 Political Critique London had its official opening on the 5th of March at University College London. Our guest were: prof. Zygmunt Bauman, prof. Agata Bielik-Robson and Sławomir Sierakowski, founder of Political Critique. Read more about the event.
 Nearly 200 people can fit in University College London’s Young Anatomy Lecture Theatre. On the 5th March 2011 it was full. The event, which attracted both a Polish and international audience, was the official inauguration of Political Critique in London-the second biggest branch outside of the country (after the one in Kiev).
The grand opening featured a lecture by prof. Zygmunt Bauman, a living legend of sociology, who is known for his analysis of the interplay between modernity and the Holocaust as well as of postmodern consumerism. The lecture was followed by a screening of “Nightmares” (2009), a movie by the acclaimed Israeli artist Yael Bartana and a debate entitled “Critique of European Reason“, featuring prof. Agata Bielik- Robson and Sławomir Sierakowski.
Prof. Bauman’s lecture concerned the place of political Left in the contemporary world and the challenges that it needs to face. Quoting the Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, he pointed out factors that define the left and right wing morality. For those who are familiar with Prof. Bauman’s publications, the lecture was extremely helpful in clarifying the theses they introduce.
Prof. Bauman explained how social customs render it impossible to achieve the utopian vision of freedom by an individual. He also indicated that the concept of “lower class” does not really exist as it is rather an euphemism describing people who are excluded from the society. Among these are all individuals unable to migrate because of the connection to the land that maintains them. Another determinant factor of the social exclusion is the fact that people from the “lower class” do not possess valuable objects, which measure the value of individuals in the contemporary world. The pessimistic vision of this kind of society was related by Prof. Bauman to the condition of the Left. In his opinion, both Polish and European Left wing parties’ future is uncertain because of the chances they constantly squander.
A screening of Yael Bartana’s movie “Nightmares” (2009) preceded the following debate. Bartana is an Israeli multimedia artist, who will be representing Poland at 2011 Venice Biennale. “Nightmares” is a propaganda-style short film, starring Sławomir Sierakowski himself. In Bartana’s vision the young Left-wing activist delivers a passionate speech in which he invites three million Jews to return to Poland. By this gesture he tries to call upon the arrival of “the Other”, who could reflect a modern Pole, enclosed in a homogeneous Polish society. Bartana’s movie communicates indirectly the values of the Left: cross-cultural integration, tolerance and open-mindedness.
During the discussion, moderated by prof. Agata Bielik-Robson, Sławomir Sierakowski described the origins of Political Critique as a body introducing the Left-wing discourse to the Polish public debate. The desire to re-establish the Polish intelligentsia results in vigorous activity in the fields of culture, science, politics which have a great impact on the quality of social life. The vision presented by Sierakowski argued that a well-structured political program and consistency in acting are able to strengthen the unstable position of the Left. The values and goals of Political Critique are also very close to prof. Bauman, who emphasized its importance several times during his speech.
The debate, nearly three hours in length, is one of the first meetings of the Political Critique’s Club in London. The number of people who turned up and represented a keen interest in the subject, both Polish and foreigners, proves how important the existence of Political Critique is in the UK.
Political Critique would like to thank everyone that helped to make this event possible: Polish Cultural Institute London, UCL Polish Society and Deconstruction Project London
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