BYOStory

@. Powisle
artist. Olga Szczepanska, Malwina Konopacka, Mariusz Jonski
finished. 2009

This project deals with urban identity as a reaction to a perceived overabundance of memory in the city. It is a set of commemorative plaques hung on the facades of various buildings in the Powiśle neighborhood; the project is called BYOStory. The context of these plaques are the 300+ small memorials that are found throughout the city, BYOStory has created an alternative plaque for the city. They have taken the stories of ordinary citizens, stories that are part of their everyday life, and memorialized them. Amongst other things these colorful plastic plaques say:

“Here on May 4th 1989 I met my beloved wife Kasia.”

“My best friend from childhood lived in this house.”

“I used to sit on this bench with my grandfather every spring.”

“My first kiss was under this tree.”

“Here my dog Gapsi dug up a gold ring.”

“I’ve bought my newspaper in this kiosk for the last 40 years.”

The artists themselves state that they are interested in reclaiming public space for the citizens of the city. That is only a part of their goal, for they are interested in understanding how a city interweaves memories that are part of the personal narrative of everyday life with the grander narrative of events that go down in history.