Polonez à la Romanes by Magda Fabianczyk

This work is a collaboration between artist Magda Fabiańczyk and musicians/composers Anita Sułkowska, Ersad Kamiński and Angela Mirga-Piotrowska (a representative of Roma community from Bytom Bobrek in Poland).

Polonez à la Romanes borrows its title from Polonez (Eng. Polonaise); a historic national dance of Poland, which is still performed during festive and official occasions. The work attempts to create space for elements of Roma music within the strict rhythm of a national musical composition. Inviting participants to negotiate between two seemingly incompatible music traditions, inevitably personal expectations are also challenged, alongside political views and socially conditioned perceptions of possibilities. In Poland, those who identify as Roma constitute a significant ethnic minority, whose presence on Polish soil dates back to the fourteenth century, yet they are still perceived through the prism of prejudice and stereotype. Polonez à la Romanes is a mediation between music and visual arts, where the dynamic and specific elements of a musical piece were shaped by the conversations about social and political implications for the Roma living in Bytom. Sułkowska teaches classical music, while Kaminski specialises in Romani music. The collaboration with Fabiańczyk and Mirga resulted in an interpretation of Polonez marked by musical transitions, repetitions and questions. This reflects the shared history of Roma and Poles, their contemporary struggles, proposing a way forward, towards more even social dynamics.