Events

The Institute of Public Affairs together with partners invite you to a screening of ‘Bar na Victorii’ (the Bar at Victoria Station) directed by L. Dawid, and an international debate:
 
NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US
DO WE STOP BEING CITIZENS WHEN WE EMIGRATE?
 
21 October 2015, 18:30
                     Galeria Apteka Sztuki, al. Wyzwolenia 3/5, Warsaw

 
 

Seeking work is still the main driving force behind emigration from Poland – better pay, professional development, and – in the case of the unemployed – just work itself. Although many of us end up working below our qualifications abroad  – and the pay gap is not as large as it was 10 years ago – we still decide to leave. We increasingly find job satisfaction on foreign labour markets and often, contrary to original plans, stay abroad for longer than intended or permanently. We then start to make use of the privileges that membership of the EU gives to the same extent that, for example, Germans or Britons have in their respective countries for years.

What then is important for us? Do we want to influence our new reality abroad, and how do we try to do so? What causes us to take matters into our own hands, even if when we were here in Poland we were reluctant to exercise one of the basic civil rights – the right to vote in elections? What benefits can we gain from more actively exercising our civil rights, which we also have after leaving the country? What can we do to increase the number of people who are active and aware of their rights?  

We will try to answer these and other questions in the course of the debate, which will include the following panellists:
 
·         Zrinka Bralo, executive director ofMigrant and Refugee Communities Forum (London)
 
·         Ewa Winnicka, columnist for the Polish weekly ‘Polityka’, reporter and author of books ‘Londyńczycy’ and ‘Angole’
 
·         Artur Banaszkiewicz, member of the Steering Committee of Forum Polonia (Dublin)
 
·         Roger Casale, founder and director of New Europeans (London)

The debate will be moderated by Karolina Grot, an analyst from the Migration Policy Programme IPA, specializing in, amongst other things, issues linked with activation of the Polish diaspora.

After the debate, we invite you to a free screening of the award-winning documentary directed by  Leszek Dawid titled ‘Bar na Victorii’ (the Bar at Victoria Station) (2003). The film is the story of two unemployed people who go to the UK to find work. Together with the creators of the film, we observe the fate of our heroes from Kluczbork in the completely new reality that awaits them abroad.

During the event, the website www.togetherineurope.com will be launched. It is targeted at citizens of the UE who would like to become more involved in social and political life, exercising their rights after leaving their country.

The planned end time of the meeting: 21:00.

The organiser will provide simultaneous translation. Participation in the meeting is free of charge.

Interested persons should register at: /pl/wydarzenia/nic-o-nas-bez-nas-czy-na-emigracji-przestajemy-byc-obywatelami

The event will be held at Galeria Apteka Sztuki (al. Wyzwolenia 3/5, Warsaw) run by the ‘Otwarte Drzwi’ (Open Door) Association, which is at the same time a gallery of contemporary art and an institute for vocational activity for disabled people (http://www.aptekasztuki.eu/). 
 
Information about the meeting can be obtained from Karolina Grot, e-mail: karolina.grot@isp.org.pl, tel. 22 556 42 78. 
 
Information about the panellists:
 
Zrinka Bralo– a refugee and social activist; executive director of the British organisation Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum, working for and on behalf of various groups of migrants in the United Kingdom, including both refugees and migrants with high qualifications; a journalist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Guardian and The Huffington Post, and an initiator of many national campaigns and initiatives for refugees such as The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (Right to Remain) . An interview with Zrinka Bralo appeared in the magazine Wysokie Obcasy, 8 August 2015: http://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/1,53662,18478765,zabiora-nam-prace-bzdura.html?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=SM&utm_campaign=FB_wysokieobcasy
 
Ewa Winnicka– Polish journalist and reporter; since1999 a columnist for the weekly‘Polityka’, she also writes for ‘Tygodnik Powszechny’ and ‘Duży Format’; two-time winner of the Grand Press award in 2005 and 2008 for articles of a social nature. She is the author of the book ‘Londyńczycy’ (Londoners) and reportage ‘Angole’ (Brits) (ed. Czarne), which was awarded the Ogólnopolska Nagroda  Literacka (National Literary Prize): ‘Gryfia’. The President of the jury, J. Laprus-Mikulska justified the decision:‘Angole’ is an unusual report. Multi-faceted and subversive. Ostensibly, this is a continuation of the earlier ‘Londyńczycy’, a tale about Polish emigration to Britain, which turned into an invasion. Winnicka in her book Angole asks how the invaders see the natives, in order to really answer the question of how the invaders see themselves.The book also received a nomination for this year’s ‘Nike’ Literary Prize.
 
Artur Banaszkiewicz– Member of the Steering Committee of Forum Polonia in Dublin; project manager and activist in the area of development and education. Since 2009 he has cooperated with the Polish Embassy in Dublin: first as an Economic Assistant for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then as International Trade Advisor for the Ministry of Economy. He supports Polish firms in the process of internationalisation and export. He organises training for Polish people living in Ireland, including the basics of setting up and running a business.
 
Roger Casale– founder and director of New Europeans, acting for and on behalf of the rights and interests of EU citizens who have come to the UK since 2004. He was a British MP from 1997-2005. During his career in Parliament, he was responsible for, among other things, cooperation with countries in Central and Eastern Europe preparing for membership of the EU. He is an initiator and co-organiser of many different social actions activating EU citizens in the UK, including campaigns to encourage them to more actively exercise their electoral rights.  
 

The International Film Festival Watch Docs is a partner of the event.

The ‘Together in Europe’ project is co-financed by the European Commission