What was supposed to be a film, turned into a few-episodes mini-series. What was supposed to be a several pages long booklet, turned into a beautiful publication. During two months long residency of Karolina Błażejczak, supported by curator – Lech Moliński, cooperating with Tymoteusz Karpowicz Foundation for Culture and Education, the element of surprise and sudden change, constantly accompanying everyone involved, turned out to be the propeller of the project.
“The Roads to Home” is one of those projects, where it's difficult to tell which of the effects of several months long teamwork is the main, most important one. Even the process of developing the project, negotiating conditions of cooperation and acquainting and shaping the relationship between the artist and curator could be a material for residency. The initial idea – creating a “cross-media documentary”, in which footage, photographs, sound and text interrelate and create a coherent whole, was quickly verified and led to reevaluation of priorities of the residency.
24 years old artist in August 2016 went on a documentary journey through time and space, alongside her mother, Elżbieta, a representative of new settlers, who participated in 1978-1994 in the construction of roads in the area around Gryfów Śląski, Świeradów-Zdrój, Barcinek, Rybnica, Zgorzelec, Czerniawa, and forest trails in Szklarska Poręba Forest Division. Through her mother's stories, Błażejczak tried to recall the past she could not remember, and at the same time she wanted to understand the reality of that time for a maturing, working woman, and learn more about her experiences. Exploring the roads, built i.a. by Elżbieta became a pretext to restore the memories of Lower Silesia, the 70's and 80's and transformation period in Poland.
Economic, architectural and social changes of the region have been documented, and numerous anecdotes told in the text cause reflection on the position of woman in Polish society. “The Roads to Home” is also a fascinating story of the forgotten pioneers, whose efforts caused that little towns and villages in that region were rediscovered for the world. Creating a convincing picture of their lives was possible thanks to the real characters, that the artist got to meet – friends and colleagues of Elżbieta.
"The Roads to Home" - Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3 - Episode 4 - Episode 5
The effect of this multithread residency is a collection of literary reportages illustrated by old pictures acquired from different people, and photographs taken by Błażejczak. The piece is complemented with short films, documenting the journey of artist and character, mother and daughter, a woman born in independent Poland, and her mother, growing up in the Polish People's Republic, but engaging in man-dominated profession, working physically on the construction of roads