The "Wolskie Ostańce: Between Disappearance and Enduring" festival has concluded. The program for the entire event was extensive and included many diverse events, during which we examined the material traces of the former capital and recalled the histories of places that no longer exist. Thank you for your presence. Here is a brief report from the events we co-organized:
The debate "...between disappearing and persisting..."
On October 9th, the Wola Cultural Center hosted a debate opening the discussion on the future of Warsaw's "relics"—pre-war buildings that survived the devastation of World War II. Panelists considered the role that abandoned tenement houses and relics of industrial architecture should play in a developing city. The discussion, moderated by Konrad Schiller, included Patrycja Jastrzębska, Michał Krasucki, Kuba Snopek, and Franciszek Bojańczyk.
A walk along the "monadnocks" trail with Patrycja Dołowy
The following day, October 10th, a historical walk took place, led by Patrycja Dołowy. The route, following the material witnesses of former Jewish Warsaw, began at the former Bersohn and Bauman Hospital – the future home of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum. The group had the opportunity to explore courtyards on Złota, Śliska, Waliców, and Chłodna Streets, among others, discovering preserved fragments of cobblestones and the ghetto wall.
A curatorial review of films and a story about the outliers. Lecture by Jerzy Majewski.
On Saturday evening, the Pilecki Institute hosted a remarkable lecture by Jerzy Majewski. Illustrated with excerpts from cult films and TV series such as "Miś," "Paragon Gola," and "Gangsterzy i filantropi," the lecture was a fascinating journey through the pre-war architecture. The audience witnessed how the camera captured the areas around Chmielna, Pańska, Grzybowski Square, Żelazna, and Sienna Streets over the decades. The lecture demonstrated that cinema is an incredibly valuable document of a vanishing city.
Premiere of Piotr Paziński's audio story about the Warsaw Ghetto
On Sunday afternoon (October 11), the Wola Museum hosted the premiere of a series of essays by Piotr Paziński, prepared as radio plays for the Warsaw Ghetto Museum. Attendees heard an essay on Smocza and Nowolipie Streets, performed by Adam Bauman. This was followed by a conversation with the author, moderated by Agnieszka Rasmus-Zgorzelska, co-creator of the radio plays, who explored how these now-vanished streets, hidden within the topography of Muranów, are regaining their voices.
A play entitled "Nothing New Under the Sun." A satirical and literary program performed by Sławomir Holland.
On Sunday, the audience also gathered at the Wola Cultural Center for a performance of "Nothing New Under the Sun" by Sławomir Holland. The actor presented a program based on texts from the interwar period, drawing on works by Tuwim, Gałczyński, Hemar, Jurandot, and Leśmian. The performance combined humorous elements with moments of reflection, immersing the audience in the literary atmosphere of prewar Warsaw.
Finale of the "Ghost Town / City of Outliers" festival
The culmination of the entire series was a two-part, spectacular finale at the Amphitheater in General Józef Sowiński Park, organized by the Wola Cultural Center.
The evening opened with a mapping project, "Wolskie Ostańce – Memory of the City Recorded in Architecture," by visual artist Sylwester Łuczak and composer Michał Jacaszek. The amphitheater space was transformed into a large-scale audiovisual installation. Instead of a historical reconstruction, viewers experienced an artistic interpretation of the city's memory – the outlines of former streets, tenement houses, and industrial buildings of Wola emerged and disintegrated from the darkness, creating a metaphor for memory: fragmented, yet ever-present. The performance was accompanied by live electronic and ambient music by Michał Jacaszek.
Then the final concert began, preceded by short speeches by the festival organizers.
A 16-piece big band, conducted by Jan Emil Młynarski and Jacek Namysłowski , with guest appearances by Ania Karwan and Natalia Szroeder , took the stage . The band performed a jazz and swing repertoire from the 50s—music accompanying the rebuilding of Warsaw. The performance included short narrations by Jan Emil Młynarski, who, between songs, told stories about old orchestras, dance halls, and artists.
Photographic documentation: Robert Wilczyński.
Festival Partners: Wola Cultural Center | Warsaw Ghetto Museum | Pilecki Institute | Wola District Office of the Capital City of Warsaw | Wola District Public Library | Wola Museum / Branch of the Warsaw Museum
