At 10:30 the group had an online meeting with Weronika Poncyljusz-Czyżewsk who told them about the Changing Democracies project – carried out with the Evans Foundation. Its purpose is to create the image of the Polish transformation and changes taking place in European democracies which would be as complete and varied as possible. There are several European organizations that participate in this project. The Borderland Foundation contributed to the project recording several interviews with the people from our region who shared with us their memories and their outlook on that time; we watched samples of these interviews together.
Next, Piotr Myszczyński held the discussion about Olga Drenda’s essay about things and people in the times of transformation. The essay is an intriguing perspective which enables taking a closer look at the political changes in Poland by means of things, films and advertisements for those who did not have an opportunity to experience them. We also watched samples of the Polish Film Chronicle, political spots, first TV news services and we read the testimonies of several people who experienced the changes that took place in Poland at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s.
Then, Agata Wasilewska presented the film by Jaśmina Wójcik, The Symphony of the Ursus Factory. It is the story about the ex-workers of the Ursus factory whose relationship to their factory remains very strong. Thanks to the work of the director, who is also a social educator and a visual artist, new life is reintroduced within the walls of the factory. After watching the film, the group had a discussion during which we talked about how we understood the film’s perspective.
Piotr Szroeder told us about the history of the Experimental Studio of Polish Radio. This institution was set up in 1958 and was originally supposed to help conduct sound research. It soon became one of the most important places for the development of Polish electronic music and the place of freedom and artistic independence unheard of in the times of communist regime. This studio hosted Paweł Szymański, Krzysztof Penderecki and Bogusław Schaffer. But the main protagonist of the story about the Studio was Eugeniusz Rudnik – primarily he worked in the Studio as a sound technician, but with time became one of the most important artists and the pioneer of electronic music. We also listened to some of his pieces and watched A Walk in the Old Town by Andrzej Munk which was inspired by the Experimental Studio and whose soundtrack was fully made in the Studio.
Finally, Staszek Czyżewski brought back the history of the First Festival of True Songs – a bit forgotten today – which took place in Gdynia in 1981. During this festival all the important Polish underground songwriters performed. We watched together the songs by Jacek Zwoźniak, Maciej Zembaty, Jan Stanisławski and the satirical monologue by Jacek Fedorowicz.
