Sonic Toasts | Sonics & Scenics

A celebration of the launch of the festival with a special preview of the very first film in the commissioned series Pamięć oddechu / Breath Memory by Mairéad McClean,  drawing on the silent footage from the Polish Archive of Home Films, followed by live music performances by Antonina Nowacka, with an ensemble, and Barbara Kinga Majewska.

18:00–18:45, Auditorium: Welcome to Sonics & Scenics, followed by a toast at the Bar

19:00–19:15, Cinema: special preview of a new film  Wesele / A Wedding by Mairéad McClean, commissioned for the festival

19:30–20:00, Cinema: live music performance Sylphine Soporifera by Antonina Nowacka (voice and zither), with Anna Pašić (flute), Magdalena Gajdzica (harp), accompanied by visuals by Weronika Izdebska

20:15– 21:15, Cinema: special preview of an audio-visual essay Organa Organicum by Barbara Kinga Majewska, Michał Libera and Łukasz Sosiński, followed by a live music performance Mid Life Pop by Barbara Kinga Majewska (voice)

Barbara Kinga Majewska is a classically trained musician, composer, and creator of sound installations, specialising in contemporary vocal music. Across live performance, composition and studio experimentation,Majewska explores the intersections of voice, sound, and text, testing the boundaries of communication and expression. Her practice focuses on the non-musical contexts of singing and plays with the cultural constructs surrounding the act of signing. Her works have been presented at national and international institutions including: the National Museum in Warsaw; Zachęta National Gallery, Warsaw; Museum der Moderne Salzburg; Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kunsthaus Graz; House of Contemporary Culture Marres; and Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, among others. She is a regular guest at festivals such as Donaueschinger Musiktage, Warsaw Autumn, Unsound, Sacrum Profanum, and Malta Festival.

Mairéad McClean is a UK-based Irish visual artist with a career of over thirty years. Her practice includes film, photography, drawing, and installation, through which she explores how individuals navigate systems of control, how we remember, and how perception is shaped by the language of filmmaking. She frequently incorporates found footage, historical and family archives, filmed performances, and televisual material into her films and installations. In 2021–22, she was the Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence at the Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin. In 2014, she won the inaugural MAC International Art Prize. Her works have been acquired by major public collections including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Arts Council of Ireland, and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.