A joint project between Komuna//Warszawa and the Theatre Institute is a return to the stage aesthetics and manifestos of the 1920s. It’s an elegy, but also a hymn to the avant-garde. In theatrical reconstructions of 20th century set designs and the demands of artists from those times, the creators are looking for an answer to the question: what was the avant-garde? Drawing a vision of a better world? An objection, or perhaps an escape from the rushing steamroller of history?

In “7 Songs of Avant-Garde” the Komuna//Warszawa artists perform a symbolic reconstruction of set design. The stage aesthetics characteristic of the days of avant-garde help evoke the ideas that it were crucial to that movement. It is also so in the context of political engagement, destroying the theatrical illusion and direct conversation between the creators and the audience.

Avant-garde manifestos are often defined as visions of a better world. But sometimes the same manifesto can be interpreted as an escape from blindly racing time. Regardless of which interpretation is correct, the avant-garde is always heading towards THE FUTURE.