Tadeusz Kantor.

From the beginning, my
c r e d o  was that art has never been and can never be a
representation of,
or a mirror held up to the reality of
life.
This primitive need
was upheld only by the dogmas of naturalism
and materialism.
Art is
an answer
to reality.
This imperative need to
provide an answer is probably
the very essence of the creative process.
The more tragic this reality is,
the stronger the “inner” dictate to
provide an answer,
to create
a “different” reality which is
f r e e, autonomous,
able to win a moral victory over
the other one,
and bring
spiritual dignity back into our time. …

As I have already stated,
the Other [reality] was not and was not supposed to be
a representation or
a reflection of reality.
Nor was it
a narrative or document
whose function would be to brand,
to indict and
call for questioning before the jury
and history.
This method of
putting together a performance,
which is used so frequently today
where there is unlimited freedom of speech,
was  a l i e n  to me.
I wanted something more.
I wanted to reach “deeper.” …

I want to state openly that
this need to create theatre
and visual arts,
which would be d i f f e r e n t
from the reality of political terror and
of police vigilance,
was grounded neither in a moral obligation
to create
a R e s i s t a n c e  M o v e m e n t,
nor in feelings of p a t r i o t i s m,
nor in the h e r o i s m of the underground movement.
I do believe that this process of
creating a d i f f e r e n  t,
o t h e r
reality, whose freedom is not
bound by the laws of any system of life,
or the act itself, which is like a Demiurge’s act
or a dream,
is the aim of art.
I keep stubbornly repeating this thought,
because I am suspicious that,
in the epoch of “the Spring of the Masses,”
and of the fight for political and economic freedom,
this notion of
the highest freedom
which is demanded
by art
will not be understood,
or even deemed necessary. …
Freedom in art
is a gift neither from
the politicians
nor the authorities.
Freedom is not bestowed
upon art by the authorities.
Freedom exists inside of us.
We have to fight for freedom
within ourselves,
in our most intimate interior,
in our solitude,
in our suffering.
It is the most delicate domain,
the domain of the soul and spirit.

Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990)
“From the Beginning My Credo Was …” (1990)
In Further On, Nothing: Tadeusz Kantor’s Theatre
Edited by Michal Kobialka
University of Minnesota Press, 2009

More information about Kantor and his work can be found at the Web site for Cricoteka, the theatre company Kantor founded in 1980 and which now serves as a center for the documentation of his theatre.