The exhibition will be presented in Bolesławiec until 30 October 2020. in front of the BOK-MCC building.
At the end of the exhibition, a meeting will be held about the publication issued as part of the project. It will be led by Marek Szajda and Marcin Musiał from the Zajezdnia History Centre in Wrocław. The publication includes, among other things, memories of people connected with Bolesławiec: a resident of our city and a re-emigrant from the former Yugoslavia who currently lives in Nowogrodziec.
You are warmly invited to the meeting on 9 November 2020 at 5:00 p.m. at the CIK “Orzeł”, 17 Chopina Street in Bolesławiec. Due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, please reserve places by telephone at 75 645 35 98.
Peers of Independence Exhibition
The outdoor exhibition Peers of Independence was created as part of the “100 Centenarians for the Centenary” project carried out by the “Memory and Future” Centre in Wrocław as part of the government’s long-term “Independence” programme.
On the centenary of Poland regaining independence, people of the same age from across the country were asked to share their personal stories, which are inseparably intertwined with the fate of our homeland over the past century. Their accounts were recorded, and excerpts from their memories, concerning such topics as growing up during the interwar period, the painful experience of the Second World War and everyday life under a communist state, were presented at the exhibition along a symbolic timeline and illustrated with photographs from the home archives of those interviewed. They were also asked what, from such a distant perspective, could be considered humanity’s greatest achievement—for some it was the radio or an automatic washing machine, while for others it was motorisation or the Internet, which they still use out of curiosity about the world. The Peers of Independence also indicated what, for them personally, was the most important event in Poland’s turbulent history over the last century. They shared what independence means to them, and we put this important question to the exhibition’s visitors as well.
The opening of the Peers of Independence exhibition, created by Ewa Sowińska and Katarzyna Bock-Matuszyk, took place on 10 November 2018 at the Zajezdnia History Centre in Wrocław, where the exhibition was presented for four weeks. In the following months, the exhibition visited a dozen or so towns across Poland, including Opole, Białystok, Kielce and Malbork, serving as an opportunity to continue commemorating the centenary of the restoration of independence in local communities and encouraging people to share personal stories documenting the recent history of our homeland. The “100 Centenarians for the Centenary” project also produced a publication entitled “Peers of Independence”, presenting excerpts from the memories of one hundred witnesses to history.