On 26 January 2021, for the 28th time, Polityka magazine awarded outstanding artists with their coveted ‘Passports’—one of the most important cultural awards in Poland. Seven winners were selected from among 21 nominations. This year the jury also presented an additional award in a new ‘remote culture’ category.

The awards are presented in seven categories: film, literature, theatre, visual arts, classical music, popular music, and digital culture. Since 2002, the “creator of culture” Passport award has also been presented for special achievements in promoting culture. During the ceremony broadcast by TVN, the winners received PLN 20,000, and the nominees – PLN 15,000. 

In the ‘classical music’ category, Ania Karpowicz was awarded the Passport, for “consistency and effectiveness in promoting forgotten 20th-century music and contemporary music, including the work of young women composers. For creating the Hashtag Ensemble and the WarszeMuzik festival, which have already become part of our musical landscape.” This year’s ‘classical music’ nominees also included Krystian Lada and Martyna Pastuszka.

Flutist Ania Karpowicz (b. 1983), prizewinner of national and international music competitions, studied in Łódź and Detmold. In 2013 she established the Hashtag Ensemble cooperative, which performs contemporary music throughout Poland. She initiated a number of concerts and festivals, including WarszeMuzik—a series of musical interventions in the courtyards of the surviving tenement houses of the Warsaw Ghetto, presenting chamber music composed by Jewish composers who used to live in Warsaw. As a soloist, she places particular emphasis on the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, and is also involved in the promotion of women’s creativity. 

This year’s Polityka ‘Passports’ in other categories were collected by: Piotr Domalewski (film), Justyna Sobczyk and Teatr 21 (theatre), Artur Liebhart – Millennium Dosc Against Gravity (remote culture), Mira Marcinów (literature), Małgorzata Mirga-Tas (visual arts), Duet Siksa (popular music), Studio Different Tales (digital culture), Bożena and Lech Janerka (ceator of culture).

Polityka’s Passport Gala 2020 is available to watch at: www.polityka.pl.

[Sources: polmic.pl, polityka.pl]