Stuff I wrote for Warsaw Insider... Unedited

TALKING HEADS...NOT THE BAND DUDE!!!

 

I live on the 4th floor of a Historic Kamienica between Chmielna and Złota in what was once the Warsaw Ghetto.  Despite its tragic and grey past, the surrounding neighbourhood has developed a positive charisma.You can really feel Warsaw's ethnic diversity blooming.
Across the street from my fabulous Kamienica is a Cukiernia called Nova, where old men sit all day solving the worlds problems over sips of cappuccino and bites of cake . I recommend the apple layer cake and custard fruit cups.
Further along, where Złota meets Aleje JP2, is what I've christened as the Molo or The Strip. It's a kind of winding walk way above an on-ramp. There's a bank, a book store, a  'Mom and Pop' pub called Frodo, where the office folk gather for lunch when fed up with food court allure. There's  an asian fusion bistro, where one can enjoy mediocre sushi at a decent price. Adjacent are, a Moldavian wine shop, and a boutique for heavy set women and an awsome Kebab where they toast your bread. It's so totally Bronx!! If you don't have wheels like in my case, the transit commute is perfect, day or night. 

But what makes 'The Strip’ rock? A hole in the wall dive called Miasto Gadających Głów (Talking Head City). . I don't even  know how to start describing this place. As filthy as it is, and as inviting and friendly, one must simply experience it in order to have an opinion.

This is a spot where the office cleaning guy and the office manager sit side by side  chasing Żołądkowa Gożka with pints of Lech. Where a real estate agent and a tattooed, dreadlocked bike currier discuss fashion faux pas, battling to hear each other, because the loud, drunk, obnoxious,  yet extremely sweet girls, all named Teresa are having a serious six woman debate about...Antonio, Rodrigo?? Whatever!

Dividing Talking head City from the actual city is a tinted picture window. You could walk  right by it without noticing if it weren't for a mini rocking horse attached to the front door.

 A recent addition to the place has been the front patio or 'Garden' as the guys who run the place call it. The Garden consists of nothing more than an old couch that's seen better days and although it was designed to accommodate no more than 4 passengers, the gifted and artistically inclined clientele have been able to  beat that record.

Open till late, I mean...late. with a punkish/vintage PRL decor, this is definitely not the place to go on your first date. If you're in a band or like to just rock out, their jam sessions every last Saturday of the month are a riot. Just don't wear clean clothes. See ya at the Head!! 

 

The Artistic Side of SEZAM

       On the south east corner of Marszałkowsa and Swiętokrzyska, just past the great big glass McDonald’s is Sezam; the oldest running department store in the city

More like an oversized and over priced American one dollar store, Sezam has it all. From groceries to socks to little clay figurines, it has been a Mecca for the ‘Moher Mafia’ (Little old ladies who wear those cute old lady barrettes) as well as the broke university student’s first choice for house-ware and other related items. If you’re staying in Warsaw a little longer than a few weeks, you’re bound to stumble upon one of the cities biggest eye soars, the Sezam window display.

http://piotrkowefotki.blogspot.com/2008/07/tyy-sdh-sezam.html

    Sezam has graced us with its tragic display skills for years. Laid out with a wacky purple velvety material, the merchandise on display makes you wonder if a tornado had blown the stuff there. At one end of the window we have a strainer, radio and sewing machine, neatly arranged together. Moving towards the centre w jewellery, broaches, earrings are complemented by a pyramid of toilette paper and stack of no name cola. Finally after passing a display of trinkets and ‘what’s-its’ we come to a flat-screen Sony with an extremely bad picture and a price-tag that would make media markt seem like a thrift shop.

Surprisingly, in the first few days of December something happened to the window display at Sezam. Another tornado burst in, this time in the form of urban artists; Matylda Sałajewska and Dominik Cymer. With their visions combined, Sałajewska and Cymer created an explosive, perhaps even controversial piece of work to accompany the release of the new media-book from the people at Radio Katowice called ‘My Som Stond’ a collection of audio, such as music, stories and broadcasts celebrating Silesian life.

Using a vast variety of sources, the artists transformed a tacky dollar store display into a work of abstract, multi-medial art.  No longer are passers by graced by fake jewellery and Tupper-Ware, they can now stop and stare, admire, or insult the various mediums the artists used to show their interpretation of Silesian life.

With cardboard and cardboard boxes as the leading source of the work it gives a raw industrial feel compatible with Silesia’s industrial heritage. Photos of coal soiled miners are displayed on stacks of boxes, there’s a cardboard rig leaning against the wall. Think the video for ‘Intergalactic’ by Beastie Boys. Even a giant beanbag chair in the shape of a ‘Kluska Slaska’ (Silesian soul food) graces us with its presence. On each end of the display we can watch images of miners working, and various other flashes of culture.

The visual aspect of the work is just one part. Most of us Warsovians, after passing the picture perfect displays of Galleria Centrum have an innate sense of looking away when approaching the Sezam window display.

Our two artists were prepared for that,  and managed to get our attention regardless, by incorporating unique audio.

So what does all this mean and symbolize you ask. Well, according to Matylda Sałajewska, her idea was ‘Silesia for sale’. Using the window display of a department store, she and Cymer along with a devoted team of artists and illustrators developed a twin concept, a visual interpretation of life in Silesia.

“Since the goal of the project was to promote Silesia, I decided to do it in the form of a shop: Silesia for sale. The material is laid out in window display fashion all representing the Silesian lifestyle.” 

Cold weather, short days, long hours at the office, all prevent us from getting up and out to enjoy the city and get cultured. Projects such as this one remind us that there are other dimensions and ideas around us, as not to box us into a repetitive, sheepish routine of the same old same old. To learn more about both artists you can see their work at www.bedzinbeat.com or check www.skin-kace.pl and www.salata.jezusmaria.pl .