Difference between revisions of "Orange Alternative"

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'''Orange Alternative''' (''Pomarańczowa Alternatywa'') is a name for an underground protest movement which was started and led by [[Waldemar Fydrych]] (sometimes misspelled as Frydrych), then commonly known as ''Major (Commander of the Festung Breslau)'', in [[Wroclaw]] in [[1983]]. Its main purpose was to protest peacefully by using absurd and nonsensical elements. By doing this, Orange Alternative participants could not be arrested by the police for opposition to the communist regime. It organized happenings and painted ridiculous graffiti on walls. It was the most picturesque element of Polish opposition against communism.  Among other things they organized happenings which demanded "Freedom for Santa Claus" and painted big orange smiling dwarfs on buildings.  It suspended activity in 1989, but reactivated in 2001 to organize the action ''Vote for dwarfs: Only dwarfs can save the country!''. The movement carried on Avant-garde ideas, with roots going back to Dadaism. This can be seen through its use of child like tricks and pranks to oppose the national party.
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'''Orange Alternative''' (''Pomarańczowa Alternatywa'') was an underground protest movement started in [[Wroclaw]], Poland, in 1983, and led by [[Waldemar Fydrych]] (sometimes misspelled as Frydrych), then commonly known as ''Major (Commander of the Festung Breslau)''. Its main purpose was to offer a wider group of citizens an alternative way of opposition against the authoritarian communist regime by means of a peaceful protest that used absurd and nonsensical elements.
  
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Some utterances ascribed to Waldemar Fydrych:
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By doing this, Orange Alternative participants could not be arrested by the police for opposition to the regime without the authorities becoming a laughing stock. Orange Alternative has been viewed as part of the broader Solidarity movement.
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Initially it painted ridiculous graffiti of dwarves on paint spots covering up anti-government slogans on city walls. Afterwards, beginning with 1985 through 1990, it organized a series of more than sixty happenings in several Polish cities, including Wrocław, Warsaw, Łódź, Lublin and Tomaszów Mazowiecki. It suspended activity in 1989, but reactivated in 2001 and has been active on a small scale since then.
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The movement carried on avant-garde ideas, with roots going back to [[Dada]].
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Some statements ascribed to Waldemar Fydrych:
 
:''In Poland there are only three places when you can feel free: In churches, but only for the meditations, in prisons, but not everyone can go to prison, and on the streets: they are the freest places.''
 
:''In Poland there are only three places when you can feel free: In churches, but only for the meditations, in prisons, but not everyone can go to prison, and on the streets: they are the freest places.''
  
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:''Can you treat a police officer seriously, when he is asking you the question: "Why did you participate in an illegal meeting of dwarfs?"''
 
:''Can you treat a police officer seriously, when he is asking you the question: "Why did you participate in an illegal meeting of dwarfs?"''
  
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Orange Alternative movement may also have inspired and influenced the [[Pora]] and the so called [[Orange Revolution]] movement in Ukraine, which was in turn supported by Poland.  
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Orange Alternative movement may also have inspired and influenced the Pora and the so called Orange Revolution movement in Ukraine, which was in turn supported by Poland. Major Fydrych and a group of students participated in the Orange Revolution through happenings in Poland and Ukraine.
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Major Fydrych and a group of students participated in the Orange Revolution through happenings in Poland and Ukraine.
 
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== References ==
 
  
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* Juliusz Tyszka. "The Orange Alternative: Street happenings as social performance in Poland under Martial Law." [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=NTQ NEW THEATRE QUARTERLY]. vol. 14 (56), 1998. p. 00311
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==Literature==
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* Nicole Gourgaud. Doctoral thesis, Université de Lyon – November 1993
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* Nicole Gourgaud, ''De l'agit-prop au happening: Alternative Orange'', Université de Lyon, 1993. Dissertation. {{fr}} [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64645490]
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* Juliusz Tyszka, "The Orange Alternative: Street happenings as social performance in Poland under Martial Law", ''New Theatre Quarterly'' 14:56 (1998).
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* ''Pomarańczowa Alternatywa – Rewolucja Krasnoludków'', Warsaw: Fundacja Pomarańczowa Alternatywa, 2008. {{pl}}
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* Barbara Gorska, Benjamin Koschalka (eds.), ''Pomaranczowa alternatywa, happeningiem w komunizm / Happening against communism by the Orange Alternative'', Kraków: Mie̜dzynarodowe Centrum Kultury, 2011. {{pl}}/{{en}}
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* Jan Przyluski, [http://www.academia.edu/3321567/ "Dada Politics / Polityka Dada: Sztuka akcji i ruch Pomarańczowej alternatywy"].

Revision as of 20:54, 22 April 2015

Orange Alternative (Pomarańczowa Alternatywa) was an underground protest movement started in Wroclaw, Poland, in 1983, and led by Waldemar Fydrych (sometimes misspelled as Frydrych), then commonly known as Major (Commander of the Festung Breslau). Its main purpose was to offer a wider group of citizens an alternative way of opposition against the authoritarian communist regime by means of a peaceful protest that used absurd and nonsensical elements.

By doing this, Orange Alternative participants could not be arrested by the police for opposition to the regime without the authorities becoming a laughing stock. Orange Alternative has been viewed as part of the broader Solidarity movement.

Initially it painted ridiculous graffiti of dwarves on paint spots covering up anti-government slogans on city walls. Afterwards, beginning with 1985 through 1990, it organized a series of more than sixty happenings in several Polish cities, including Wrocław, Warsaw, Łódź, Lublin and Tomaszów Mazowiecki. It suspended activity in 1989, but reactivated in 2001 and has been active on a small scale since then.

The movement carried on avant-garde ideas, with roots going back to Dada.

Some statements ascribed to Waldemar Fydrych:

In Poland there are only three places when you can feel free: In churches, but only for the meditations, in prisons, but not everyone can go to prison, and on the streets: they are the freest places.
The Western World will find out much more about the situation in Poland from hearing that I was put to jail for giving tampons to a woman, than from reading the books and articles written by other people from the opposition.
Can you treat a police officer seriously, when he is asking you the question: "Why did you participate in an illegal meeting of dwarfs?"

Orange Alternative movement may also have inspired and influenced the Pora and the so called Orange Revolution movement in Ukraine, which was in turn supported by Poland. Major Fydrych and a group of students participated in the Orange Revolution through happenings in Poland and Ukraine.

Literature

  • Nicole Gourgaud, De l'agit-prop au happening: Alternative Orange, Université de Lyon, 1993. Dissertation. (French) [1]
  • Juliusz Tyszka, "The Orange Alternative: Street happenings as social performance in Poland under Martial Law", New Theatre Quarterly 14:56 (1998).
  • Pomarańczowa Alternatywa – Rewolucja Krasnoludków, Warsaw: Fundacja Pomarańczowa Alternatywa, 2008. (Polish)
  • Barbara Gorska, Benjamin Koschalka (eds.), Pomaranczowa alternatywa, happeningiem w komunizm / Happening against communism by the Orange Alternative, Kraków: Mie̜dzynarodowe Centrum Kultury, 2011. (Polish)/(English)
  • Jan Przyluski, "Dada Politics / Polityka Dada: Sztuka akcji i ruch Pomarańczowej alternatywy".
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