Festivals
in Zakopane

'Everything in the world changes, but nothing will change with the power of roots' – these were the words to open the „Power of Roots' concert. The opening music was performed by Krzysztof Gocał who played the traditional Koza bagpipes. The hosts this evening were Katarzyna Stachoń-

Groblowy and Marcin Zubek. During the concert, the names of the Power of Roots Award winners were to be announced.

The name of the award was inspired by the roots of the Swiss pine tree. The tree that can develop even in the most inconvenient conditions. The roots of Swiss pine trees can reach down in between the rocks and into the deepest gaps in order to draw the necessary strength to grow.

And just like Swiss pine trees, there are people in the region of Podhale who protect and maintain the Tatra tradition and culture. The Power of Roots Award is meant to appreciate and honor such people.

Before this year's winners appeared on the stage, Krzysztof Gocał took the floor. He is the author of the 'Highlanders' Music' books and was also the co-creator of last year's first edition of the 'Power of Roots' concert. Mr.Gocał expressed his gratitude towards the Mayor and Deputy Mayors for the support in the process of promoting the traditional highlander music.

-As long as there is a Swiss pine tree in the Tatras, there will always be the highlanders under the Tatras (…). And the power of roots will always prevail! - the award ceremony started with these words. The award committee together with the city officials took the stage in order to hand the prizes over to the winners. Among the officials were - The Mayor of the City Leszek Dorula, Deputy Mayor of the City of Zakopane Agnieszka Nowak-Gąsienica, Head of the Department of Culture Joanna Staszak and the Chairwoman of the Culture Committee Lucyna Galica Jurecka.

Souvenir diplomas given to the winners were painted by Marta Walczak-Stasiowska, a folk artist

from Zakopane, and the regional ornamented cufflinks were made by Janusz Konieczny from Bukowina Tatrzańska. By the decision of the committee of the 'Power of Roots' award – the awards were given in two categories. The award committee members are: chairman Marek-Król Józaga - Director of the Antoni Kenar Art School in Zakpane; Secretary Joanna Staszak - Head of the Department of Culture; Anna Wende - Surmiak - Director of the Tytus Chałubiński Tatra Mountains Museum; Zofia Kubiniec-Stanuch - Head of the Klimek Bachleda Group; Helena Buńda - Director of the Tatra Development, Promotion and Culture Agency in Zakopane; Marcin Zubek - President of the Podhale Association - Zakopane Branch.

In the category of the people with outstanding achievements in spreading the regional culture, for their special care for the intangible and material cultural heritage of the region of the Tatra Mountains passed on to the future generations, the 'Power of the Roots' award was given to Zofia Roj-Mrozicka. On behalf of the laureate, the award was received by her son – Mr. Bartłomiej Mrozicki.

Laudation for Zofia Roj-Mrozicka

Born in a highlander family, like every little girl, she helped at home but since early childhood she would write down her thoughts. Her decision to write poetry in the language of her grandparents – the dialect of the Rocky Podhale region came early when she was only 14. It was during the period of preparations for the poetry competition. She has been faithful to the idea up to this day. All her poetry is writen with passion and gratitude to her ancestors for teaching her to love God and her native land. She describes her life, the life of her loved ones, friends, music and highlander dialect, things the highlanders value most – their faith in God and the importance of remorse. She is inspired by the situations happening around her. By describing the people she knew, with whom she played and raised, or worked, she wants to keep them for the next generations. In difficult times she turns to God for help. As she noticed, prayer is always arranged in a verse. Her greatest love is the Tatra Mountains. When in the mountains she feels happy and this feeling is transferred to paper using the highlander dialect. The first poem she published appeared in the regional section of the Dziennik Polski Daily on December 19, 1967. She received the invitation to join the Literary Club from Tadeusz Staich. She attended his lectures but often expressed her own opinions on the dialect and Podhale. She was friends with wonderful people - Tadeusz Gąsienica Giewont, Mieczysław Biernacik, Stanisław Nędza Kubiniec, Hanka Nowobilska, and Stanisława Gąsienica Byrcyn. They encouraged her to send her art to the Association of Folk Artists in Lublin. After doing so she was accepted as a member of the organization. She is a laureate of many poetry competitions, including the Tadeusz Staich Literary competition for a mountains related poem, Religious Poetry Competition in Ludźmierz, the Jan Pock National Literary Competition in Lublin, the On the Trails of the Highlanders Competition in Poronin, the International Poetry Competition and literary "For authentic faith and For the human heart" in Mszana Dolna, Papal Festival in Biały Dunajec. She has published 15 books with her work, mainly poetry, but also with stories. She has tried to pass her artistic abilities and her love for the native land onto her children and grandchildren.

In the category of the people who are at the beginning of their artistic path and have aimed to spread the regional culture, for their special care for the intangible and material cultural heritage of the Tatra Mountains region, the 'Power of Roots' award went to Mrs. Anna Wójciak.

