Liberty, Equality, Solidarność

Poles have lived in Berlin for centuries and shaped the cultural, social, political and economic life of the city. The Polish border is less than 100 kilometres away. And yet, the city’s close ties with its neighbouring country sometimes only become visible at a second glance.

The Open Space “Liberty, Equality, Solidarność”[1] in the BERLIN GLOBAL exhibition looks at Berlin as a site of Polish struggles for freedom and against discrimination, as well as a place of dialogue and solidarity.

The multi-layered installation by Ewa Maria Slaska, Anna Krenz and Jemek Jemowit introduces visitors to seven sites in Berlin where Polish people have fought for freedom, equality and solidarity. Spread throughout the city, they include the Olympic Stadium, the Warschauer Brücke, Moabit Prison and Volkspark Friedrichshain. The Open Space also shares Polish perspectives on everyday life in Berlin, moving between a sense of belonging and experiences of discrimination. It explores the traces of historical power relations and the ways they affect coexistence.

The Open Space invites visitors to share their different points of view and engage in dialogue, even when the topics are difficult. In doing so, the Open Space itself becomes a further place of Polish-Berlin solidarity.

Poland’s history is characterised by partitions by Prussia, Russia and Austria in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, by German exploitation and extermination during the Second World War and by Soviet foreign influence from 1945 to 1989. Against this backdrop, Poles repeatedly fought for their freedom, campaigned for equal rights and built structures of solidarity – including in Berlin.

[1] “Wolność, Równość, Solidarność” (Liberty, Equality, Solidarity) was a slogan used by striking shipyard workers in Gdansk in August 1980, who later formed the Solidarność trade union. This succinct and powerful variation of the historical slogan of the French Revolution can still be heard today at pro-democracy protests in Poland.