Streetfight

Design: Studio Lekko

The title of the festival exhibition is borrowed from the book “Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution”, in which the American urban activist Janette Sadik-Khan writes: "The basic principle of traffic organisation has been known for a century and has been ignored by planners until now.

The title of the festival exhibition is borrowed from the book “Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution”, in which the American urban activist Janette Sadik-Khan writes: "The basic principle of traffic organisation has been known for a century and has been ignored by planners until now.

It proclaims that the effects depend on what you build. More lanes means more cars." At the core of the WARSAW IN CONSTRUCTION festival lies the question about the universal design of streets so that they are accessible and friendly to all residents. We believe that the streets of Warsaw can accommodate everyone.

The car has become a symbol of modernity. In the works of art and films presented at the exhibition as well as during the festival meetings, we will be showing various aspects of a lifestyle based solely on cars. We thus hope to generate a discussion on the effects of congesting the streets with car traffic. An excellent example of this will be a presentation, prepared jointly with the Warsaw branch of the SARP, of the history of the Avenue of Jerusalem, once a lively urban street that has come to resemble an expressway.

The strength of WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION lies in the creative, and often unexpected, collaborations: with the non-governmental side, the local government and its agencies, activists, city institutions, business and residents. The festival audience will visit the tram depot at Kawęczyńska Street, learn about the history of the development of Warsaw's public transport tram network and the daily work of those who operate it. They will take part in debates and guided tours of the exhibition led by experts and curators. They will also learn about the results of student surveys, testifying to the decline of the age of underground crossings, as they are increasingly backfilled with pedestrians preferring to walk on traditional, above-ground walkways. We will invite the audience of WARSAW UNDERGROUND to film screenings at the "Syrena" cinema and a lecture by the world-renowned urban planning expert Professor Carlos Moreno. During walks and meetings we will explore Warsaw's standards of accessible design.

During the festival, we will also touch on other aspects of the "fight for the streets", such as name changes that ignite strong identity conflicts. We will also talk about the different ways in which the city is sensed and navigated, as well as the function of the blue and red boards of the Municipal Information System of Warsaw that guide us through its streets. There will also be a journey through the city's heat islands, i.e. places where the capital overheats. We will listen to the immediate soundscape of streets and how it affects us. We will also tell the story of the Pedestrian Critical Masses.

In debates and festival meetings, we plan to discuss possible ways forward for cities in the face of the climate crisis, including: protecting and planting greenery, retaining rainwater and reducing the role of the car in the city in favour of public transport and pedestrians, as well as safe and ecological mobility. The future of cities will be influenced by both the designers of systemic solutions and the users of these concepts.


Festival curators: Tomasz Fudala, Jan Mencwel
Project funded by the capital city of Warsaw

Authors of the works in the exhibition:
Ana Alenso, Architektoniczki, Diego Bianchi, Alexandra Bircken, Katka Blajchert, Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski (Papcio Chmiel), Mateusz Choróbski, Jan Domicz, Edward Dwurnik, Krzysztof Franaszek, Nicolas Grospierre, Barbara Gryka, Michał Grzymała, Dominik Jałowiński, Kornel Janczy, Zuzanna Janin, Alevtina Kakhidze, Jakub Kanna, Urszula Kozak, Adam Kozicki, Yulia Krivich, Kaja Kusztra, Henryk Kwiatek, Miasto Jest Nasz, Witek Orski, Paulina Pankiewicz, Jerzy Porębski, Igor Przybylski, Patryk Różycki, Maciej Salamon, Maria Sołtys, Students of the School Of Ideas at SWPS University, Maria Toboła, Piotr Wysocki, Ada Zielińska, Marta Żakowska

Curators:
Tomasz Fudala, Jan Mencwel

Activist projects: 
Marcin Jarzynowski, Barbara Jędrzejczyk, Joanna Klikowicz, Justyna Orchowska, Paweł Przewłocki, Wojciech Surała

The project about the underground passage for the festival exhibition was prepared by SWPS University Students of Culture Studies - School of Ideas 2021/2024:
Nikodem Jakubowski, Mirella Murawska, Łukasz Cegliński, Dominika Perłowska in collaboration with Artists: erypietas, nocny_marek27, luksprzeziks, zuozone, miss_dorys

Exhibition set design:
CENTRALA – Simone de Iacobis, Małgorzata Kuciewicz

Production: 
Maja Łagocka, Aleksandra Nasiorowska, Maria Nowakowska, Paweł Wójcik

The festival's corporate design:
Studio Lekko

Graphic design of the exhibition:
Maciej Chodziński, Katarzyna Łygońska

Research and queries:
Maria Sołtys, Aleksandra Zhuchko

Texts:
Tomasz Fudala, Marcin Jarzynowski, Barbara Jędrzejczyk, Joanna Klikowicz, Justyna Orchowska, Paweł Przewłocki, Jan Mencwel, Wojciech Surała

Translation:
Ewa Kanigowska-Gedroyć
Maria Redkva
Kristina Sribniak

Artist bios:
Aleksandra Zhuchko

Editing: 
Aleksandra Urbańska

Communication:
Marta Bartkowska, Józefina Bartyzel, Aleksandra Długołęcka, Anna Szałas, Iga Winczakiewicz

Public programme coordination:
Paweł Nowożycki

Education:
Dominika Jagiełło, Szymon Maliborski, Marta Przybył, Katarzyna Witt, Hanna Zwierzchowska, Petra Skarupsky, Marta Skowrońska-Markiewicz, Aniela Trojanowska, Katarzyna Benda, Bernard Wnuk, Cezary Wierzbicki, the Blyzkist collective

The Accessible Museum:
Marta Przasnek

Conservation and record-keeping:
Joanna Dziewanowska-Stefańczyk, Maciej Janicki, Julia Kłosińska, Michał Kożurno, Agnieszka Tarasiuk-Sutryk

Exhibition execution:
Jakub Antosz, Marek Franczak, Szymon Ignatowicz, Aleksander Kalinowski, Paweł Sobczak, Marcin Szubiak

Website design:
Huncwot

Collaboration:
Michał Bachta, Monika Baranowska, Agata Górska-Campagno, Agnieszka Jędrzejczyk, Artur Jeziorek, Kamil Jóźwik, Andrzej Kowalski, Maciej Kropiwnicki, Anna Nagadowska, Mikołaj Mundzik, Jarosław Paruch, Sylwia Radzikowska, Anna Ragan, Anna Ruszczyńska, Dagmara Rykalska, Eliza Sasak-Maciejczyk, Marcin Smyk, Olga Szeluga

Partners of the Festival:
Museum of Warsaw, Warsaw Trams, ULMA Construccion Polska S.A., Miasto Jest Nasze, Warsaw Branch of the Association of Polish Architects, Polska Bez Barier, National Digital Archives, Huncwot