10/06/2018
object and performative action
Juan Duque, Sam de Vocht
I’m sorry it took me so long...
- George Orwell called the Speakers' Corner, located in the northeast part of Hyde Park in London, one of the minor wonders of the world. From the mid-nineteenth century, this place has been serving unhampered civic statements and open debates. More places such as the Speakers' Corner appeared in the UK, also in London itself. This idea has also spread to other countries.
- Juan Duque and Sam de Vocht proposed creating such a place in the park surrounding the Ujazdowski Castle. Our speakers corner is to be built in its central point – on the square in front of the main entrance to U–jazdowski, which until recently was used as a parking lot. It will be situated next to the place where the chestnut tree used to grow, next to the piece of lawn that remained after it. Its form will be a small platform, built of curbs, which for Juan Duque – dealing with proxemics, the relationship of bodies to himself and other objects – have a very symbolic meaning in Jazdów City Garden. They are the elements that mark the boundary between the greenery growing untamed in all directions and the evenly arranged cubes of pavements, access roads and parking lots, keeping their structure intact. The curbside podium can also be treated as a trophy, a gesture of freeing nature from the restrictions that urban planners impose onto it.
- The project will also include a performative action, during which Juan Duque will proclaim a manifesto to regain space for nature. In it he will invoke artistic and social activities from many years ago – such as the one created in 1974 by Jan Berdyszak and Stefan Papp’s “Karta Łagowska,” dealing with the conscious creation of social space, of which nature holds one of the highest values. This will also be a reference to last year's heated discussions and protest actions related to the felling of trees in the Białowieża Forest as well as public spaces of Polish cities. After the inauguration, the speaker corner will be open to everyone as a venue for spontaneous speeches.
Partners
Co-financed by the Capital City of Warsaw
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