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WAKE UP MURANOW
Everything started in January 2010 from the interview in „Gazeta Wyborcza Stołeczna“ with an American living in Warsaw, a communication marketing director in Austrian REEP foundation dealing with effective use of alternative energy resources, who after hours acts as a city activist (for example, he was a member of the jury of the competition „Create up Warsaw“).
In the interview with Katarzyna Jakiewicz Peter said: „The other problem concerning Warsaw districts is the lack of specific character. OK, let`s say it`s gradually changing at Praga, which slowly turns into some kind of a bohemian district. But let`s take Wola – what`s the point to travel there? In London everyone knows that Nothing Hill is an antique market, and Camden Town hosts gothic clothes and piercing studios. There`s nothing like that in Warsaw. The real challenge for the city`s municipality is to change that situation“. „What are you talking about? – I wrote Peter in an e-mail. – That`s what we`re trying to do at Muranow: to show its unique character. Take a look at our web page, I`m curious what you`ll think about it“.
He wrote back very quickly. Had an offer, too. „There`s such a game that might be interested for you. It`s called Creative Cities. A friend of mine, Monika Komorowska, an architect and sociologist, runs it. Let us three meet together in two days at Chłodna 25 cafe“.
The first day of the workshop welcomed us with a rainy weather. But later the sun came up, so we could invite participants for the short walk around Muranow.
Photo: Mariusz Majewski
We`ve started from the real Nalewki street. The small part of it, that survived in its original run has been renamed after the war as Bohaterow Getta (Ghetto Heroes) street at the backyard of Arsenal building. Then we walked down Andersa street, showing the enormous “Stalin palaces” – the common name for socrealistic buildings at Andersa street. There was also the story about Murano palace, Monument of the Ghetto Heroes (where Paweł Brylski from the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews reminded that English name of the monument differs from the Polish one and honours everybody that died in Warsaw ghetto, not only a selected group of “heroes”). We`ve walked along the building with characteristic round courtyard (Andersa 13) to Nowolipki, the historic street of old bookstores, where we could also explain Bohdan Lachert`s idea of New Muranow estate as ghetto monument.
Beata Chomątowska, author of Stacja Muranow website, tells participants about Bohdan Lachert`s idea. From the left: Beata Chomątowska - Stacja Muranów, Monika Komorowska - British Council, Jakub Supera, Anna Kirejczyk - International Relations Department, Municipality of Warsaw, Katarzyna Lisińska - Dom Kultury na Andersa 25, Anna Stefańczyk, Ewa Warelis- Dom Kultury na Andersa 25. Photo: Mariusz Majewski
And then the real game started. The participants had to identify Muranow strengths and weaknesses and work on the ideas that could make this place more attractive. The whole methodology we used can be found at British Council website.
The second day started with an interesting lecture held by Professor Maria Lewicka from Institute of Psychology at University of Warsaw. Ms Lewicka presented us the results of pilotage research among Muranow inhabitants, showing their attitude towards The Museum of The History of Polish Jews, which construction started in 2010 (the research was made three years earlier). The whole report could be found here.
Prof. Maria Lewicka from Institute of Psychology at University of Warsaw is giving her lecture. Photo: Mariusz Majewski
After the lecture the participants went out, testing their ideas for waking up Muranow among its inhabitants. Everyone had his own patent to attract attention. For example such:
One of the group made even an opinion poll among the users of Muranow internet forum at Gazeta.pl on the previous day, but the competitors discovered it and added some comments, too….
When the five groups – after social consultations – prepared their projects, the next task was to present them in an attractive way to gain attention of the jury and strengthen the chance to win. So there was a klezmer music, reminding the atmosphere of Nalewki street before the war, multimedia presentation and drawings.
One of the groups working on the project. Left: Halina Kowalska, Wiesława Szubert-Figarska, Paweł Najgebauer.