Laudation for Anna Wójciak

She wrote her first song at the age of 8 after the ceremony remembering her deceased Grandmother. The highlander dialect of the lyrics was her natural choice. Her skills first manifested as a reaction to this difficult life event. At school she created funny nursery rhymes, songs and scenarios to school performances. She sang and danced in the 'Giewont' parish regional group, she joined the 'Jubilate Deo' choir in Olcza, she played an important role in the 'Akord' school band . One of her biggest initital successes was the victory in the 'Let's Remember Osiecka' Festival in 2008. She won the 3rd prize for singing a song by the famous poet but with her own translation into the highlander dialect. Since then, as an author of songs and a singer she has performed under the pseudonym Hanka Wójciak. In 2010 she won the prize at the 46th Student Song Festival in Krakow and that date is considered to be the beginning of the activity of the Hanka Wójciak Band which she created together with five talented musicians. She draws inspiration for her lyrics from the surrounding world: from meeting people, from feelings and the emotional states she experiences when close to nature. As she put it - sometimes she feels as if the writing is coming from outside. She trusts her intuition. Therefore, in the written texts, she often discovers the truth that she hadn't noticed before. She is a graduate of the W. Żeleński Secondary Music School in Kraków – she attended the classical singing class by Jacek Ozimkowski and the Song Interpretation class by Andrzej Zarycki. She took part in experimental singing workshops - throat-singing and intuitive singing. Hanka Wójciak's songs were released on two albums: 'Znachorka' and 'Zasłona'. The band is planning to release their third album. The author's lyrics describe the contemporary world, but the archaisms they contain and all the words taken from the highlander dialect make them sound like fairy tales and folk songs. Anna's poems were published in the cultural and literary quarterly LiryDram, Krakow monthly and SMS quarterly. In addition to winning the 46th Student Song Festival, Anna is the laureate of the 2nd Korowód Festival of Creativity. She also won the Audience Awards at the Rock & Chanson Festival in Cologne. She was a vocal guest star on the albums of such artists like Jarek Śmietana, Anna Treter, Michał Łanuszka, Naked Mind band. Hanka recorded vocals for the

Romeo and Juliet (STU Theater in Krakow) and Brothers Karamazow (Stefan Jaracz Theater in Łódź). She is also an excellent actress. Her acting talent brought first attention in 2011 when she acted as the Bride in a radio play directed by Andrzej Seweryn. Three years later she played the Babia Góra in the 'Lame Relative' - a story about the life of Karol Wójciak Heródek – a sculptor from Lipnica Wielka. For several years, she has also been cooperating with the Artchata creative house, co-creating concerts and musical performances. She conducts 'To a Highlander Note' workshops where she presents the intangible heritage of the region of her birth in the 'Sounds of the Old songs' and 'Meeting'. You can also watch her on TV as she is an excellent host of the 'Pod Tatrami ... Zakopane ... Zakopane ...' TV show produced by the City of Zakopane and TVP Kraków. On the radio, her 'Evening at Hanka Wójciak's' show is broadcast by Radio Kraków. She is a proud mother of her 3 month-old daughter Michalinka.

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- Each of us has roots, each of us has the strength that binds us to the land, the family and faith in our ability to sustain. Each of us is very emotional when he returns to the roots - to his place, where he was born and raised. I hope there are no people who do not feel so attached (...). We have a lot of gratitude to all those who care for, maintain and commemorate our culture, tradition and history by the means of their talent. I would like to thank the laureates awarded today - Zofia Roj-Mrozicka and Anna Wójciak – concluded Mayor of Zakopane Mr.Leszek Dorula. After the official awards ceremony, the musicians took the stage. The Power of Roots' concert is also an opportunity to present the projects of exceptional people from the region of Podhale who put special care to the local culture heritage. Today it was the pleasure to see Jakub Hubicki from Poronin. He performed the 'Maricka Dream' concert on the stage together with his friends from the Vechi Acum band – a band that consists of young people from various ethnic regions of Poland - Spisz, Podhale, the Żywiec region and Tarnów. Next to appear in front of the audience were the 'Białodunajcanie' group from Poland as well as the bands from Romania, Slovakia and Macedonia. All shows referred to the main theme of the concert – the dissappointing love. The concert was also the moment of the official premiere of the Vachi Acum's first album 'Sen Mari čky'.

In the audience during the 'Power of Roots' concert, we could see the following city officials: Mayor of Zakopane – Mr.Leszek Dorula, Deputy Mayor of the City of Zakopane – Mrs. Agnieszka Nowak-Gąsienica, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Rural Culture and Heritage Mrs.Monika Garnek-Owczarczyk, Chairman of the Zakopane City Council - Mr.Jan Gluc, Chairwoman of the Culture Committee – Mrs.Lucyna Galica-Jurecka, Chairwoman of the Education Committee Mrs.Maria Łukaszczyk, Artistic Director of the 53rd Internationa Festival of Highland Folklore – Mrs.Hanka Rybka and Head of the Culture Department – Mrs.Joanna Staszak.

The organizers of the event are the City of Zakopane, Zakopane Cultural Center

The event was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund - a state special-purpose fund

Main Partner – Małopolska

Festival Partners -PGNiG, LOTTO Brand

The partner of the event is the National Institute of Rural Culture and Heritage, Polskie Tatry Inc., the Association of Highlanders - Zakopane Branch, the Dr.Tytus Chałubiński Tatra Mountains Museum.

The event is under the honorary patronage of the National Center for Culture

The event is under the Scientific Patronage of the Jagiellonian University and the Pontifical University of John Paul II.

Media Patrons: POLSKIE RADIO PROGRAM PIERWSZY, RADIOWE CENTRUM KULTURY RODZIMEJ, TVP, TVP 3 , TVP KOBIETA, TVP KULTURA, TVP3 KRAKÓW, TVP 3 KATOWICE, Radio Kraków, Radio Dla Ciebie, Polska Press Grupa
Gazeta Krakowska, Dziennik Polski, Kwartalnik TATRY, Elity, Gość Niedzielny, Tygodnik Niedziela, Pismo Folkowe, Folk 24, Kultura Ludowa, Tygodnik Podhalański, 24tp, Góral Info
Kultura Podhala, Małopolska Online, Nowy Targ 24, Serwis Informacyjny Watra, Podhale24, TV Podhale, Zakopiec Info

Special thanks to: Społem Zakopane, Gama Zakopane, Top Brand