Looping Arts, Research, and the Streets in Recent Polish Protests

Abstract

Using the case study of the 2020/21 Strajk Kobiet [Women’s Strike] protests in Poland, this project looks at the relationship between research(ers) and social movements, the blurred line between artist and activist, and the purpose of archiving within a protest wave. What renderings are effective when research needs to exist in a close loop with the streets? Is the role of the artist during a protest wave to disseminate awareness or knowledge, and inspire, or can artistic research be a form of knowledge-development, and therefore a rendering of the research to further political goals and develop political strategies? What is the role of the archive?

Against a backdrop of digitised-mediatised politics and a fascistisation of politics globally, this research looks to address an urgent need for dynamic renderings and more structured looping of research, arts, archiving and the streets in the fight for better futures. Posing more questions than offering answers, this exploratory process comes from a personal intersection of academic investigation and activist practice.