The winning idea – „Books on Nowolipki“ was inspired by a fact, that before the war many bookstores operated in the area. In Warsaw ghetto during some time book trade was forbidden, and Nowolipki street was the area where black market for books was really blooming. The authors of the project proposed an one day book fair on the street, addressed not only to publishing houses and second-hand bookstores, but also to Muranow inhabitants, who could sell their own books – as every Amsterdam citizen can sell everything during Koninginnedag. As additional attractions the group planned some meetings with the authors in form of a street cafe, loud reading for children, and film projections.
Anna Kirejczyk and Marcin Grzybek from the winning team are presenting their project
The name referred to the book of Pola Gojawiczyńska - "Dziewczęta z Nowolipek/Girls from Nowolipki". There`s also a film based on this novel.
Two other ideas were quite similar to each other. The first one, called „Muranow`s jaw“. The name could be deceitful: it adresses to the era of 90`s in Poland, the first years of open-market economy, when starting-up enterpreneurs were selling some stuff at street mobile stalls. Those special stalls were called „jaws“ in the common language. The project included finding out such a jaw, then welcome young artists to paint it and use it as a mobile tourist information point, distributing materials about Muranow. The second project was called „Info-island“ and contained nearly the same elements: the island would be a sort of stand, consisting of a bike rental point and tourist information. Of course there would be not only one island or one „jaw“ – they should appear in selected points of Muranow.
The TV journalists interviewed the participants
The fourth project pointed out that the Muranow estate is quite big (40 thousand inhabitants), and belongs not only to Srodmieście district, but also to Wola. The Wola part is even more sleepy than Srodmiescie, where one can find more traces of Jewish history, so Bohaterow Getta Square (where Jewish Museum is being built) serves as a centre of a district. The idea of the group was to create the competitive centre on the other side of Jana Pawła II street, at Apfelbaum Square. The project showed how the square could be adapted in order to fulfill inhabitants` needs: a playground for the kids, resting place for elderly people etc.
The team working on "Green Muranow" project
The last one was called „Nalewki Festival“ and proposed one-day summer multi-kulti festival at Bohaterow Getta street, which original name is Nalewki street and before the war was the heart of Jewish Muranow. The idea was that the festival should show the culture of all nations that used to live and live in Warsaw now: Jewish, Vietnamese, African etc. There would be live music and food specialities.
As I`ve heard that none of FCG held in other Warsaw locations did not finish with implementing the ideas yet, our ambition (as a newly eastablished Associaltion of Social and Cultural Activities Muranow Station (Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Społeczno-Kulturalnych Stacja Muranów) was to put the winning project („Books on Nowolipki“) into practice. The first step was a little exhibition done in association with the XXXI Secondary School at Miła 7. In June 2010 we hang six big posters on the XXXI Secondary School fence – five of them describing the projects, and the last one serving as a sort of communication board for passers-by (information abour the FCG in general, and the invitation for sending mails to Stacja Muranow evaluating the projects and sharing new ideas that could „wake up Muranow“). You can still see the radiant pink posters there.
The little exhibition at Miła 7 school fence
The opening of the exhibition. Wojciech Cichoń from British Council, Monika Komorowska - the instructor of Future City Game Wake Up Muranow! Urszula Majewska from Warsaw Srodmiescie District Council that sponsored the posters, Beata Chomątowska, the chairman of the Association of Social and Cultural Activities Muranow Station (Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Społeczno-Kuturalnych Stacja Muranów) and, of course, the participants.
Before that, during „The Neighbour`s Day“ organised by the city council, we managed to make a picnic at historical Nalewki (Bohaterow Getta) street on the 29th of May. Nothing obliging, just everybody brought his own chair or blanket, and some food and we were chilling out (actually, sunbathing) at in front of Arsenal.
This was an implementation (at the small scale, of course) of the main goal of one of the projects (Nalewki festival) - beside having fun and meeting other Muranow inhabitants, should remind of the former role of this empty, silent street and bring some life to this place again.
The special newspaper informing about the history of Nalewki street, distributed among Muranow inhabitants.
The second step was the book festival itself. The authorities of both districts (Muranow and Wola) agreed to help us with the project. The group that prepared the project worked on a strategic plan of the festival, which finally took place in September 2010.
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