‘Epitaphium/Epitaph’ by Zuzanna Ginczanka
Epitaph was a performance piece that utilized sound and ritual to collectively honor the Polish Jewish poet Zuzanna Ginczanka through the practice of anninut; the period of mourning between death and burial that precedes sitting shiva in Jewish tradition. It is presumed that in 1944, Ginczanka was shot and killed at the Nazi Concentration Camp in Krakow-Plaszow, which served as the site of this performance for the 2025 FestivAlt festival.
This piece was a humble tribute to a powerful poet whose words, 80 years after they were written, still resonate, and who was more than likely never given the chance to properly be mourned.
Epitaph, live performance at the former Nazi Labor and Concentration Camp KL-Plaszow, Poland, 2025 (photo credit Vira Kosina-Polanska)
The process of developing the project was supported and consulted by the following people: Marcio Rivera, Agata Araszkiewicz, Zuzanna Hertzberg, Artur Wabik, Meital Yaniv, Patty Chang and Kim Zumpfe.
