Niebezpieczne dzieło sztuki. Tęcza w przestrzeniach miejskich Warszawy

Abstract

The aim of my article is to present events which took place a few years ago, unfolding with a varying dyna-mism and temporary hiatuses, revealing themselves again after a while, provoking people to action and engaging their emotions. Those events had a varied nature, but were focused on the artistic installation “The Rainbow”. The Polish performer Julita Wojcik, on commission of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, constructed an arched structure with artificial flowers in the colours of the rainbow woven into it, and placed it in Plac Zbawiciela in Warsaw. This was not the first public presentation of the work – it was its new location that aroused social controversy. The emergent conflict gradually became polarized, dividing people into supporters of “The Rainbow” and its opponents. The installation itself became one of the most recognizable works of contemporary art in Poland, an important and fashionable tourist spot of the capital city, as well as a place for demonstrations and happenings or religious or carnival activities. The events around “The Rainbow” indicate that an artwork introduced into public space and confronted directly with the recipients may gain the power to provoke individuals and groups to action. While analysing them, I used Victor Turner’s concept of social drama, and also referred to the symbolic impact of artworks on people’s emotions and activities.