The term “play” can be understood in different ways. First, it can be a designer game/play with the audience. The visual language of Polish film, theatre, and exhibition posters, developed in the mid-1950s, free from literal representation, was full of visual metaphors. The designer invited the viewer to take part in decoding its secret meaning.
The “play” can also apply to theatrical plays. Polish post-war avant-garde theatre created by Tadeusz Kantor and Jerzy Grotowski, among others, took the form of a ritual play / meeting of the director, actors, and viewers, full of metaphorical meanings.

Can the historical experiences of an active poster designer (interpreting the content of the play) and theatre director (master of ceremonies, often present on the stage) be used in the contemporary language of visual communication?What is the significance of historical actions for today’s student – using advanced technologies, social messengers, bombarded with notifications, pictures, emoticons and memes?

To what extent can the author’s approach in visual communication be widely reused, and to what extent will it become only a collection of historical myths interested to an elite group of intellectuals?

The starting point was a performance by the New York theater
The Wooster Group “A Pink Chair,” based on texts by Polish artist Tadeusz Kantor, directed by Elizabeth LeCompte https://thewoostergroup.org/a-pink-chair . Working in groups, the students designed, by using visual metaphors, a series of dynamic posters to communicate on contemporary phenomena/issues. Works inspired by theatrical performance could be its interpretation or commentary.

The workshop tutors were Jacek Mrowczyk and Jakub Cikała from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Katowice. The workshop was co-tutored by Tarja Nieminen and Antti Hietaniemi from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture of Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, Aušra Lisauskienė  and Marius Žalneravičius from the Academy of Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania, Gina Poortman from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, and Rory Bradley from the IADT, the Dun Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology in Dublin, Ireland. The workshop was coordinated by Renata Lipczak from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Katowice. On 7 April 2022, the dynamic posters were presented by a student group consisting of workshop participants at Young Agrafa, a side event of AGRAFA, an international design conference, at Rondo Sztuki Gallery in Katowice. http://www.rondosztuki.pl/index.php. On 8 April 2022, the posters were on display at International Design Conference AGRAFA. https://agrafa.asp.katowice.pl/en/