We invite you to Turnus na Wolskiej (Warsaw) on November 19th at 7:00 PM for the screening of the film The Only Right Side of the Bars and a discussion on civic resistance, open to anyone interested in participating. The conversation will be moderated by Julia Niedziejko, the creator of the Flags of Resistance project. Julia Niedziejko is a laureate of the 2024 Artivism – Academy for Social Change Through Artivism project, in which Art Transparent was once again a partner.

Student strikes have a long tradition in Poland and have influenced the course of historical events on more than one occasion. In response to Israel taking genocidal military action against the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank, those studying at Warsaw University, Jagiellonian University and Wrocław University followed in the footsteps of their peers from other countries who occupied their academies. Demanding the immediate severance of diplomatic relations with Israel, they organized occupation strikes at their universities. As of this moment, this is the best organized, strongest and boldest manifestation of civil resistance to the war in Palestine that can be seen in Poland as of 07.10.2023.

As part of the ‘Flags of Resistance’ project, a workshop on storytelling and working with the object was held in October for student occupiers of Warsaw University and Jagiellonian University. The meeting resulted in the creation of short, performative statements using textiles.Each person used the fabrics according to his or her needs in order to talk about the experience of the strike with their help.The film ‘The one right side of the bars’ is a coherent record of their performances.The title is an excerpt from one of the students who chose to talk about the important role the university gate played during the strike. This theme was also present in other statements and therefore became an important element of the film. The stories of the individuals complement each other, creating a statement that has the potential to help the audience learn about the experiences of the students during the strike, assimilate their motivations and find out how they feel after the occupation.

On 19.11 at 19:00 there will be a screening of the film ‘The one right side of the bars’. This will be followed by a space for a conversation about civil resistance, to which anyone interested in discussion is invited. The conversation will be moderated by the author of the project ‘Flags of Resistance’ – Julia Niedziejko.

The film is subtitled in Polish and English.

Concept, documentation, sound: Julia Niedziejko
starring: Ala, Leo, Martii, Julia, Kamila, person from OCB, Misia
editing: Julia Krystyna

FLAGS OF RESISTANCE

Two occupation flags were created from the fragments of fabric that the student subjects used during their performance statements. After the screening of the film at the Turnus on Wolska Street, one of them will be given to students from Warsaw, and the other will go to Krakow, where another screening of the film will take place on 24.11. The flags are not only a memento of the occupation, but also a token of solidarity and joint commitment to a common cause, which is the fight to sever university ties with Israeli academic entities.

The aims of the entire project, which consists of the work on the flags and the creation of a film with transcripts of performances by student subjects, are to commemorate and honour the occupation strikes and to give space to tell their story, to those who were and are still involved in them.

Project concept: Julia Niedziejko
UW student individuals: Ala, Leo, Martii
Student individuals from UJ: Caro, Janina, Julia, Kamila, person from OCB, Misia
Execution of flags: Dobro Hada Jasikowska

Admission to the event is free.

The project is co-financed by the governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe. The project is also supported by the contemporary art foundation Art Transparent in Wrocław and Pro Progressione in Budapest.