The Konsofa Creators
This is Wojtek and Kathi. They met on the Erasmus programme when Kathi pointed out "The first Spanish guy we've seen" on the flight to Bilbao. It turned out he was Polish. Austrian artist Kathi (www.kathilackner.net) lives in Warsaw with Wojtek and is exhibiting work in Austria, Prague and Portugal this year. I was privileged to spend a night sleeping with her drawings; her work is beautiful, not simply exotic or interesting but delicate, intricate and somehow calming.
Ten years ago,Wojtek came to spend the summer in England. He spent his first week sleeping in a local park, sometimes camping, sometimes sleeping under the stars. On his seventh night, a man on horseback woke him, quickly followed by several security guards, to inform him that he had been illegally camping in Kew Gardens. Brilliant. He then moved to Dorset and worked the summer out at a fish and chip restaurant, after winning the respect of the locals by foiling a local bicycle thief by running after him and shouting at him in very uncertain English.
The Crisis of The Cross
Earlier this year, very tragically, 96 government officials died in a plane crash. Scouts placed a remembrance cross in front of the Presidential palace. People started to pray there. After a few months, officials started to question what might happen to the cross. So started one of the biggest secular/religious arguments in recent Polish history. This became a debate, which led to protests and is now on the verge of being a political crisis.
People stand before the cross praying, some claiming it has cured illnesses or given them healing powers. Others stand with radios or chanting in opposition to the prayer. Local, national, and now international news crews, are filming public opinion. Tourists are flocking to the sight to take pictures with either side. Politicians are involved (always dangerous). When local priests came to move the cross to the church around the corner, the supporters of the cross called them satanists and the priests left, cassocks between their heels. Is a WWF match between state and church called for? The latest protest is "Tear down the palace, it obscures the view of the cross!" No-one is currently sure what will happen...
Lars (the one pointing) grew up in East Germany. A late night chat with him led to a huge revelation re: the biggest change in the joining of East and West. I asked this question to Micha in Hamburg and when I asked Lars the same question in Warsaw, his answer was the same and even more emphatic. How did life change, what was the biggest difference for those from the East after the fall of communism?
Strawberry Yoghurt.
Do not underestimate the importance of sweet dairy goods (I rarely do, having eaten ice-cream in every place I've been to). Lars told me that, after the fall of the wall, every time his father opened a strawberry yoghurt, he would peel back the lid, sigh, and say, "The Revolution was worth it." Muller, Dr Oethker, Onken, Danone - you are the face of the new world.Children's Revolution - part 2
What do you do when you grow up as a child with an unquestioning view of authority and the state, then you discover that it is intrinsically human and hugely fallible? Use it. At the start of the Gulf war, children and teenagers in former East Germany started a spontaneous school protest and strike against the war. It started in one school where the children simply left and marched to the next school. Lars remembers hearing voices outside the classroom shouting to come out, so he and his entire school joined the protest. The teachers, having been so recently disrupted by the conflicting information around the fall of the wall, were helpless and confused. Many did nothing, some simply went home so that they were not considered culpable.
Short Short Bits & Pieces
They live in the park. There are three. They don't have names (except those that they call themselves). I really liked them.
Goldilocks
Goldilocks came out of the woods after her encounter with the bears. Along the Polish highway, near the German border, girls emerge from the woods, with some money, after encounters of a different sort.
Chopin's Bench
In the middle of Warsaw is a small bench. When you sit on it, it plays Chopin. The bench is black marble, the recording is midi.
Old Town New Town.
Here is a photo of the old town. But it is actually the new town. The old town got bombed. They built an exact reproduction in it's place. Pretty much straight away. Then they built a new town as well. Recently there is also a new part of the city called 'New World'. So Warsaw consists of Old town Old Town, Old town New Town, New Town and New World. At least, that's how I understood it.
This was my favourite bar in Warsaw. To get to it, you walk through an abandoned car park and a warehouse. There are a few places like this. If you don't know where they are, you will, quite simply, never find them.
The Vodka Project
Brendan Jackson is an artist and a friend of Wojtek's. He is travelling around, seeing Poland through the bottom of (several) vodka bottles. His blog is great.
Warsaw
I will come back here. I love it. I learned five Polish phrases. The language sounds amazing, like Russian crossed with French or Italian and a wee bit of Germanic tint thrown in for good measure.
I am on my way to Leipzig now. In one day. 465 miles. I feel pretty hardcore. Wooooooop.
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