The world-renowned “Pomarańcza Alternatywa” / “Orange Alternative” project will be presented in Madrid – tying the Polish freedom movements of the 1980s to the social movements in Spain in recent months
The project – represented by orange statues of dwarves and 28 display boards – will be shown in the main hall of the Sociology and Political Science Department at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The exhibit will be accompanied by information in the form of photographs and documents (in English and Spanish translation) from the Polish Institute of Naitonal rememberance about the Orange Alternative Movement.
Additionally, there will be debates and screenings of four films (with Spanish subtitles) and discussions on the role of art in social movements with sociologists, political scientists, artists and activists from the 15 May demonstrations.
The Orange Alternative is the name for an underground anarchic movement that originates in 1981 Wrocław, started by Waldemar Fydrych, known as the “Major”. It is characterised by the graffiti and various other representations of orange dwarves that quickly found themselves painted onto walls all over Poland in the 1980s. The colour orange was chosen with significance by the “Major” who sought to blend together yellow – the colour of the Catholic Church, and red – the colour of the communist party, both of whom he considered to be oppresors. Since 2004, the Orange Alternative movement has been active to promote democracy and freedom in countries to the East of Poland who seek to join the European Union, such as the Ukraine, especially following the Orange Revolution in Kiev.
The main idea of the project – to expose Western Europe to the social movements that changed Poland – will also be exported to Paris and a similar exhibition will take open on the 16th of November, closing on the 4th of December.
Date: 25th of October – 4th of November, 2011
Venue: Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Universidad Compultense de Madrid
Organised by: Orange Alternative Foundation, Polish Institute in Madrid, Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Universidad Compultense de Madrid
This project has been cofinanced by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Source: IAM