The Wonders of Warsaw and The Wonders of Kaunas - two model projects each resulting in a publication that was launched as part of the PoWisle i Po Pradze event on 28th April.

 Click here to download information panels about the Wonders projects.

Beetwen visions and dreams, in the maze of blocks and in the tangle of subway – searching for wonders of Warsaw we came to the southern part of our city.

With student of grammar school in Natolin, having them as a guides of this, still not enough known district (not enough by inhabitants of central Warsaw, of course) we were asking this returning question: what is interesting in that apparently uninteresting place?

Of course a subway. As a metaphore of postmodern journey and space. It became a game with photo-riddle during Breakfast. (see also play the game  description).

Of course their school and roads to school. But also other, not so obvious: Kazurówka hill – place of bikers struggles and illegal fags, some shops and… bus stops and all terminus …One of our participants – Szympans – knows all of it by heart and he took care of putting them on our map. But not only that – he also recitated, without any mistake, all routes of bus lines… It turned out that the best one in Ursynów is 503 – starting in Nowodwory with finish in North Natolin.

All of these wonders appeared on the map or during the game. The nice point, as usual was food – Pawel didn’t dissapoint us also this time. The real hit was nougat – a subtle reference to the name of one of the street in UrsynówJ

We had also two guests – Aleksander Mann talking about history and mithology of Ursynów and Marek Budzyński who shown us presentation ilustrating proccess of creating Ursynów and told fascinating story not only about architecture but even more about space philosophy.

It was the last Breakfast. But still so much in Warsaw to discover left… So, maybe, see U soon in the next Warsaw Breakfast’s edition!

Living in huge cities, in post-modern reality, being inhabitants of the shrinking world which becomes smaller and smaller, more and more accessible… we are participants of peculiar travel. We get on the plane at the airport, full of metal gates, glass walls, halls of terminal which are mirrors of open spaces of runways and then, just few moments later, we get off at the delusively similiar airport in the other part of the world. We are thousend kilometers of the start point of our journey, but we coudn’t feel it in fact, as we see so similar space.

This kind of impression becomes also an important part of an experience of somebody who is travelling by subway. For sure, in case of travelling by subway in Warsaw. It could take us far away from the center, far away at south. This southern part of the city could be seen by someone who doesn’t live there as the unknow area, amazing maze, where streets, buildings, parks and  stairs, seemingly so identical, involve in the great game of expoloring.

Exploring Ursynów.

This comparison of plane and subway, airports and metro platforms let me see the proccess of discovering Ursynów as a game. When you get off the plane first time in the foregin city, country or continent, you never know what will be the next, what will happen, what will you see. It is time of anxiety but also a moment when imagination work extremely intensively.

When I get off the subway at the first moment I feel like a child without parents, like a turist without a map. There is not enough points which could help my orientation. I don’t know where should I go and what I will see at the end, on the top of the stairs.

Thinking that way I have decided to create a game-map of Ursynów. Board concentrated around the line of subway and stretched between exits of successive stops. Photos announcing riddles. Common task for people – guest of Warsaw Breakfest – to guess where does every photo come from? Very simple rule: where this collective, elaborated in the tangle of barracking answer is correct, our common pawn could be moved to the next filed of guessing.

In fact, during taking photos, I was a kind of guinea pig – as a person who doesn’t know this part of the city, I was looking for interesting points, views, characteristic contrasts and personal discoveries.

 Young people from our workshop group from a school placed in Natolin, pointed their favourite places, streets, spots of meeting and spending time. Some of there arised then in the game board. Other created a map of magic, strange or special places. Map of the district where I feel like a tourist, guest, somebody like an intruder, but first of all as a person put in the middle of an exotic but also fascinating maze.

In this maze our young collaborators were more oriented, it was for them familiar an well-known area. This combination of two perspectives and two ways of percepting the space turned out the most interesting.

But, in fact, it was not only juxtaposition of viewpoints during Warsaw Breakfest. The second one brought together glance from the inside -from this maze, glance of newcomer and visitor -and, on the other hand, the bird’s eye view. This last one was initiated by our special guest – Marek Budzyński, an architect and designer of Ursynów. His story was a great mixture of historical, social, anthropological and technical ingredients, narration not only about possibilities of space use, but also about philosophy of space.We had a great chance to touch and see in this story an increadible proccess of creating in mind and imagination a part of the city, a part of public space with its sharp, clear and amazing idea….

