Through the mediums of movement, image and sound, Zuza Kurko and Kuba Pawełczak question the mythical heritage of Artists they always hoped to follow and continue: the image of Artists existing as mediums between everyday life and the spiritual realm of expression.
This performance does not aim to resolve the tension around whether artists truly have access to some heightened experience of the world, but rather how our modern understanding of art shifts into a commercial and capitalist product. And when art ceases to be a consequence of calling and becomes one of many professional and social roles, what is it that we lose as a community when the artists are stripped of their symbolic and spiritual significance.
Zuza Kurko: Zuza Kurko (she/her) is a Polish movement artist, pedagogue and performer based in London. Having trained in acting and movement direction (RCSSD, 2026) she is engaging in work that searches for meaning through the abstract and subliminal forms. Her projects include Beach Babe (Edinburgh Fringe, 2024), Abberant Plexus (by Charlie Jimenez for the Metamorphika Studio, 2025) and movement work for Romeo and Juliet (RCSSD, 2026, directed by Fiona Munro). Outside of the theatre work, Zuza puts on her fencing mask and swings longsword in tournaments.
Kuba Pawelczak: Kuba Pawelczak (he/him) is a Polish movement director, butoh artist, and theatre maker based in London. Trained at the New Butoh School he works across various theatre forms, creating embodied languages that illuminate the emotional and psychological lives of characters. Alongside his collaborative practice, he creates and performs original butoh solos, including Hanaji, You’re Someone’s Son, and his most recent work, Study of the Numinous.
A-festival is an international theatre festival organised by Tartu Student Theatre, bringing together local and international theatre companies in Tartu from 8–11 October. This year's programme features Tartu Student Theatre's "Devil's Stories," London-based artists Zuza Kurko and Kuba Pawelczak's performance "Dead Truths," dance theatre GrAFiTi's performance "A Perfect Chaos," T-Theatre's "A Distant Light from Luyten," FinnBrit Players' "1984," and Jordi L. Vidal's movement piece "The Crossing." All performances and activities take place at Tartu Student House (Kalevi 24).
The festival is supported by: the City of Tartu, the University of Tartu, and the Estonian Cultural Endowment.
Tartu Üliõpilasmaja MTÜ • Kalevi tänav 24, 51010 Tartu, Tartu maakond, Estonia
