A delegation from the Barka Foundation met with Jack White, an American rock musician and creator of the band The White Stripes.

Jack White with Ewa Sadowska Barka UK CEO and Tomasz Sadowski from Barka Poland. Photo courtesy of Adrian Wykrota / www.adrianwykrota.com

On Friday, 4 July 2014, a delegation from the Barka Foundation for Mutual Help, Poland and Barka UK, Tomasz Sadowski, Adrian Wykrota and Ewa Sadowska met with Jack White, an American rock musician and creator of the band The White Stripes in the Grand Hotel in Sopot.

The meeting had as its purpose the promotion of the auction of the piano on which Jack White recorded his breakthrough album in London in 2003. The initiator and organiser of the auction is Barka’s friend Aleksandra Ciurlik, a graduate of SOAS University in London. Aleksandra, a long-time fan of Jack White’s music, was lucky to purchase the piano, which once belonged to Jack White.

The piano was brought over from Great Britain to Poland and will be sold as a part of a nationwide initiative organised with Polish Radio Three in September this year. Aleksandra has asked for all of the proceeds raised from this event to go towards Barka UK’s operations in London.

The atmosphere of the meeting was very friendly. The Barka delegation presented Barka’s activities in Poland and abroad. A short movie on Barka’s work was presented to Jack White. He accepted an invitation to visit the Barka Foundation in Wielkopolska, Poland during his next trip to Poland in autumn this year. Jack is planning to visit Cracow among other places (his mother is from Poland).

The venue – the hall in the Grand Hotel in Sopot – was prepared and decorated for the meeting (white and red chequered floor covering, special lighting).

During the meeting many photos were taken, including with a Polaroid camera (Jack’s favourite form of photography). The Polaroid photos together with a document certifying the previous possession of the piano by Jack White were all signed by Jack. In expression of gratitude, Jack White was given vinyl records of Polish band ‘Republika’ presented in an original hand-made suitcase.

Jack’s manager and photographer were also present during the meeting. After the meeting, Jack gave an interview to Radio Chanel Three, where he mentioned that he was greatly impressed by his meeting with Barka and its work, and that he was very happy about the planned auction of the piano and he hopes it will be a great success.

Following the meeting, Jack, as most-awaited artist of this year’s festival, gave an electrifying performance at the Open’er Festival 2014.

Barka Foundation would like to warmheartedly thank Aleksandra Ciurlik and her parents, Renata and Janusz Ciurlik, for their involvement in the logistics and organisation of this event. We would also like to thank Dorota Wiśniewska and the board of Sofitel Grand Hotel in Sopot for providing a venue and help in its preparation. Thank you to Adrian Wykrota, our befriended photographer for his participation in the event and amazing photographs.