Initially, the performance GRANICA. THE BORDER was intended to exist as a documentary about Antonina Romanova. However, the war stopped the performer at the front, so the artists looked for another way to give her voice. GRANICA. THE BORDER is a performance about the creation of a new, intimate language of the [Un]Present, it is a project that oscillates on the edge of performance with ritual and ceremony. It becomes a ‘rite of passage’ before our eyes. The event is part of the nationwide project Perform[ing] Poland.

The performance has been awarded Scotsman’s Fringe First 2024 prize and nominated for The Brighton Fringe Excellence Award at the 2024 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival.

Antonina Romanova is a Ukrainian performance artist, director, actress and LGBTQIA+ activist. Monika Wachowicz is an actress and educator. Since 2004 she has been associated with the A Part Theatre in Katowice. Since 2021, she has collaborated with Jarosław Fret, creator of the ZAR Theatre, in the creative tandem Studio Wachowicz/Fret. The Studio’s work is dedicated to the intertwining of theatre and performance art.