Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990) One of the most recognizable Polish theatre authors and artists in the world. Painter, stage designer, director, actor, animator of happenings, poet, art theoretician. Precursor of Polish avant-garde. Founder of contemporary Polish theatre, which transformed excessively with the author from “informel” theatre to “zero” theatre and so called “theatre of death” in The Dead Class. Painting and theatre were intertwined throughout Kantor’s life and remained interchangeable until the end.

Among his many exhibitions, special importance should be given to shows in the following: Galerie de L’Université A.G (Paris 1966), Demarco Gallery (Edinburgh 1972), Whitechapel Art Gallery, Main&small galleries (London 1976), Centre d’Arts Contemporains (Orlean 1990), Sezon Museum of Art (Tokyo 1994), Itami City Museum of Art (Hyogo 1995), The Czech Museum of Fine Arts, (Prague 2003), as well as numerous attempts at reinterpreting this oeuvre within the framework of “Festival Krakow 2000 – European City of Culture” and the show “Tadeusz Kantor. The Interior of Imagination” (“Zachęta” Warsaw, “Cricoteka” Krakow 2005).

Tadeusz Kantor’s works can be found in many state and private collections. The most important among them is the “Cricoteka” Center for Documenting Tadeusz Kantor’s Art in Krakow, established in 1980. It is an archive, gallery, research institution, and a “museum”.