O dwóch takich, co ukradli. Rewindykacje Kantora a „teatr ubogi” i arte povera ………. 221

ABOUT TWO MEN WHO STOLE: KANTOR’S RECLAMATIONS, “POOR THEATER,” AND ARTE POVERA

This article analyzes two claims by Tadeusz Kantor regarding his priority in formulating the concept of “poor” art: his accusations of plagiarism against Jerzy Grotowski (“poor theater”) and Italian artists associated with the Arte Povera movement (Germano Celant and others). It presents the similarities between Kantor’s “poor” object, of “the lowest rank,” and the materials used by Italian artists on the one hand, and by Józef Szajna (the creator of props and costumes for Akropolis at the Laboratory Theatre) on the other. The essay also highlights the fundamental differences between Grotowski’s program, which drew on Christian mysticism, and Italian Arte Povera, which adopted his slogan but used it in its guerrilla struggle (guerriglia) against the art dominant within the socio-economic system. Kantor’s claims ultimately lead to the revelation of three paradoxes: although his theater likely anticipated the postulates and achievements of arte povera, it cannot be considered pioneering because it was unknown to the Italian artists; Grotowski, whose slogan was adopted by them, gave it a different meaning and was misrepresented by them; Szajna, whose costumes and props inspired Ludwik Flaszen, the literary director of the Laboratory Theater, to coin the term “theater of the poor,” was no less kindred in spirit to the participants of the Arte Povera movement than Kantor, yet he remained just as unknown to them – except that he did not engage in any form of reclamation. In connection with the concept of “means of the poor,” the article recalls the ideas of Jacques Maritain and the Polish discussions on the subject (Stefan Swieżawski in “Tygodnik Powszechny” vs. Józef Marian Święcicki in “Homo Dei,” and years later, Czesław Miłosz’s “A Theocratic State?”). As an appendix – in connection with Jan Kott’s mistake regarding the origins of Raïssa Maritain – the article recalls her biography and that of Sabina Spielrein: the saint and martyr from Rostov-on-Don.