Maybe now, although there is no additional subway line, Ursynów becomes a little bit closer…

Grupa Studnia O. and "Katedra Kultury" Association invite you to the last Warsaw Breakfast - this time committed to Ursynów, its visions and dreams.

After exciting workshop, Breakfest promised to be even better. Extensive plans of our groups from making a huge instalation of tree to realizing all inventions devised during workshop gave us a strong hope that it would be Another Great Success.

Indeed, it was.

Tree became ‘planted’ and during whole event number of leaves-wonders was increasing, added by everybody who felt ‘rooted in Ochota’.

There was also an exhibition, still growing, of inventions for Ochota. Ideas of improving the district, frutis of vivid imagination of our interlocutors, precisely described waited for generous investorsJ

Maybe we will se soon great sandbox on Narutowicz’s square or monument of aviatress!

We were taken on the trip to underground world of Filtry, and also heard a GREAT STORY of INVENTIONS told by Gosia Litwinowicz, an expert of XIXth century ingenuity.

And the real hit were stickers with slogans and logos designed by prticipants of workshop  - students of Słowacki’s High School. All breakfasting people with sticker on their chests became an alive publicity of Ochota.

Three houres of flirting and filtering with this beautiful part of Warsaw!!!

What could be interesting or specific in a place which is between, everywhere and anywhere?

Before workshop we had some problem with pointing sharp wonders of Ochota. Only few trails: inventions, aviation and planes, sport…

Ok, as a start point it is enough.

Then, appeared more: for me – Żwirki and Wigury students hostels when my parents meet the first time and when many parties of my friends took places.

For Dorota – more aerial and aeroplane plots which created a vision of ‘winged Ochota’.

For Jarek – Skra Stadium and memories of the time of its magnificencey.

For Asia – mysterious Filtry and many, many more as she lives there….

But it was our meeting with students from Słowacki High School what in fact opened the  wonders horn of planty. They mental maps of Ochota turned out so full and crowded as the main street next to school this early morning when we tried to get there before workshop.

Abundance of meanings, images, memories, actions, details started to flow and created multilevel map.

Pizza on Barska street, men with ”too large bottom”, the special bank in a park, black cat, flowers in Narutowicz square, kiosks, first fags in playgrounds and many many others.

And then – a list of slogans which shown that, in fact it is one of the most interestinf part of the city and also one of the most contrastive.

‘Czy słońce czy słota, najlepsza Ochota’

‘Mam ochotę na Ochotę’

‘Ochota. Lubię’

‘Mogę tu zamieszkać na Ochotnika’ and many many others, impossible to translate…

But in fact many more happened during our filed workshop. I was amazed that it is possible to involve anybody in anything at 8 a.m next to ‘monument of aviator’ square.

My group was extremely determined – they put the small table next to the bus stop and then were stopping people and ask them to imagine invantions for Ochota and to vote for the best slogan. And… it worked!

After an hour we had an impressive output: more then 50 votes and 27 ideas of invention – just to mentien few:

Monument of Aviatress (or aviator-women;))

Great sandbox in Narutowicz Square for adults and kids

Flower-machine in the same square

Music Bicycle Paths with rainbows above it…

DiscoPolo Club and many many others….. And also some slogan choosed. Then we used them to design logos and stickers which turned out small pieces of art… And would become the hit of Warsaw Breakfest… But about it… later…

Studnia O. and "Katedra Kultury" Association invite you to Warsaw Breakfast commited to Ochota district. As always prepare yourself for tales of the city, wonderful guests and yummy food.

Gallery of images from the Praga Warsaw Breakfast added to post: With Batman between Gotham and Paris. Click here to view.

Praga Breakfast, the fourth, and to be honest probably the best one (all over the world;) took place last Sunday, as usual, at 12.00 in Instytut Teatralny, Warsaw.

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The next Warsaw Breakfast is approaching - this time we are going to visit old Praga and look for her mystieries in artisan workshops, ateliers, on trams and in streets. The breakfast is being prepared in cooperation with pupils of Wielokulturowe Humanistyczne Liceum im. Jacka Kuronia.

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