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Behind, beyond, on the other hand

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Alice Burek

"Multi-kulti not pass. Freedom and cultural identity, instead of dumping "- the text appears on wlepkach that some time occur en masse in the Lublin area of \u200b\u200bthe city. Damn it gets me that in a city that strives to be European Capital of Culture on almost every street of the downtown, you may experience with this type of "friendly" wlepką.

On the other hand, which is quite a paradox, these stickers are sort of shock therapy that generated positive results - in fact realize that the devil does not sleep and that it was naive to believe that the Poles are a nation increasingly open, valuing the democracy (that which respects minority ), equality (regardless of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or religion), and multiculturalism. As you can see but there are still acts of intolerance and hate speech is present, although sometimes they are called by name - from playground as an example of the Lublin can be used casus Director of the Centre Gate Theatre Grodzka NN (center deals with, among others. dossier memory of the Jewish inhabitants of Lublin) Pietrasiewicz Thomas, who knocked in the flat glass bricks with swastikas drawn by him, the prosecutor did not qualify an act as anti-Semitic [1] .

can not bury their heads in the sand and pretend that anti-Semitism or homophobia is a marginal phenomenon - in fact because although those attitudes are not universal, it does occur. And that ignorance and turning a blind eye to the evil that is happening under our noses is at least inappropriate, This and the next move wlepek mentioned at the beginning (apparently harmless - because it does not hurt anyone physically, but propagate after entering into certain views, therefore, can trigger aggression against certain social groups), and ignoring them is the fault.
And here in this moment I hear a great outcry is raised, and I get in my own snare. Why? Because - as we are used to speak - the point of view depends on the point of the seat. What's the simplest terms, means that the definition of evil depends on which side of the barricades we are.

And it is about this barricade - In my opinion - it's originators festival Transeuropa "that we hosted recently in Lublin. This closes the barricade because the way to the Other. It is important to realize that these barricades is a whole plethora. And so I live in the worlds of their closed-minded on the contrary, unlike the living, on the Other ...

There is an art of structural distortion of these barricades - then I suppose they are all attempts to convert "erring" on the only correct course of thinking and perception of reality. The trick is, however wzbicie over the barricades, broadening one's perspective and realize that for each of these barricades stand too-people. From Lat. "Trans-" means "for, apart from the other side." "Trans-" is thus a sort of incentive to cross or crossing - crossing their prejudices, their own mental barriers, to open up to difference and diversity.

The "Transeuropy" held several meetings, exhibitions and workshops. May 10 in Lublin Zacheta as one of the points of the festival took place performance "Curves" Simon Pietrasiewicz. "Bends" should be addressed if only because, as we read on the website of the gallery said: "The [the performance Pietrasiewicz] takes up questions of consciousness and national symbolism, but it is primarily a self-commentary for the entire festival and stimulation to ask questions about contemporary social condition." Art share is to himself that it is ephemeral and disposable. Deliberately gave up shooting events, so to get back to him only through his own memory. I decided that, I'll do a little experiment, and this time I will not go into it what the artist wanted to say, but what I am-as-the address of the heard and remembered. It turned out that after these few days have passed since the performance echoes in my mind one word - "boundary".

performance itself lasted a few a dozen minutes. Anyone who decided to go to the gallery, just after crossing the threshold were asked to wash their hands - an artist with one hand dozował liquid soap on the other hand, was suspended two towels, white and red. Right next to the basin with water has, which landed in the hands of participants in advance soapy action. At the bottom of the pelvis shattered mirror pieces floated. After this ritual cleansing, the artist took the pelvis and left her outside the gallery. And behind us. From the water - much longer then expanded - he took out pieces of mirror, then leaned over the pelvis and namoczył head. On the pavement under the incentive was great inscription of the water in which obmywaliśmy hands: "Who is it?" - In the role of the pen occurred soaked hair artist. The inscription was combined with the white line facing a wall a few feet away.

