawa ("Song of the Future. Concert for a building and choir", dir. Grzegorz Laszuk), Zachęta – National Gallery of Art ("Deaf Rebellion. Renewal", dir. Bogna Burska), Łazienki Królewskie ("All Women's Victories", comp. Maria Ka), Radio Kapitał (3 cycles of "Solstices" – comp. Edka Jarząb, Halszka Sokołowska, Olga Mysłowska, chor. Weronika Pelczyńska, Monika Jarosińska). ___________ Event accessibility: - PJM translation – spoken Polish – PJM - Possibility to reserve seats for people with mobility disabilities - Induction loop - Live audio description on November 24 - Possibility to arrange for a support assistant to reach Zachęta Please report your needs by November 21 to the accessibility coordinator: Emilia Rudzka e.rudzka@zacheta.art.pl ___________ The premiere of the performance "Deaf Rebellion. Renewal" took place at Zachęta – National Gallery of Art in January 2025. The revival of the performance is possible thanks to the cooperation of Zachęta – National Gallery of Art and the Institute of Linguistic Diversity of the Republic of Poland. "Languages from Water" — a new project by Bogna Burska in collaboration with Daniel Kotowski, submitted by curators Ewa Chomicka and Jolanta Woszczenko, with the participation of Choir in Motion, Alicja Czyczel, Aleksandra Gryka, and Magda Mosiewicz, will represent Poland at the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia in 2026. photo: Kuba Celej