About us

An independent center for the production and presentation of theatrical performances. Established in 2016 by members of the Grupa Coincidentia theater. Solniki 44 is a venue for international festivals (LasFest and LasKids), artistic workshops, laboratory activities and panel discussions. Solniki 44 is located in the Knyszynska Forest, in the area of the “green lungs of Poland” (near Bialystok city). The center has a professional theater stage with an intimate audience that can accommodate approximately one hundred spectators. The activities of Siedlisko to date have resulted in dozens of presentations of theatrical performances, including many world premieres, demonstrations of the effects of artistic and educational workshops, as well as work in progress presentations and panel discussions. Solniki 44 hosted viewers from Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, USA, France, Belarus, Great Britain, Belgium. The participants of events were: artists, producers, curators, festival organizers from Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Netherlands, Israel, Great Britain and the USA. The center has become a production site for an independent theater, a guest stage, and a space for organizing educational and pro-social projects (three editions of workshops for children and teenagers organized as part of the Theater Institute in Warsaw - Summer in the Theater program). In 2018, the center initiated the International Theater Festival in the Forest - LasFest, which included several dozen events (Polish and foreign performances, laboratory activities, concerts, student shows, conversations with artists, unconventional presentations combining art with nature). From 2020, Solniki 44 is also an organizer of the LasKids Festival, presenting the most interesting independent theater productions addressed to children and teenagers.

Dagmara Sowa

Actress, puppeteer, graduate of the Theater Academy, Department of Puppetry Art in Białystok. Co-founder and member of independent theater groups Akcja DZRT, Kompania Doomsday, Grupa Coincidentia. Sowa has presented her artistic achievements at numerous festivals in Poland and abroad. The performances co-created by Sowa awarded, among others, by The Bank of Scotland Herald Angel and the Total Theater Award at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. She was a two-time scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the Municipal Office in Białystok and the Marshal's Office of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Sowa has participated in several theatrical productions as a project coordinator and actress (the shows were presented at prestigious festivals and guest stages in Europe, Asia and North America), organizer of artistic, educational and pro-social projects (incl. a series of artistic workshops with children from orphanages in Supraśl and Krasne, workshops as part of the program - Summer in the Theater by Theater Institute in Warsaw). She was also a co-founder and coordinator of all thirteen editions of Białysztuk - the International Review of Theater Initiatives. Sowa is a co-founder and coordinator of the Siedlisko Kultury - Solniki 44 center, director of the LasFest and LasKids festivals.

Paweł Chomczyk

Actor, puppeteer, teacher, director, producer of performances. A graduate of Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theater Academy in Warsaw, the Faculty of Puppetry Art in Białystok and the University of Białystok, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology. Assistant professor at the Faculty of Instrumental and Pedagogy, Music Education and Vocal Studies at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Branch in Białystok. President of the board of the Fundacja Działań Kreatywnych Coincidentia and a member of the board of the Association for Artistic Promotion. Co-founder of the independent theaters Kompania Doomsday and Grupa Coincidentia as well as the Solniki 44 theater stage. Chomczyk has performed at theater festivals and on guest stages in Europe, North America and Asia. He is a laureate of many individual acting awards (including the Grand Prix of the Paderewski Festival in Buffalo USA, Grand Prix of the 4th International Kon-Teksty Festival in Poznań) and awards for performances that he co-created as a producer and actor (including The Bank of Scotland Herald Angel and Total Theater Award at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh). He was a scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. He collaborated as an actor and director with Drama Theater in Białystok, Białystok Puppet Theater, Baj Pomorski Theater in Toruń, Rampa Theater in Warsaw, Pinokio Theater in Łódź, Polish Radio Theater, "Kubuś" Theater in Kielce, Teatroteka, Ateneum Theater in Katowice and as an academic teacher with the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of Buffalo (USA) and the Department of Puppetry Art at the Theater Academy. As a member of the international Krabat Ensemble, he cooperates with the German theaters Lindenfels Westfluegel Leipzig and Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel. In his artistic output, apart from theatrical performances, he also has roles in radio plays and film productions. Chomczyk is an artistic director of LasFest and LasKids festivals.