News
The Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre will open in April 2016. After eight years of operation, and almost two years of modernization of the buildings at Madalińskiego 10/16, the team led by director Krzysztof Warlikowski will finally begin work in-house in Warsaw's Mokotów district. The opening will include a performance of Warlikowski's Francuzi (The French), screenings of operas directed by him, tours of the buildings guided by the actors of Nowy Teatr, and the international Opening Forum with distinguished guests from all over Europe.
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The Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre is an interdisciplinary institution open to many fields of art. World-class artists will be invited to prepare premieres specifically for a Polish audience and to present their most recognized works. The first guest of this upcoming season will be Markus Öhrn, l'enfant terrible of the European theater, film director and visual artist, who earned his renown at Berlin Volksbühne.
Nowy Teatr will also host Polish artists, those who courageously expand the battlefield of modern theatre. Nowy Teatr ICC will also be open to grass-roots artistic initiatives, festivals, workshops and discussions.
The new space means new challenges for the Nowy Teatr team. The first things that come to mind are questions like: does that mean anything to me as an artist? Will I start thinking differently about theatre? I wonder how this new space may inspire me, push me into new areas. Each of the recent shows by Nowy Teatr, '(A)pollonia', 'Kabaret Warszawski' and 'Francuzi', was intended to inaugurate this place. Yet it is an entirely different thing to prepare a show having just the idea of the new space in mind, and then to actually start working in the finished theatre hall and completing the show – says Krzysztof Warlikowski, artistic director.
Francuzi premiered last year on October 3 and will be staged again between 14 and 17 April. The show has traveled extensively, representing Polish theatre in the world, and this is going to be the first performance in Warsaw since its premiere. On the weekend of 16 and17 April, guests may visit the new Nowy Teatr together with the artists from Krzysztof Warlikowski's team.
April 18 will begin with screenings of operas directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski. The audience will have the opportunity to see his international projects including King Roger, Medea and Don Giovanni. The screenings will follow the introductions of Jacek Hawryluk and Piotr Gruszczyński.
22 and 23 April will see the Opening Forum, a debate in the form of an art installation, focused around the slogan SUBMISSION//RAGE//FREEDOM. The debate will be attended by; Hungarian theatre director and artistic director of the Kretakor group, Árpád Schilling; Polish director Krystian Lupa; one of the most interesting representatives of contemporary Russian theatre, Konstantin Bogomolov; director of the Bozar / Belgian Centre for Fine Arts, Paul Dujardin; German literary scholar writer and journalist of Ukrainian origin Katja Petrowskaja; opera playwright Christian Longchamp; Lebanese writer, actor and director Wajdi Mouawad; Russian theater critic and the theatrical curator of this year's Wienef Festwocheb, Marina Davidova; artistic director of the Prague Quadrennial, previously associated with the Institute of Art and Theatre in Prague, Sodja Lotker; and the former director of the international Theatre Festival in Avignon, now director of the Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, Vincent Baudriller. The discussion will be moderated by Beata Stasińska and Max Cegielski. The Forum will be accompanied by concerts, screening of Walser by Zbigniew Libera and presentations of his video works.
April 26 will see the performance of one of the most interesting Polish compositions of recent years: Passion according to St. Mark by Paweł Mykietyn (musical director of Nowy Teatr ICC) for soprano, reciting voice, choir and chamber orchestra. This piece was commissioned by the International Festival Wratislavia Cantans in 2008.
The construction of the Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre was founded with a grant of PLN 19,115,511 from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under EEA and Norwegian Grants, as well as from the Polish national budget and the City of Warsaw.
Nowy Teatr is a municipal cultural institution.
December 2015 saw the continued installation of AV, LAN and fibre-optic cables in the workshop hall. The reconstructed historic gates were installed. Dressing room bathrooms were fitted with showers and sinks.
In the administration building more walls were built, suspended ceilings were installed, as well as water, sewerage and electrical systems. Most concrete floors and some plaster on the walls and ceilings were laid. Construction of the reinforced concrete structures for the veranda and connector were started.
More sanitary installations were completed in the external area. Work was continued in soil stabilization and construction of the lean concrete ground beams.
In November 2015, works were continued in the historic workshop hall, in equipping the building with electricity, gas, water, ventilation systems, as well as theatre AV facilities. More floors were laid and interior doors were installed. We completed laying of the epoxy flooring in the bathrooms.
In the administration building, works continued in installing water, sewerage and electrical systems. Low voltage wiring was completed. Also approx. 30% of the brick laying and gypsum walls, and approx. 40% of the internal plastering were completed.
60% of the sanitary installations were completed in the external area. The concierge building was demolished, the soil was stabilized and lean concrete was used to make a ground beam.
In September 2015 we continued works in the workshop hall. Ceilings were completely renovated, suspended ceilings and acoustical ceiling tiles were installed; most of the acoustic panels were installed on the walls. Further installation works were performed, and most of the flooring was laid. Installation of the external steel windows continued. The facades of both buildings were plastered.
Dear viewers,
The Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre will be opening in this spring, 2016. Postponement of the opening is associated with the required additional construction works.
