GDYNIA UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Heineken Open\'er Festival 2013

The project of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw at the Heineken Open’er Festival 2013 is an invitation to explore Gdynia – a unique modernist city, the quintessence of the Polish dream of modernity.

In collaboration with Gdynia researchers and Urban activists, the Museum created a trip program titled “GDYNIA UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The City and the Seaport that was Nonexistent Yesterday.” The participants will learn about the “monuments” of technical rationalism – the harbor, the seaport and its infrastructural “back office”, clashed with fantasies of artists, architects and photographers. The artists and architects created no only the real city but also the utopian myth and the image of a metropolis on the verge of dream and reality.

What did the dark side of the city seized with rampant capitalism look like? You can learn about this by visiting places named mysteriously: “China”, “Budapest” or “Old Warsaw.” Gdynia architects, artists, sociologists, monuments researchers and residents will act as tour guides. The doors normally closed will be opened especially for the Heineken Open’er Festival’s audience.

The program GDYNIA UNDER CONSTRUCTION relates to the popular WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION program organized by the Museum. WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION has taken place four times already (since 2009), attracting a large following. Exhibiting positive patterns of urban politics and practices within the scope of urban planning, design and citizen activity, the Museum proves that the residents can actively partake in shaping the urban landscape. Taking a closer look at Gdynia – the city getting the highest score on the Quality of Life Index in Poland – may be an inspiring experience for the festival’s audience who come from all over the country.