Arts&Ideas

Maciej Malenczuk is the reigning bad boy of Polish Rock. Krakow Post caught up with him before Homo Twist rocked Krakow's Market Square on June 5th...

Jamiroquai rocked the Wianki festival on the Wisla stage.

The Krakow Post talks to Irena Urbanska, grande dame of Poland's Klezmer scene

The Felix Mendelssohn Music Days took place for the third time in Krakow this May, this year in the Centre for Jewish Culture on Meiselsa Street. While highlighting the works of German-Jewish composer Mendelssohn-Bartoldy, the festival also included works by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven and a handful of other great composers, primarily of the Romantic period. Performing the pieces were a vast array of musicians from all over the world: Germany, Poland, the US, Italy, France, Slovenia, Russia, Slovakia, Austria, Canada, and Spain.

A 13th century enamel cross, seized by the Nazis during the war, has been returned to Poland after a 60 year blip and is already on display at Krakow's Czartoryski Museum.

In the light of this month's celebration of Poland's Constitution of the 3rd of May 1791, it seems appropriate to cast the spotlight on one of the country's greatest visionaries and reformers, and all-around enlightened figure, Count Jan Nepomucen Potocki.

Krakow may boast museums on subjects as esoteric as the history of the pharmacy, but one or two big themes have yet to be tried. Chief among them is the red bear of Communism. The marks of the Cold War era are everywhere to be seen, but the period remains undocumented beyond the worlds of literature and film.

I was struck by John Marshall's "An Immigrant's Thoughts on Returning to Krakow" which appeared in The Krakow Post two weeks ago. Mr. Marshall is a staff writer for The Krakow Post and Mr. Marshall, as my advanced English students so aptly stated, is a lost man.

In the crisp winter morning, I warm up for my morning jog. It's a short jog: I'm 40 years old and out of condition. But the sun's shining and I'm feeling good, so off we go!

In the Chinese horoscope the rat is a symbol of wealth, charm and order, yet also associated with death and pestilence. Nevertheless, in China, the rat is respected and considered as a courageous and enterprising being.