More o: Communication on the opening date of the Nowy Teatr ICC
In the period May to August 2015, the former workshop hall saw completion of the reinforced concrete works, doorways, removal of shattered and broken plaster, masonry works, fittings, layers under the floors and concrete floors.
More o: Status of works in the construction project of the Nowy Teatr ICC – September 1, 2015
Film presentation of the first stage of the Nowy Teatr modernization.
The landscape projects for the outdoor spaces of the Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre was designed by landscape architects Karolina Samborska and Łukasz Kowalski, from the Pracownia Architektury Krajobrazu La.Wa.
More o: Landscape project for the outdoor spaces of the Nowy Teatr ICC
At the end of April 2015 we completed the strengthening of the Vierendeel trusses. Works are still underway in removing the shattered plaster, insulating of the outer foundation walls, and in doorways, concrete floors and brick work. Roofing felt will be soon removed from the roof, and we are halfway through removing the cement and plaster from the facade. Some of the electrical wiring is already in place. We started plastering the facade and the interior. We also installed structures necessary in the modern theatre design.
Photograghy: Jakub Certowicz
In March 2015 reinforced concrete elements in the hall were completed, lean concrete was laid for new foundations, and steel brackets for beams were mounted.
Prestigious Berlin-based UNCUBE magazine devoted to architecture and other related phenomena published the interview and photographs by Jakub Certowicz, photographer documenting the construction of Nowy Teatr International Cultural Center. The choice of photographs accompanying the article also includes photos from the construction site of the Nowy Teatr.
By the end of February 2015 the demolition of walls and floors in the hall was completed, ground was prepared for new foundations, and new strip footings and pad foundations were laid.
On November 19 2014, a conference was held to celebrate the start of the project Construction of the Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre.
The conference was attended by:
Professor Małgorzata Omilanowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, Mayor of Warsaw
Tomasz Thun-Janowski, Head of the Cultural Department at Warsaw City Hall
Karolina Ochab, Director of Nowy Teatr
Maciej Czeredys, Head of the Investment Department of Nowy Teatr
Piotr Gruszczyński, the Drama Director of Nowy Teatr
Zenon Bugno, Director of SKANSKA S.A. General Construction Department in Warsaw
Krzysztof Warlikowski, the theatre director at Nowy Teatr, could not be present at the conference as he was in Brussels preparing the premiere of the opera Don Giovanni La Monnaie. Instead, he sent a video in which he thanked all the parties involved in the investment process and offered an invitation to the opening of the Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre in 2015.
On November 5 2014, Nowy Teatr signed a contract with Skanska SA for the construction of the Nowy Teatr International Cultural Centre, with Nowy Teatr as the Investor.
More o: Signing a contract with Skanska for construction works
As a result of limited tender, Skanska S.A. has been selected as general contractor of construction works for the investment titled: Construction of Nowy Teatr International Centre of Culture. Signing agreement and launching construction is scheduled for the beginning of November 2014.
We have selected the author of artistic concept for the photo documentation of the investment titled “Construction of Nowy Teatr International Centre of Culture”.
Based on the assessment of meeting the condition of participation in the proceedings and the offer assessment criteria, it has been stated that the offer of Jakub Certowicz meets all the requirements specified in the request for quotations.
First photos by Jakub Certowicz will appear soon.
Nowy Teatr ordered audit of its future building’s accessibility for persons with disabilities. Assessment of the project’s accessibility allows evaluation of potential barriers already at the design stage and their removal before they are created in reality. Accessibility Planning Bureau shall perform the audit.
On 30 June 2014, Nowy Teatr announced a call for tender for the construction works, titled “Construction of the Nowy Teatr International Centre of Culture building in Warsaw at Madalińskiego 10/16”. This is a limited tendering procedure. Interested contractors may submit applications for admission to tender procedure until 15 July 2014, 11:00 AM. No more than 5 contractors allowed to participate in second phase of the tender will be asked to place their bids.
Starting from 14 June, the Plac Budowy [Construction Site] will operate within the theatre’s premises for the whole summer period. This is going to be a place of meetings, artistic and educational activities, as well as summer food truck base. The venue took its name from the Nowy Teatr building’s redevelopment that is launched in the same period.
We are delighted to inform you about the grant awarded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the construction of the Nowy Teatr International Centre of Culture. The construction will be financed from the funds provided by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism for the years 2009-2014 as part of the program called: Conservation and revitalization of national heritage. It is a breakthrough moment in the history of Nowy Teatr.
On 7 May 2014 co-financing agreement was signed for the construction of the Nowy Teatr International Centre of Culture. The project covers modernization of historic workshop hall and administrative building as well as development of external area into a new building that will host Nowy Teatr.
Bogdan Zdrojewski, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Karolina Ochab, the theatre's general director, and Krzysztof Warlikowski, artistic director, signed the agreement on this matter.
Construction of the Nowy Teatr International Centre of Culture uses financing in the amount of PLN 19,115,511 coming from Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA funds and Norway grants, as well as from state budget.
