Martin Crimp and Rula Lenska
Those who managed to attend the Late opening of the Polish Connection last month, were treated to the most amazing performance of poetry reading by the playwright Martin Crimp, and the actress Rula Lenska.
Martin had composed an abstract poem consisting of a series of words closely associated with the Gallery’s permanent collection and its history. Most were English, but some were Polish, harmonising and echoing each other.
They reflected Malinowski’s wall drawing where two lines often travel together, now moving together, now moving apart, sometimes continuous, sometimes broken into dashes.
The words, delivered by Martin and Rula, were like two sets of vibrations, echoing and answering each other.
Below is an extract. It can be found in its entirety in the catalogue - ‘anthoni malinowski – dulwich picture gallery – the polish connection’, which can be bought from the Gallery shop.
to fake
to copy
to sever
to enter Warsaw
to march into Warsaw
to see bricks
stones
snow
windows
to see Poland
cease to exist
Some of these words were converted into the music for the dances created for the exhibition.
Related article ‘Music for the Polish Connection Dance’
