During my stay in Wroclaw, I made a little contribution to the cityscape. This one would be a little difficult to understand without some knowledge of some recent Polish history.
Yes, its a dwarf. And the fluorescent orange text accompanying the dwarf reads "We're not dead yet."
I pretty much came up with the idea the first day of the European Culture Congress upon witnessing a protest taking place outside of the Congress' main hall, the Centennial Hall, by a bunch of people in fluorescent orange jumpsuits.
One particular man in an orange sort-of-Smurf-hat was being interviewed by a TV crew. This man, I suspected, to be the head of this little demonstration.
A woman then comes up to me, handing me a flyer, and explains to me the reasoning behind the protest; That their movement, the
Orange Alternative, was the movement that supposedly inspired the congress and that none of the members were invited to participate, or attend, even. She tells me the many dwarf sculptures around town and dwarf-themed products retailed everywhere are all based on an idea instigated by a man she called Major, the man being interviewed by the TV crew, when not only would he spray little dwarf stick figures around the city, but he also organized mass protests where people would wear the orange dwarf hats -looking a little playful and ridiculous- making the police feel kind of dumb about arresting these funny looking men and women.
I read the flyer and instantly fell in love with the spirit of the movement. The flyer's language was harsh and bitter, albeit fun and playful. The bottom of the flyer announced a screening of old films about the group's activities back in the 80's at a lounge cafe somewhere in town the following day. This... I had to see.
I indeed go to the screening the next day, but to my surprise... there is no other audience! I don't really mind though, I'm generally one to prefer intimate settings anyway. They also greet me very warmly and turn the films on for me, which I end up really getting into. From these films, you can begin to understand how relevant this whole orange dwarf idea was vital to keeping the protest movement alive, and encouraging people to continue engaging in mass mobilizations against their unjust government.
The relevance of the films, combined with the no audience factor, combined with the complete irrelevance of the majority -not all, but most- of the congress' program (in my opinion), with the swarm of audiences attending the congress, made me feel a strong urge to do something for these people. I had to do something for the dwarves.
After the films, I enjoyed a long insightful conversation with the "Major" and the lady who works with him, Agneiszka, about their long history of absurdist activism, and learned that many of their colleagues went off to become politicians. Although not within the same kind of authoritarian system of the past, but part of a capitalist-driven system, that does not uphold the values these people were protesting for. It became apparent, that the Major may very be one of the few remaining pure souls of the past revolutionary movement. His ideas used, popularized and commercialized in ways he never approved of, while the man himself is hardly appreciated, and widely overlooked by the uncaring young masses.
Over the next following days, the urge to revive the dwarves became stronger, especially with my noticing the complete commercialization of the town's dwarf "heritage," the discovery that European politicians would be meeting after a few days to vote on matters that would deeply affect the lives of European citizens without the involvement of said citizens, and the statements of a young Polish girl over lunch, "I'm only 26, but already I feel passive and tired."
It became apparent to me that a revival of revolutionary dwarves could be invigorating to young Polish masses who would like break out of their passivity and assume more control over their lives and the policies that direct them.
It was time to bring the dwarves back.
But... I understand that not everyone will agree with me, especially after seeing one of the stencils washed out as soon as the very next day:
