„Arka Agathe” – Project of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Maritime Station opening.  

Arka Agathe is a series of performative, workshop, educational, integration, theatrical and musical activities as well as interventions in urban space. The final theatrical and musical performance will add splendor to the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Gdynia Maritime Station.

Artists from Germany (Stefanie Oberhoff, Anne Brüssau, Johannes Werner), Australia (Andy Freer), Congo (Christian Kipoke) and Poland (Patryk Pufelski) as well as an international team of volunteers have been invited to participate in the project. They will be directly involved in cooperation with the residents of Gdynia, with particular emphasis on immigrant and refugee communities.

Agathe’s story

Agathe’s Ark is a story about a Black girl from Congo who, after a long wandering across many seas and continents, arrives at the port of Gdynia on her ship-ark. She is accompanied by lost animals, deprived of their own place on earth, which for various reasons had to leave their homes:

• doves of peace who failed to achieve their mission,
• blue crabs kidnapped by ships,
• the hippopotamus of Kinshasa that does not respect human boundaries,
• a mouse who joined Agathe in one of the European ports,
• various species of the strangest lizards and many, many more.

In Gdynia, together with Agathe, they will try to build their lives anew. They will get to know the city and its people, look for a good place for themselves, build their everyday life, and their home. Will everyone make it? Will they stay here longer, maybe forever, or will they move on? Will they be met with openness and care? Will they feel safe here?

A continuation of this story will be created in Gdynia with the participation of residents, especially those who have similar migration experiences. The main tool for telling it will be a theater of large-format puppets in public space.

Stages of the „Agathe’s Ark” project:

All events are open for the public and participation is free!

1/ Workshops on creating large-format puppets, costumes and scenography elements, preparation of performative and theatrical activities in urban space.

22/11 – 02/12/2023 (building of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, ul. Polska 1)

The workshops will include international participation and an intergenerational team of volunteers from the Emigration Museum and the Solidarity Corps coordinated by the Youth Cooperation Center in Gdynia. The project will be supported by Polish, Ukrainian and Belarusian students of the A. Zelwerowicz Warsaw Theater Academy (Białystok branch).

Gdynia residents of all age groups will also take part in the workshops, especially people with immigrant and refugee experience. No previous know-how will be required of the participants.

The practical element will be collecting stories and experiences of those who live in Gdynia as well as those who returned to the city from emigration. The collected stories will serve as an inspiration to create a scenario for the final activity, i.e. the performance that will end the project.

2/ Urban performance and Agathe’s diary on Facebook and Instagram @MuzeumEmigracji

3/12-7/12/2023 (Tricity space and social media)

The ready-made puppet characters created during the workshops will go out into public spaces to interact with the residents of Gdynia. These activities can take a very diverse form: from a visit to the railway station and taking a local train, through conducting workshops for children in one of the community centers, an interview on Radio Gdańsk, to walks to places eagerly visited by residents.

3/ Final theater and music performance at the Emigration Museum in Gdynia with the participation of artists and workshop participants, open to the public as a part of the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Gdynia Maritime Station

9/12/2023 (6:00 p.m., building of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, ul. Polska 1)

The finale of the project is a theater and music performance involving all invited artists, workshop participants, immigrants (including children and teenagers) and local musicians. It will take place in the Maritime Station building and in its immediate vicinity (depending on weather conditions). The area of the Station celebrating its symbolic „birthday”, with its extremely interesting history and architecture will be an important inspiration for the creators and an equal „actor” of the show.

Partners:

KITEV (Kultur im Turm e.V.), Oberhausen, Germany

Gdynia Community Centre

Youth Cooperation Center

Port of Gdynia

Social Innovation Laboratory

FairPlay TOWAGE Polska

Exchanger

Financial assistance:

Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation

Media Partners:

Radio Gdańsk

Trojmiasto.pl

SZUM Magazine

Prestige Magazine