Collision "face to face with a sheet of water is in some sense a collision with his own identity (or maybe just its image, a vision?). Provokes reflection of one's own body to ask the questions: "Who am I?", "Who do I have?". Initially, the washing of hands was symbolic for me to deny their own identity, or rather it is put to doubt. Then this thought has evolved in a different direction, which in a moment. Immersion of hands in the water associated with one hand as an act of purification, allowing access to the new experience. Water from each new person is more and more "tainted" and less and less clear - losing their own identity. On the other hand act of washing can be read quite the opposite - putting your hands into a basin of water and pieces of broken mirror is reaching out to its own identity. It is the touch of your own reflection. Appearing on the surface of the water, but this pokawałkowanego, lying on the bottom of the pelvis.

Lessons from the water cuts a mirror placed next to allow the pelvis to confront the two images, two identities - This seemingly coherent (surface of water reflects the image of the beholder / looking at him, but the picture is disturbed foam), and a second identity, which is broken, uncertain, fragmented - although it sounds paradoxical because the identity of the definition is consistent, uniform. The inscription on the sidewalk for me is the question of collective identity - was the murky water, so it is a result of the individual identity of all participants in the artistic action Pietrasiewicz. The answer to the question posed by the artist: "Who?" Could be a statement that this is a population of fuzzy identity, focused on the multiplicity and diversity. At this point we can go back to the towels that its colors clearly refer to the Polish national identity. The question of collective identity is thus also (and perhaps above all) the question of Polish identity. In the context of the events posmoleńskich, when we were (and indeed still are) seen issuing licenses for Polish identity, the above issue seems to be particularly important.

question of identity must also raise the question of otherness, because someone who is not the same as "I" or "we" inevitably is perceived as Other. Another and can easily be excluded, marginalized, regarded as a stranger, and even an intruder. The whole performance is closed to me in three words: "For, in addition, on the other side" - the translation of the prefix "trans-". Making this action seems to me to be incitement to cross barriers that rise between us and the other and open up to what is "behind, beyond, on the other side." The central concept around which was built Pietrasiewicz narrative shares a "boundary". The first was a threshold of foreign galleries. After it crossed the participants in gaining the iden-identity, all have found themselves on one side - inside the gallery. So she was the limit of integration and tożsamościowotwórczą. The second was a white line border drawn by the artist. As the participants in events scattered wanting to have the best overview of what does Pietrasiewicz, the white line that appeared on the concrete floor divided into two groups gathered. Moving from one page to another, it was not in any way difficult. And the third limit - for me the most important - it's wall. The wall limits the field of view - what is behind it is not visible. If we do not know what lurks behind this wall is the easiest way to go, or that the wall has nothing to do, or assume that if the wall is (and it's so powerful), is probably what is behind it is a dangerous, bad, unworthy of attention . Wall raises for me, however, ambivalent feelings. May be not only an obstacle, but also a challenge. It can be seen as an incentive for this to climb up on it and see what is "behind, beyond, on the other side." And although the entrance to the wall takes some effort and there is a risk (after all, you can always fall off, or you can be disappointed that what is on the other side), it seems that the world surrounded by walls, Preaching to see everything behind them as threatening or evil, is not 'the best of możebnych worlds. "

While initiatives such as Transeuropa festival, part of which was described - very subjective - performance, tend to be heavily criticized by some circles (which can be observed mainly on web forums), it is a game worth candles, because such projects: one, that remind us how much more of the walls and barricades between us and two, they show that with a little good will can over these barriers to come up and see the crowds unfairly excluded from public discourse - which allows to hope that over time will diminish the ranks of marginalized groups, and the public sphere will become more democratized.


[1] See . K. Damask, crimes anti-Semitic. Our attorney knows better , PP, Reszka, K. Damask, attacked with bricks with a swastika. It's not anti-Semitism? , worth at this point to add that in the case of Article. 196 of the Penal Code relating to defamation of religions ("Whoever intentionally offend religious feelings of other people by insulting a public place for the pursuit of religious rites, or located in this place of worship religious object, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment up to 6 months) interpretation of the provision is sometimes much more relaxed than in the case of Article. 119 of the Penal Code as saying that "Whoever uses violence or makes unlawful threat towards a group of persons or particular persons because of their national, ethnic, racial, political, religious or because of their religious beliefs, is punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 5 years. " See. among others. casus artist Dorota Nieznalska .

photo courtesy of Simon Pietrasiewicz