20 January - 29 May
7 PLN/3 PLN

Let Them Flow! The Other Rivers of Warsaw

Drna, Sadurka, Żurawka, Pólkówka, Bełcząca, Brodnia—these are the names of merely a few rivers that once used to meander across Warsaw. Some don’t exist anymore, some are still flowing underground. Why did they disappear?

Nowadays, Vistula is regarded as the Warsaw river. The city’s hydrographic system, however, was—and partially still is—much more elaborate than that. Let Them Flow! The Other Rivers of Warsaw exhibition tells the story of the city’s many rivers by presenting old plans, maps, graphic art and photographs. The visitors to the exhibition will have an opportunity to trace their course, learn about their history, see what is left of them and spot their traces hidden in the names of districts or streets. The historic river grid will be superimposed on a contemporary map of the city, thus literally and metaphorically restoring the “Other Rivers of Warsaw” to the memory of the city’s residents.

The exhibition aims to fill in the gap—in the map of Warsaw and in human memory—and to rediscover this natural, life-sustaining resource, the treasure of the area we inhabit.

Learning about the history of Warsaw rivers and the process of their disappearance will help us better understand the essence and importance of taking care of the waters that still exist in the city and constitute a living proof that Warsaw had once relied on rivers and their backwaters. In the section devoted to history, we point to the presence of rivers and the process of harnessing them which allowed the city to develop; in the section devoted to the present-day, we refer to the “drying up” of Warsaw, partly as a continuation of the one-time harnessing of rivers.

The contemporary section of the exhibition draws attention to the essence of communicating vessels that river systems indeed are. Their degradation not only significantly affects the environment, microclimate and climate change, but also thwarts the development of cities during a climate disaster.

The exhibition presents, among others, a film on Zakole Wawerskie (Wawer’s Meander) by Grupa Zakole (Zuzia Derlacz, Krystyna Jędrzejewska-Szmek, Ola Knychalska, Olga Roszkowska, Pola Salicka, Igor Stokfiszewski), one of the last wetland ecosystems in the Warsaw area, or a photographic documentation of the activities of Cecylia Malik and the Siostry Rzeki (River Sisters) group. The artist has been involved in river protection for years through artistic and activist campaigns. You will also have a chance to admire the works by the following artists and activists: CENTRALA (Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone De Iacobis), Koalicja Ratujmy Rzeki (Save the Rivers Coalition), Centrum Ochrony Mokradeł (Swampland Protection Centre) / “Chrońmy Mokradła!” (Cmok – Let’s Preserve the Swamps!) Association, bogna.pl, Jarek Lustych, Diana Lelonek, Martyna Miller.

 

Fot. Tomasz Kaczor

COLOPHON

curators: Magdalena Staroszczyk, Konrad Schiller

artists and activists: Cecylia Malik i Siostry Rzeki, CENTRALA (Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone De Iacobis), Grupa Zakole (Zuzia Derlacz, Krystyna Jędrzejewska-Szmek, Ola Knychalska, Olga Roszkowska, Pola Salicka, Igor Stokfiszewski) – zakole.pl, Koalicja Ratujmy Rzeki, Centrum Ochrony Mokradeł / Stowarzyszenie „Chrońmy Mokradła!” (CMok), bagna.pl, Jarek Lustych, Diana Lelonek, Martyna Miller

persons loaning objects for the exhibition: Archiwum Dokumentacji Aktowej, Wydział Archiwum Zakładowego Miejskiego Przedsiębiorstwa Wodociągów i Kanalizacji, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych, Saskie Krajowe Archiwum Główne w Dreźnie, Muzeum Etnograficzne w Toruniu, Zarząd Zieleni Miasta Stołecznego w Warszawie, Biblioteka Narodowa, Biblioteka Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, TVN Warszawa, Maja Sztenke, Jacek Marczewski, Tomasz Wiech, Stan Barański, Małgorzata Rutkowska, Piotr Dziurdzia, Kuba Wesołowski

exhibition design: Tomasz Świetlik, Maciej Moszant, Maciej Chodziński

graphic design: Maciej Chodziński

production: Klementyna Świeżewska, Julia Missala

implementation: Artmontage, Bartłomiej Głaszczka, Katarzyna Grinberg, Ksenia Góreczna, Paweł Grochowalski, Krzysztof Hernik, Ewa Lenczewska, Piotr Lipiński, Adam Rogowski, Leszek Sokołowski, Krzysztof Świerczewski, Klementyna Świeżewska, Piotr Wójtowicz

conservation care: Beata Galperyn-Kołodziejska, Robert Kołodziejski, Paulina Miąsik, Igor Nowak, Edward Pawlikowski, Piotr Popławski

borrowings: Janusz Kurczak, Piotr Niwiński, Klementyna Świeżewska

text edition: Urszula Drabińska

accompanying program: Konrad Schiller, Magdalena Staroszczyk, Katarzyna Żukowska

communications and marketing: Julia Borowska, Matylda Dobrowolska, Katarzyna Krauze, Aleksandra Migacz, Laura Ociepa, Anna Światłowska

poster design: Anna Światłowska

substantive consultation: Witold Bajor (MPWiK), Norbert Chądzyński (MPWiK) dr Jarosław Ościłowski (IAE PAN), Zbigniew Polak (MUZEUM WARSZAWY), dr Paweł Weszpiński (MUZEUM WARSZAWY), Piotr Zakrzewski (ZZMW), CENTRALA (Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone De Iacobis)

We extend our gratefulness to all those contributing to the exhibition.