'Warsaw before the Rainbow and after the Rainbow is no longer the same city. What happened around this art installation is not only a debate on art in public space, but also a debate on Polish democracy," said Paweł Potoroczyn, director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, during the Equality Parade that marched down the streets of Warsaw. The speech was a tribute to the organizers, who specifically set the route of the parade so it passed by the Rainbow, an art installation by Julita Wójcik that is owned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. As Wójcik herself said at the parade:
When the Rainbow was burnt during the Independence March, for the first time I, a heterosexual, personally witnessed and experienced homophobia. Many people have experienced the same feeling, of being attacked. We all jointly decided to oppose this. There is no solidarity without equality.
This year’s Equality Parade marched under the banner of 'equal rights – common cause". This slogan summarizes their 12 postulates that relate to, among others, ethnic, religious and national minorities, LGBTQs, and people with disabilities, but also open urban spaces, better sex education and respect for animal rights. The Rainbow has been a temporary project from day one. Plac Zbawiciela in Warsaw is now its third location, after Wigry, where it symbolically propped up the walls of the Camaldolese Monastery, and Brussels, where it was exhibited in front of the European Parliament. Currently, one of the most important cultural institutions is interested in exhibiting the installation.
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, along with its portal Culture.pl, encourages you to suggest (e.g. in the comments to the article) the best locations for the Rainbow.
More details on the Rainbow and Gone with the Rainbow action will be given by the end of July 2015.
Translated by Paweł Trzaskowski, 15 June 2015.