Polish Artists at Europe’s Leading Performing Arts Festival. Artistic Director Tomasz Kireńczuk bows out after five years at the festival’s helm

From 3 to 12 July, Santarcangelo di Romagna will once again become the European capital of the performing arts. The programme of the 56th edition of Santarcangelo Festival, held under the theme “deep pressures”, features the latest works by Wojciech Grudziński, Ewa Dziarnowska, Igor Shugaleev and Agnietė Lisičkinaitė, DJ sets by Krzysztof Bagiński, and special events by the KEM collective. For the fourth consecutive year, the participation of Polish artists in the festival is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Tomasz Kireńczuk Bids Farewell to the Festival as Artistic Director

“We live in a world where economic and political pressures increasingly shape relationships between people, and where building walls and creating distance often become the most widely accepted systemic response. Through the artistic practices developed by the creators invited to the festival, and through the sense of proximity that performance generates, we want to demonstrate that this is not the only possible path and that we are not without agency,” says Tomasz Kireńczuk, who is serving as the festival’s Artistic Director for the fifth and final time.

“I also see this edition as the conclusion of a cycle that began in 2021, when I embarked on this extraordinary journey with Santarcangelo. I hope that the sense of closeness, solidarity and openness will accompany these ten days, just as it has accompanied us throughout the years of our shared commitment to Santarcangelo Festival,” Kireńczuk concludes. This July, he will take up the position of Artistic Director of brut Wien, one of Europe's leading institutions dedicated to the performing arts.

This year’s theme, “deep pressures”, reflects a contemporary reality marked by political, social and ecological tensions. Drawing on feminist, queer, anti-racist and decolonial perspectives, the festival programme creates a space for encounter, dialogue and shared artistic experience.

Polish Artists Respond to the Pressures of the Present

For years, the Polish performing arts scene has been recognised as one of the most compelling and distinctive forces on the European map of contemporary dance and performance. The presence of Polish artists in this year’s Santarcangelo Festival once again confirms their strong position within the international arts circuit and the growing interest in artistic practices addressing community, identity, memory and social engagement.

“Over the past four years, the collaboration between Santarcangelo Festival and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute has become something far greater than a partnership between two institutions. It has evolved into an ongoing conversation about what contemporary culture can be, who it can create space for, and how it can respond to the challenges of today’s world.

Perhaps one of the greatest pressures of our time is the pressure to drift further apart from one another. Festivals such as Santarcangelo remind us how essential it is to build relationships, communities and spaces for dialogue. We are delighted that Polish artists can once again meet international audiences here—not only to present their work, but above all to share their sensitivity, emotions, experiences and questions. The role of art is not to provide simple answers, but to help preserve our capacity for sensitivity—even under pressure,” says Olga Brzezińska, Deputy Director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

This year’s programme brings together artists representing different generations and aesthetic approaches, united by an interest in the body as a site of relationship-building and a means of responding to contemporary challenges.

Wojciech Grudziński returns to Santarcangelo with two performances: CUTE & AWKWARD and BOW. BOW continues Grudziński’s research into the nature of the bow—its form, function and social significance—which began during Santarcangelo Festival in 2023. Created specifically for this year’s edition, the new work is a site-specific performance developed in dialogue with the festival’s spaces and context.

CUTE & AWKWARD is presented as the “twin sister” of Grudziński’s earlier work THREESOME, shown at Santarcangelo Festival in 2025. In this solo performed as a duet, the dance floor becomes a zone of magnetic drift. The choreography takes the form of a contemporary polonaise, reinterpreting Poland’ national dance tradition.

At Santarcangelo Festival, Ewa Dziarnowska will present Like It Is (work in progress), the first stage of a new project whose full premiere is scheduled for 2027. The presentation consists of three parts. Through gossip, prayer and confession, the work proposes three ways of reflecting on the organisation of time and the different dimensions of togetherness. Rather than constructing fixed or predetermined narratives, the performance focuses on creating “moments”, treating choreography as the unfolding of thought in real time.

Igor Shugaleev and Agnietė Lisičkinaitė will present their collaborative performance CLAP & SLAP, which explores the tensions that have emerged in Eastern Europe—particularly between Lithuania and Belarus—following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Historical, political, geographical and social perspectives intertwine with the artists’ own lived experiences. Shugaleev, actively involved in the Belarusian revolution of 2020, participated in the protests in Minsk and was later forced to leave his homeland. Lisičkinaitė took part in demonstrations outside the Belarusian Embassy in Vilnius and subsequently decided not to collaborate with Russian-speaking artists. Sharing the stage, they seek to create a dialogue between fear and the need for action, collective and individual responsibility, personal tragedy and geopolitical catastrophe.

The City as a Stage

For ten days, Santarcangelo di Romagna transforms into a true festival city. The programme features more than one hundred events created by 35 Italian and international companies and artistic collectives.

Performances, concerts and artistic interventions will take place throughout the city—in streets, squares, theatres, courtyards, post-industrial spaces and even hotel rooms. Together they create a continuous landscape of experiences in which audiences can move freely from morning until late at night.

Beyond Performance

The accompanying programme also includes music and club events.

Krzysztof Bagiński, a Polish sound artist known for his collaborations with Alex Baczyński-Jenkins and Ewa Dziarnowska, will present an original DJ set inspired by low frequencies and immersive, trance-like sonic experiences.

The KEM collective also returns to the festival with Dragana Bar—a queer club night creating space for emerging developments in sound art and performance while exploring the political potential of the dance floor.

Programme of Polish Artists

  • 3 July – DJ set by Krzysztof Bagiński

  • 3–5 July – BOW by Wojciech Grudziński

  • 4–5 July – CLAP & SLAP by Igor Shugaleev and Agnietė Lisičkinaitė

  • 7–12 July – Dragana Bar by the KEM collective

  • 10–12 July – CUTE & AWKWARD by Wojciech Grudziński

  • 11–12 July – Like It Is (work in progress) by Ewa Dziarnowska

The full festival programme is available at santarcangelofestival.com

Santarcangelo Festival

  • Location: Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy

  • Dates: 3–12 July 2026

  • Artistic Director: Tomasz Kireńczuk

  • Artists representing the Polish performing arts scene: Krzysztof Bagiński, Wojciech Grudziński, Igor Shugaleev, Agnietė Lisičkinaitė, Ewa Dziarnowska, KEM collective

  • Presented in cooperation with: Adam Mickiewicz Institute

  • More information: www.santarcangelofestival.com

Media Contact: 
Natalia Cierniak 
e-mail: [email protected] 
phone: 785 412 121     

The Adam Mickiewicz Institute (IAM) brings Polish culture to people around the world. Being a state institution, it creates lasting interest in Polish culture and art through strengthening the presence of Polish artists on the global stage. It initiates innovative projects, supports international cooperation and cultural exchange. It promotes the work of both established and promising artists, showing the diversity and richness of our culture. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is also responsible for the Culture.pl website, a comprehensive source of knowledge about Polish culture. More information: https://iam.pl/en.

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