Thawing Borders

At first glance we seem completely different: we live in the heart of the continent, they in the middle of the ocean. We have no northern lights and they are blissfully free of mosquitoes. Yet Poles and Icelanders have things in common: their favourite chocolate bar is our very own Prince Polo, while we adore their music. Wiktoria Joanna Ginter has taken it on herself to strengthen the bonds between the two nations. The Polish resident of Iceland founded the travelling music festival Iceland to Poland in 2016, which has visited several Polish cities since. This year’s festival, focusing on electronic music, comes to Kraków for the first time. On 21 August, Studio resounds with captivating soundscapes by the enigmatic trio aYia, dazzling electropop by FM Belfast, solo compositions by President Bongo (formerly of GusGus), and avant-garde tracks by Högni, frontman of the indie-rock formation Hjaltalín. The festival also features a performance by a Polish ensemble selected through a competition. (Bartosz Suchecki, ”Karnet”)